Consider It Great Joy

The past few days have rushed by like a hurricane—information and test results and procedures and probable diagnoses slapping against us and whirling around us at a maddening speed, bending us and breaking off our branches so that we are stripped bare.

We are tired.

I can’t really say whether the past few days have felt like minutes or years. Both, maybe. I can say, however, that we are moving forward. And I am confident that we are helping Kate.

But still—my mommy heart breaks.

Today, Kate had a tracheotomy. On Monday, the ENT found that she has bilateral vocal cord paralysis (in other words: her vocal cords don’t move; therefore, she was having a difficult time breathing). So, she will now breathe through a small tube in her trachea.

Here’s the amazing thing: when the doctors put in her trach, they were shocked that she had been breathing on her own at all. So, we learned today that our Kate is a fighter and our God is in her corner.

Other good news: Kate’s brain MRI and her microarray (more detailed chromosome test) were completely normal.

So, dear ones—keep praying. We have seen miracles because of prayer. We do not know what miracles lay ahead. This we know: as Kate’s story unfolds, God shows Himself.

As we were driving to the hospital this morning, Lee reminded me of James 1. James writes, “Consider it great joy, my brothers, whenever you experience various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. But endurance must do its complete work, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing.”

And so we endure. Some nights, I feel as if I’ve been poured out beyond what I ever had to offer. Tonight is one of those. But in the morning, I will get up and go see my baby. I will kiss her forehead and marvel at her tiny softness. And I will know that there is great joy in this trial.

Endure with us, friends. We have a few weeks before we leave the NICU and we covet your prayers. 

Pray these things for us:

-That Kate would heal completely from her tracheotomy.

-That Kate would have the ability to eat through her mouth once she heals.

-That Kate’s hip ultrasound this week would bring good news regarding her future mobility.

-That Lee and I would have endurance and energy for these next few weeks in the NICU.

-That Avery would begin to understand what it means to be a big sister, and that God would maximize the time that we spend with her.