Happy Valentine's Day

We are happy to be home and all under the same roof. Selah has been doing well and we cherish every hour that we have getting to know her. What an amazingly strong little girl she is. I feel like this whole journey has been so good for me as I am learning to trust in the Lord in new and exciting ways.
For weeks I have been looking forward to the time when we would get to look back and really see the many amazing ways the Lord has taken care of us and Selah over the past nine months. Many of you may not know, but we actually thought Selah was going to be a miscarriage (our third)After going into the doctor for an ultrasound and seeing no baby, the doctor had us return in one week for another ultrasound to double check - the doctor said "there is still hope." I didn't want to be disappointed so I prepared myself for the worst. Before seeing the second ultrasound, we went to church that Saturday night and I was overwhelmed during the singing as the service started up. By overwhelmed, I mean crying uncontrolably... I felt the Lord confirm to me that this baby was to be. We went in that Tuesday and saw a little butter bean with a strong heart beat. God is so good to us!! Everytime things have come up during this pregnancy, the Lord has continued to quiet me with His words, "Just REST in my promise." And that is where SELAH's name came from. Her name means "to rest and listen" "to pause and reflect."
Many people have said to me, "your faith has been so amazing during this time..." All I can tell you is that it is because of this WHOLE journey that I stand where I do today. I am thankful for all the Lord has brought us through and wouldn't change a thing.
I was talking with a woman in the hospital whose baby had the surgery Selah had. I was telling her how thankful we were that the space they had to fix in Selah's esophagus was minimal (we have heard of babies who had to wait months and year's for their esophagus to grow before they could do the surgery). She works at a hospital and made the comment that is was due to them being full term. I cannot tell you how many times I begged the Lord to let me have Selah early because of how uncomfortable I was...and now I find out that going full term allowed her to be in the best possible position she could have been in under the circumstances. I am so thankful that the Lord knows better than me!!!! These are the wonderful details the Lord loves to orchestrate for his people!!!

Welcome Home Selah!!

Big sister Ocean (in her "I'm the Big Sister" shirt) went with us to pick up our beautiful baby girl from the hospital. She was so excited about her new baby sister that she told everyone we passed in the halls (including the construction workers) "this is my baby sister, Selah." She talked the WHOLE way home and finally crashed at the end. We are currently enjoy the quiet of both girls as they are napping. Josh keeps asking me, "what do we do now." It was very weird leaving the hospital after being there for 12 days. But, we are glad to all be under one roof together. Thank you all for your prayers and support!!! We are overwhelmed and truly blessed!!

There are no Strings on Me...And My Belly is Full!

Well, almost! Just a few monitor wires and one PIC line remain. We arrived yesterday at the hospital with a wonderful surprise. The dye test that was to be preformed on Monday had already been done that morning and they saw no leaks!! Apparently, the took pity on her during rounds that morning since she was so hungry and so inconsolable. They said they pleaded to radiology to try to find a spot for her that morning and were successful. Sooooooo, yesterday they took out her feeding tube and started feeding her breast milk (with a bottle) starting with 10 ml and increasing 10ml every 3 hours. She sucked it down as fast as she could. As of 9am this morning, she was up to 70ml which was the goal of a full belly. We are waiting to hear from the surgeons for the go ahead to begin nursing. I keep thinking of the verse of how God uses ALL things for good... including what we thought was a set back (blocked feeding tube) and here it has put her in an even better place. Thank you, Father, for your faithfulness!!