Great Night!

Ash had a great night last night. He slept well with minimal medication and woke up telling us that he had good dreams. David took the night shift at the hospital and I slept like a dead woman at the Ronald McDonald House. Ash is scheduled to get his PICC line around noon today, but other than that, we're in a pretty normal routine of healing. Once Ash has his PICC line in, he can get some nutrition (which will be wonderful since he hasn't had anything to eat or drink since Sunday morning.)

Thanks so much for all the emails, Facebook notes and blog comments. They really do encourage David and I during a pretty difficult time.

It's Good to Be Out

Out of surgery. Either acting silly (with a foam donut) or dead asleep -
don't you love Morphine?

In Surgery

They came to get Ash at 6:45 this morning - exactly 2 1/2 hours after we finally went to bed. I must say that I am looking extra lovely right now. Especially if large under-eye bags and narcolepsy turn you on. But this isn't really about me, is it? Ash had a hard night but thankfully, the nurse anesthetist gave him some versed this morning to calm him down (he suffers from a pretty bad case of separation anxiety.) The surgery is supposed to last around 3 hours and we're already 2 1/2 hours into the procedure. We've gotten 2 updates from the OR and so far, everything is going as planned.

It's 2am and I Feel Like the Living Dead

It's 2am and Ash and I are watching a Geotrax train movie. We got about 30 minutes of sleep early this evening but that was it. How can I already be exhausted and we've only been in the hospital 28 hours?

Ash is scheduled for the first surgery in the morning so I expect them to take us down to the OR around 7am. Please keep praying. Ash isn't the toughest little guy in the world and he's already beginning to dislike this hospital.

NG Tube In (Success #1)

Checked into the hospital and already have the NG tube in place. After about 15 minutes of screaming, Ash settled down and is quietly watching the DVD Cars. I really like our nurse, Tina, which is great because today is traditionally an extra tough day. Dr. Levitt came in to say hello but Ash just gave him the evil eye. Kind of funny, actually. Thanks for the kind thoughts and prayers. So far, so good!

By the way, we got into the Ronald McDonald House last night and it is amazing! We were told it's the 3rd largest RMH in the world with 78 guest rooms and a ton of game and play rooms. It's a kid's dream come true (think Disney World.) We are so grateful to be able to stay there this visit. David is already thinking we should volunteer at our local RMH when we get home.

Another New Year's in Cincinnati

So here we are again, holed up in a hotel room in Cincinnati on yet another New Year's Day. This time we are not here with sweet Kai, but rather our youngest munchkin, Asher. Asher is having the same surgery that Kai had in March of 2009. The surgery itself went amazingly well for Kai but a month afterwards he came down with a horrible antibiotic resistant infection that (literally) brought us all to our knees. Kai ended up coming home with a PICC line and a suprapubic catheter and we are fervently praying that Ash will be able to avoid all of the complications that Kai endured.

Ash is a troubled little guy and I love him more deeply than I ever thought possible. I want to protect him so badly that it hurts sometimes. We believe that Ash was severely neglected (at the very least) during his 3 1/2 years in the orphanage. He deals with a lot of hurt and frustration and often says thing like, "I'm so stupid" or "Nobody loves me" that break my heart. He is incredibly bright and loved by all and so I pray that this hospitalization will not regress the progress he's made since he's been home.

Please pray for our little man over the next 2 weeks. Tomorrow includes a NG tube (not fun) and an IV. He'll have surgery early Monday morning and then a PICC line placement on Tuesday. Yes, I think it's fair to say that the next few days will be downright awful for Ash. However, David and I are in good spirits and know we're doing what's best for Ash in long run. If you're in Birmingham and see any of our other kiddos, give them a big hug. They try to put up a strong front, but we know that these hospital stays are quite hard on them too.

I'll keep posting to my blog so check back often or sign up for email updates to hear how Ash is doing.

My Daughter is Beautiful

Yes, it's true. My daughter is beautiful - inside and out. This weekend she danced her way through four performances of the Nutcracker. You know what? She's graceful, she's elegant, she's down right breath-taking... and she didn't get any of it from me. I love you Piper. You are an amazing young lady and I hope you dance through life just like did tonight.