Today was a long day for me and Victoria! I woke up around 4am and woke up Victoria at 5:30am to go have her eye surgery performed.
When we arrived at the doctor's office, it was pretty empty except for the receptionist waiting for us on the 3rd floor. I registered Victoria and waited a few minutes before being called back. We were taken back to a larger room with several beds in it. This was a prep room for all those having out-patient surgery. There were several other babies that eventually joined us in this room and Victoria out-talked all of them! I was shocked at how verbal she was while we waited on the doctor!
Once Victoria was taken back to surgery, I went back out into the waiting area. I was told that the surgery would only last about 5-10 minutes, if all went well. When I was in the waiting room for a while longer than I expected, I felt a check in my spirit to pray for Victoria. Finally, I was called back to see Victoria. She was crying pretty hard when I got to her, which is unusual for her normally. I hugged her and tried feeding her some juice. She was famished since she had not eaten breakfast. She would stop every few seconds to cry because she couldn't breathe well out of her nose while drinking her bottle. Because of the surgery, her nose was bleeding some and that didn't help on top of the congestion she already had. After a while longer, she finally calmed down as I stood up with her and rocked her back and forth. As the nurses watched me holding her, I wanted to cry. I felt such an honor at that moment to be Victoria's mother. I knew that God could've chosen anyone else to be her mom, but for some reason He chose me. It made me hug Victoria even tighter as I comforted her from her traumatic morning.
The doctor let me know that he had a difficult time getting Victoria's tear duct to drain and clear, but it finally cooperated for him. During the surgery, they had to end up doing an IV because Victoria's heart rate dropped really low. Once I heard this, I knew why I had a check in my spirit to pray for her! They were able to give her some medication that brought her heart rate back up. Because of Victoria's heart surgery last year, she is a bit of a high risk for any type of anesthesia. Thankfully, she stabilized and the rest of the procedure went well.
The interesting part of things is that God has given me several opportunities to share my "story" with a lot of people lately. From Victoria's consultation with the doctor the day before her surgery, to the day of her surgery, God has placed people around me in the waiting rooms that ask me about Victoria. The door has totally opened for me to share God's hope with people. What a wonderful thing to tell others that something I thought was a terrible thing in my life (giving birth to a baby with Down syndrome), has ended up being the biggest blessing I could've ever imagined! It excites me to see how God has used Victoria's life to minister to so many people already! May I never let an opportunity go by to share my hope with others!
Here is a picture of Victoria after we arrived home. Her right eye is a little swollen, but I expect that will be normal in a day or so. She is a real trooper!
Here is a picture of Victoria laying by Mark on the couch. Mark has been out of town all this week speaking at a children's camp. He was so glad to be home so he could love on his little angel!
Victoria is going, going, going! It is so funny to see her scoot around the house, now. She is still slow, but every day I see her gaining strength. The once frail and weak baby is beginning to turn into an energetic explorer. When I see her doing new things each day I am, again, amazed at the goodness of God!
Here is a picture of Victoria after we arrived home. Her right eye is a little swollen, but I expect that will be normal in a day or so. She is a real trooper!
Here is a picture of Victoria laying by Mark on the couch. Mark has been out of town all this week speaking at a children's camp. He was so glad to be home so he could love on his little angel!
Please keep Victoria in your prayers. She will be having minor eye surgery in the morning to unclog her right eye tear duct. It will be a quick surgery and I pray it will relieve her right eye and the constant clogging she has had to endure for at least a year now. We will arrive at the doctor's office tomorrow morning at 6:15am and surgery will begin at 6:45am. While I ask you to pray that her surgery goes well, I also ask that you pray for her to not awaken during the night wanting to have another bottle. She cannot eat after midnight, so I'm hoping that she will do well during the night for me. I plan to feed her an extra bottle later tonight to help remedy any middle-of-the-night feedings.
Victoria turned a year old on March 10th and she is just now getting in her first tooth! I was worried for a little while that she would be toothless, but thankfully, I have seen her first front, bottom tooth wriggling its way out of her gum. Unfortunately, Victoria has not gained a lot of weight lately because of the fact that she cannot eat substantial foods yet (because of her lack of teeth). At Victoria's last visit to her pediatrician, her doctor talked about referring us to an eating clinic to see how we could put more calories into Victoria's little body. When Victoria starts walking the extra intake of calories will be very crucial.
Today, Victoria's physical therapist, Candice, and her Early Intervention service coordinator, Dianne (pictured to the left), came out to our house for her 6-month evaluation. Dianne had the long list of physical goals that we set for Victoria 6 months ago. We were so excited to see that Victoria has met every goal in her therapies that we hoped she would in the past 6 months! I felt like shouting today! It was such an encouraging EI visit! 
That night, after Mark finished up with his meetings, we met up with other North Mobile staff to eat at PF Changs. It was awesome! 
After PF Changs, we decided to ride around and see if we could find Churchill Downs. We were able to find it and believe it or not, it was open and almost empty of people. We were able to walk all around the buildings and track. What a cool experience!
Sunday afternoon was sound check for the band and praise team and Sunday afternoon the Pastor's Conference began. 
We kept trucking full speed ahead the rest of the time we were in Louisville. 
The speakers were wonderful and the music was awesome! God really moved in such a powerful way during the weekend. We were so thankful to be a part of such a powerful event. Even in the midst of stressful situations at home, when all was said and done ... it was a GREAT weekend!
Yesterday Mark and I began our trek to Kentucky for the Pastor's Conference.
We flew out with our Worship Pastor, Jason Breland, and his wife, Amy. Our flight left Mobile at 9:40am and arrived in Atlanta about an hour later. We had around a 2 hour layover in Atlanta, which allowed us plenty of time to get lunch in the Atlanta airport. Our plane was supposed to depart Atlanta around 1pm (Atlanta time) and arrive in Kentucky around 3pm, however, our plane seemed to have some mechanical difficulties that couldn't be fixed.
We had to wait an extra 3 hours in the airport while our plane was investigated. The announcers over the loudspeaker in the airport finally reported that our plane could not be fixed and we were given another place to fly on. We were glad to finally have transportation to Kentucky!
Being in planes and airports all day really wears on you! We finally arrived in Kentucky and met up with one of our Executive Pastors, Scott White, and his wife, Beth. We all had dinner at The Cheesecake Factory and thoroughly enjoyed it.
Mark has meetings today and I've had the day to myself in the hotel room. So far I've watched a lot of HGTV and have gone to the little workout room in the hotel to workout. I might even take in a nap, which is unusual for me when I'm at home with little ones.
This year Mark and I are blessed to be able to attend the Southern Baptist Convention Pastor's Conference in Kentucky. Our Pastor, Ed Litton, is the president of the Pastor's Conference and has planned the entire event. Our Worship Pastor, Jason Breland, asked me to sing on the praise team for the event and I'll also be singing a solo, as well. Mark will be in charge of the ushers and greeters, so he will have a big job, too!
Today was a nice day. After a full week of Vacation Bible School it was nice to stay home and get some things done around the house. Mark cut grass and I put pine straw out in the yard along with cleaning inside the house and washing clothes. It was a very productive day.
Posts
