Myra is HOME!!

Miracle Myra currently 1 month old, 7lbs 5oz

Well, our computer crashed the day we brought Myra home, so I haven't had a chance to update my blog. Our good friend was nice enough to rebuild the whole thing for a SECOND time over the weekend. We are truly blessed with our friendships these days!

The Klan has been waiting 30 days for their baby sister to come home!

Myra came home on Friday, October 23rd. She left weighing 6lbs 12oz and is now 7lbs 5oz, less than a week later! She is doing great! She is still full-time breastfeeding, too. She is having some gas issues from the nissen fundoplication and we are trying to work those out using Mylicon drops and Gripe water. I hope this won't be a long-term issue and she will start to feel better soon. After all she has gone through, I hate for her to be in more pain for many more weeks...

Angelica Pickles and Myra

We have received so much support and prayer during this time we are overwhelmed with thankfulness. A good friend of mine has organized meals 4x a week since Myra was born, continuing through the second week of November. My children would have had pb and mac and cheese for weeks straight if these wonderful meals weren't coming! It has been such a blessing! We have also had many friends and family provide childcare while we needed to be at the hospital. Another good friend from MI will be staying with us the first week Mr. Prince goes back to work and my mother is coming the following week to help, too. And I can't forget to mention the hundreds of people lifting Myra and our family up in prayer. He is listening and has been answering those prayers daily. Thank you so much!

Princess Pea and Myra

So, at this point we are doing well and adjusting fine. Myra seems to be doing better than anyone expected, and we know it's because her Father in heaven has been restoring her little body bit by bit, despite the doctor's diagnoses. I read her discharge paperwork this week and she was actually given 22 diagnosis during her 30 days in the hospital....all of which have resolved (except some slight hypertonia in her legs which will be treated with physical therapy). Wow! It's overwhelming reading through the paperwork and realizing just how sick our little girl was and how dire the situation was those first 48hours. But, we are so thankful for the peace that God graciously poured on us during those days and the hope and promises He gave us. He spoke to us very specifically through His Word and through many different songs during those weeks in the hospital. Those songs and scriptures I will always hold dear and can't wait to share them with Myra when she is older. I have also kept a daily journal for her, recording her condition and all the miracles God performed as he restored her. I'm so glad I kept up with it looking back on the experience.

Sid the Science Kid and Myra

As for the future, it is still unknown. Though, we know Myra's life is in God's hands and trust His omniscience and His love for Myra. He knows exactly what He created Myra for, and we've trusted that all along, whether in life or death. And, we are still asking for a complete healing for Myra. The doctors say she has "global atrophy" in her brain and that they can't pin-point specific areas of the brain that are damaged. They said we will see deficiencies as she grows and develops to tell us what has been damaged. But, we know the brain is an amazing organ that heals itself and creates new pathways after paths have been damaged. Anyone who works with the brain must know there is a Creator because of how complex it is and how unpredictable it can be. We are praying that whatever parts have been damaged are parts of our brain that we don't use anyway, or that God will restore the functions that have been damaged. Either way, we want Myra to have full capacity in the end. And, what greater testimony than a full restoration from a body that had no life when it was born!! And, it's quite obvious in this case that is was God restoring Myra. Even many of her doctors have attributed her success to God! The doctors sustained her body for a time, but they could not make her organs start to function, her breathing come back, her suck/swallow reflex come back, or anything else that has restored. Humans are still very limited when it comes to such medical conditions, and we are so thankful we had someone Greater to turn to in a time like this. I don't know how anyone could go through a situation like this without a belief in a Greater Power. And I'm thankful God found Mr. Prince and I early in our lives and prepared us for this situation, too.

Boo Boo and Myra

So, thank you to all who have been praying for Miracle Myra and we ask that you continue to lift her life up in prayer, praying not only for her restoration but for her testimony to "astound" anyone who hears it. Isaiah 29:14, "Therefore once more I will astound these people with wonder upon wonder."

This scripture tells our story perfectly....

2 Corinthians 1: 8-11 "We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life. Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many."

Myra, Day 28.....Homebound!

Well, Myra has been full-time breastfeeding since yesterday (though she will take a bottle a few times today while I'm celebrating Princess Pea's 5th birthday with her and Daddy visits). She is doing great and the doctors don't seem to think she needs any supplemental formula or even more milk through her g-tube other than what she is able to extract herself.

I have been bugging the doctors and nurses for a few days now to get all the details done so she can go home, and one doctor told me today it will be 24-48hrs and she will be home! Oh how nice it will be to parent my children all under one roof....though I might miss those 20 minute drives alone in the car someday.... =)

Myra, Day 25

No more tubing in Myra's face!

Well, it's been a long four days since surgery. It took the doctors a good 15 hours before they were able to adequately manage Myra's pain after surgery. Then, they didn't feed her for almost 72 hours! Once we started feeding her, they found out 24 hours later that they had been using the wrong tubing for her G-tube. No wonder she had been extremely gassy and fussy those 24 hours! All that is finally worked out and she is taking close to half her feedings from a bottle already! And...I got to nurse her for the first time!! I think she does better on the breast than on the bottle, but doctors seem to think they know it all... In a few days I'll have her home and we can do what we think it best for her. We have a handful of appointments this week - speech therapist, ordering/training on her monitors, renal ultrasound to check out her high blood pressure, hearing test, car seat test, etc. - and after all those details are done...she'll be home!!

Thank you so much for your prayers. They are taking her off of her 2nd seizure medication today, so please pray no seizure show up. Pray her renal ultrasound doesn't show something that will keep her in the hospital longer and continue to pray for full healing of her brain. We are trusting that God is going to completely heal our little Myra. He's brought her from her death bed to where she is now, why should we doubt?

Myra's Successful Surgery

Daddy sang to Myra for 1.5 hours before surgery because she was so hungry...

Myra on her way to the OR

Well, Dr. Smith said Myra's nissen fundoplication surgery and g-tube surgery went by the book. Her scars will be significant, but we can easily feed our child without worry that she will aspirate into her lungs now. And after having two babies with reflux, there is an added benefit that she won't be spitting up all over us all the time!

There was concern she might not come off the vent right away, but we are thankful that Myra was off the vent before she even came back to her room! It was a long night and they doctors had some trouble keeping her pain managed. We changed her dosages two different times and finally, 15 hours after surgery, they were able to make her comfortable with a Fentanyl drip. Unfortunately, this is delaying when she will be able to eat again. Until she is off the drip, she can't eat. So, it will be close to 72 hours before she eats again after surgery. Either Mr. Prince or I will be at the hospital throughout the day today, and I'll be staying again tonight to comfort her hunger pains. Last night we were both able to rest quite a bit, so I should be ready if it should be another long night.

The clear "button" on top of the gauze is where we will attach tubing to feed her....hopefully for not very long....

More Miracles!!

Myra's surgery is scheduled for 5:30pm this evening. Please pray all goes well and she has a fast recovery. They are telling us Myra will be home in a week!!

We have other wonderful news to report too...Myra took 5cc from a bottle yesterday two different times!! I walked in around 7pm for my second visit of the day and a NICU doctor told me at her 6pm assessment she had the gag reflex they have been looking for and was sucking on a pacifier......so they tried 5cc in a bottle, and she took it! I gave her a bottle at 9pm and she took it then, too. At 12am, 3am and 6am she was too tired to wake and try it (probably due to the seizure medications), but I know it's coming along and she'll be off the G-tube soon! What a great surprise of another miracle when we weren't expecting it! They will still be doing her surgery this evening to put in the G-tube and fix her severe reflux, mostly because she needs her reflux corrected before she goes home. If it was just the G-tube surgery, they said they would have no problem putting it off or not doing it, but with the reflux issues, they can't. So, we just plan to not use the G-tube very long...

I am seriously in awe of God's hand in all of this and am glad to share Myra's continuous story with all of you. Thank you so much for your prayers....He is hearing them and answering them daily! Our little miracle will soon be home and soon be whole...

Myra, Day 20

Well, Myra's G-tube surgery is planned for Wednesday evening. Unfortunately, she will be placed again on a ventilator and IV fluids and might take some time to wean off these and get back to where she is at right now. It looks as if we have at least another 1-2 weeks before we get her home. Princess Pea is bummed she won't be home by her 5th birthday. =) We are trying to be patient, but this next week will be hard to see her again where she was over a week ago....and we won't get to hold her for a while.

Please continue to pray for her suck/swallow/gag reflex to kick in, for her brain to heal and now for her surgery.

Romans 12:12 says, "Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer."

Myra, Day 16

Well, we finally got a chance to sit down with the pediatric neurologist this afternoon to talk about the EEG and CAT scan results.

The EEG did show significant improvement from the last three. This was the first time they were able to do an EEG without sedation medication that alters results. I guess the anti-seizure meds can alter the results too, but with a "significant" improvement....I'm happy. She said compared to a "normal" brain, Myra's brain still shows mild to moderate suppression of brain waves, but that can only get better (and might be more without meds anyway). She will continue with her 3 anti-seizure meds when she comes home for now.

The CAT scan results were less helpful. The CAT scan showed that there were multiple areas of the brain affected by lack of oxygen. She said it was pretty global and that she did have many small brain bleeds that would eventually be absorbed back into her brain. She said one area where there was a lot of damage was in the back of the brain responsible for vision. BUT, she said that Myra is looking and focusing and doesn't seem to be affected even with that extent of damage to that area. How awesome! Exactly what I prayed for last night!! The plates on the top of her head are NOT fused together (another answered prayer), and they will continue to watch them and make sure her brain is growing well. So, basically she said it's a waiting game and that Paul and I would more likely tell her parts of Myra's brain that are affected as she develops, than her ever being able to explain them to us based on these tests. They will repeat a MRI when she is between 6 and 12 months and that will tell us better specific parts that seem to be affected still. Her brain has a lot of healing to do and can still make up for the damage that has been done. We will continue to pray that this damage does not affect her abilities at all. Though this report didn't give specifics, it leaves lots of room for God to do His work. And, probably having specifics at this point would only be negative anyway.

So, my next question was where we go from here. Myra is now off the cannula and doing well. They will get Dr. Smith to put in her G-tube in her stomach for her feedings and meds asap. After 48hrs they will test the G-tube and make sure all is working well and make sure Myra has recovered from the surgery, they will then take out her central line in her leg and then....she is coming HOME! In less than a week most likely!! We will have lots of training on her G-tube and meds and she will also be sent home with a heart rate/apnea monitor for a while. I can't believe she could be home 3 weeks from birth after they told us she probably wouldn't live! I was hoping she'd be home by Christmas! God has definitely surpassed my expectations!! And we are giving Him ALL the glory for Myra's recovery..and continued healing!!

Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU for all your prayers! God has been faithful and generous to our family in all this and we thank you for all your support and prayers and BELIEF in the power of our Awesome God! I have peace knowing Myra's healing is in the hands of her original Creator and knowing she'll be home soon so she can flourish and grow with her family.

Please, if you have been praying for Myra, leave the state you live in on my comments. We are keeping record of how many different areas prayers are coming from.

Myra is looking better!!

Myra has shown us her suck reflux and has now cried for us!!
Here is a photo of Day 12. She is down to 6lbs 8oz and has lost likely all of her water.

Day 10 - By God's grace Myra continues to improve

Thank you for your prayers. God has been working a miracle and I wish I had time to share all that has happened the last ten days with Myra Annette.

Here she is on Sept 24th on the jet ventilator and full life support.

Background: My water broke before 10pm on Wed the 23rd and I had gross maconium. After monitoring Myra at the hospital for almost 3 hours, her heart rate dropped suddenly and we did an emergency c-section. She was born 3 days overdue on the 24th, 5lbs 15oz 20inches. We found out she had only a 2 vessel cord, not a 3 vessel like she should and that is why she was small. She may also have some kidney abnormalities from that, too. But, because she came out with Apgar scores of 0, 2 and 4, she had lack of oxygen for some time and they believe this has damaged her organs and brain significantly. We are now waiting to see what will recover.

Day 2, she started swelling

The Klan visited on Day 2 because we didn't know what the future held at that time.

Myra has moved from the jet ventilator to a conventional ventilator and now she is on the nasal cannula. She moved through these machines very quickly and continues to improve daily. Her organ systems are all now functioning. A great improvement from a week ago when no organ systems were functioning to their full capacity, or some not at all. She is still on 3 different anti-seizure medications, but she is off the blood pressure mediation, the sedation medication, her blood sugars and platelets have mostly regulated and she's off the warmer. She is continuing to get IV fluids and they will wean her off those as her intake of breastmilk is increased. Right now she's on 20cc and they want her to be taking in 60cc. They are doing it gradually, adding about 5cc daily. She is being fed through a tube right now and we aren't sure if she has a suck/swallow reflux still intact. Her third EEG is scheduled for Monday and we'll be meeting with a physical therapist this week. They also have an MRI scheduled for 2-4 weeks from now to see if there is any parts of the brain that have died from lack of oxygen. We have not had one day with setbacks since the first few very grave days, and we are finally out of the life threatening phase. Myra has had a long 10 days and a very rough start.

We are currently praying for compete healing of Myra's systems and brain. God took her lifeless body when she was born and has restored it thus far and we pray He continues until it's completion. We are praying specifically for her suck/swallow reflux to be restored soon, her tremors to go away completely, her EEG to show normal brain waves, and for her to cry and respond more to stimulation.

Day 3, Our first kisses - Myra was very swollen by this point and wasn't urinating

There are so many God stories tied in with her little life so far and we hope you will join us in prayer for her physical body and for her life to glorify the One True God! There is no way you can share Myra's story without including God's works.

Day 7, Myra has lost a lot of water but still 1lb more than her birth weight and she can open her eyes now (previous 4 pictures)

Day 9, Myra's feeding tube was taken out momentarily and we could see her whole little face and Mr. Prince and I were able to hold her for the first time

John 1:16 "From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another."

Luke 1:37 "For nothing is impossible with God."

Isaiah 29:14 "Therefore once more I will astound these people with wonder upon wonder."

Myra Annette, born Sept 24th, 5lbs 15oz 20in

Our baby girl was born two days ago by emergency c-section. She is currently in critical condition in the NICU. The doctors are saying her situation looks grave, but we are praying for a miracle. Please join us in prayer for our little Myra.

Isaiah 29:14 "Therefore once more I will astound these people with wonder upon wonder..."

Once more for Myra, Lord.

Pregnancy Photos 39 weeks 4 days

Mr. Prince and I went to a wedding reception last night at the the same reception hall we had our wedding reception 7 years ago. It was a nice stroll down memory lane. I wore this black dress, which is NOT maternity by the way, and found it amusing that I didn't look pregnant at all from the front or back view. I was comfortable, but my shoes were a little snug and I was limping on our way out to the car at the end of the night. Unfortunately, there wasn't dancing. I'm not sure why so many weddings exclude dancing these days...it's quite disappointing to me. Anyway, it was a quiet night out before baby comes. The kids were horrible for the babysitter, but I also feel our babysitter was too lax in their discipline, also. So, maybe we won't go out any time soon without an adult watching our children. Bummer. Such is life.....

BKM week 39

Well, I am almost 39 weeks along! Looking at this picture I feel SO much bigger than I look here. And looking back at photos of myself 40 weeks pregnant with Boo Boo, I am smaller this time around. Or maybe black is just extremely slimming...??

My OB estimated my baby at 37 weeks to be only in the 13th percentile for size, so I don't have a big baby. But, my two babies that were 10 days and 14 days overdue were only 8lbs 6oz, so I just don't have big babies in general. So, I definitely expect to go overdue again this time. How long, though, I have no idea...

I really thought I would be able to figure out what gender this baby was by this time. With my two boys I gained 40 and 50+ pounds and was pretty sick in the first few weeks. With my two girls I gained 18 and 23 pounds and wasn't very sick, just minor morning sickness. This baby is NOT remaining consistent with my pattern. I was pretty sick early on with this one and I've gained just under 30 pounds. It leans itself toward maybe a boy, but I have a slight "feeling" it is a girl. So far I've thought all of my babies were gonna be boys, so I'm not that accurate with my "feelings" anyway. But, this feeling does seem stronger this time than with the last three kids. I almost knew for sure our first was a boy and never really even considered having a girl first. But, the last three were just forced guesses really. Do I have some kind of mother's intuition....who knows!

Well, still no names have been picked. We have a small running list, but I almost feel like the name isn't on the list yet. We need to make a point to talk about this more in the next week. I don't think the kids will like having a sibling without a name from the beginning. Though, we did learn that Indian babies weren't named but 2x a year...so maybe I can incorporate school into this....ha!

MFW Homeschool Week 5 Review

This week we learned about the Pilgrims who came over on the Mayflower, Jesus being the Bread of Life, and Johnny Appleseed. Here is a picture of my school bookshelf. The top row is our Pilgrim/Mayflower books, second row is our bread books, third row is our Johnny Appleseed and apple books, and the fourth row will be new baby books for the next number of weeks.

The children love the story of Johnny Appleseed and are looking forward to the Johnny Appleseed Festival this month. We'll celebrate his birthday on September 26th and Kyler is hoping the baby is born on his birthday....ha! Instead of doing some separate topic with Angelica Pickle's Preschool, since all the kids participate anyway, I decided to do Johnny Appleseed with all of them. I didn't have too many projects, but we read about apple trees, read The Giving Tree by Silverstein, colored a picture of Johnny Appleseed, ate apples for snack, and made homemade applesauce. I'd like to take them back to an apple orchard this fall like we did last year. We'll see if we get there...

Well, the kids seemed to be a little bored with the Pilgrims this week, but still had fun with the projects and remember many of the details. They just weren't as interested in the way they dressed and lived as they have the other people we've studied. We made little Pilgrim paper dolls (like our Indian paper dolls here), I showed them how oiled paper makes a great waterproof window, we made butter and we still need to plant our corn and make our Mayflower boat. We got a little behind with appointments this week, but have a long weekend to make it up! We also made our own "Kellogg Compact" like the Mayflower Compact. The kids came up with some agreeable behaviors and signed the document saying they would try their best to adhere to the compact.

Here is what the Kellogg Compact said:
We will obey our parents happily.
We will be nice to each other and play nicely.
We will share.
We will clean up our toys.
We will avoid fighting.
We will put away our dishes at meals.
We will do our Helping Habits happily.
We will keep our rooms clean.
We will not say bad words. (like poop, naked and crap)
We will speak kindly to each other.
We will ask nicely for things and say please and thank you.
We will ask Jesus for help.
We will try our best to be like Jesus.

We talked about Jesus being the Bread of Life this week and discussed stories like God sending manna to the Israelites in the desert and the feeding of the 5000. We read many bread books about how bread is made, did some yeast science experiments, and then made some bread of our own. I didn't have time to made bread from scratch with yeast and all, so we decided to make some monkey bread and I explained that the biscuit dough we used already had the yeast in it. I think they still got the idea of it. And the monkey bread was good! Everyone got involved, even Boo Boo!


I got Princess Pea's Explode the Code books in this week and we started right in on them. She loves these books and I can understand why so many homeschoolers rave about them! She did probably six pages by herself one day and then just showed me later! We are going to put our Bob Books aside for now (she flew through sets 1 and 2 but I think set 3 is significantly harder and requires more knowledge of "rules") and we are going to do All About Spelling and our Explode the Code books everyday. We'll pick up the Bob Books again when I think she's got down some of the new rules, so she isn't frustrated trying to read them. I'm really liking the All About Spelling program so far, too. We are taking our time learning the sounds of the vowels (since each one has 3-4 sounds) because I want her to know them well. So far she knows all the phonograms she's supposed to know for the first Level except e, i, o, and u. She should have them down in the next two weeks, though. She is really excited about all her school stuff.

We went to town on projects for the house this weekend. My friend Cherry came over and helped me clean out my mudroom, add a new dresser upstairs and move Boo Boo's stuff into the boys' room, organize and put away many totes of kids clothes in the attic, clean out my changing table drawer, and clean out my front foyer closet. Paul moved my "hobby table" downstairs into our already-crammed office, but we will get good use out of it there by me and Kyler. I have since reorganized my whole computer desk area, the drawers of my "hobby table," and all of my fabric and sewing collection and also collected all my homebirth supplies in one place. It was a busy day! It was nice because Pop Pop and Grandma had us over for dinner, and we didn't have to cook after all that work either! I'm exhausted! And my list is growing shorter everyday...

Here is a photo of Sid the Science Kid reading in the office because it is a quiet place. Boo Boo found the door cracked open and brought in his own book to join Sid. Boo Boo loves to sit on the floor in my office and read his board books and show me pictures he recognizes while I'm on the computer or planning school stuff. He has his own little bookshelf in there.




Here is a video of Boo Boo saying some of the famous things he's known for. My personal favorite is when he signs and says "giraffe." It's usually super clear, too. He says more than this, but it's what I could think of in the moment. I really should video tape him more, but my video camera has not been working properly for a while now and all I have is the video on my camera.

3 Weeks Until Baby....maybe.....

Well, I am now 37 weeks along. These last two months have gone by fast! Mr. Prince is back to work, school is on a roll and life is basically back to normal....for a few more weeks until the new baby arrives! I've been racking my brain trying to think of things I need to do before baby comes, but haven't had much luck coming up with much....

Until this week!

Now I have a massive to-do list and my nesting has finally kicked in. I'm not so much on a cleaning kick like I was with our last baby (I actually hired someone to clean our house for 10 hours!) but I'm on an organizing kick. There are some major areas of clutter, in my opinion, that need to be reorganized. Then, there are the basic things you have to do with every new arrival, like clean clothes and get the car seat ready. So, here is my current to-do list. One is for me and one is for my husband. I have always been overdue, so we probably have more than 3 weeks to get these things done, but I generally like everything done at least a week before I'm technically due.

MommyK's list
Finish bills for Sept early and reorder dentist payment checks from insurance
Finish making Cherry's diaper bag that is now 9 months overdue
Purchase small stool for new nursing chair
Get clothes, car seat, swing, bouncy seat, bassinet from attic/basement and clean
Organize changing table drawer
Get new dresser from garage and move Boo Boo's clothes in with Sid the Science Kid's
Collect supplies for homebirth
Make an upstairs diaper basket for nighttime
Clean crib sheets and put on bumper pads
Finish Boo Boo's baby book (a goal of mine before each new arrival is to finish the previous baby book)
Finish Boo Boo's brag book (a weekly photo of him through 6 months - I have one for each kid)
Organize bathroom cabinets
Organize foyer closet
Organize mess in mudroom (laundry room - our junk door broke and it's all over the floor in there)
After baby: make new nursing blankets, add gender fabric to wrap and make a new gender specific sling

Mr. Prince's list
Clean shower thoroughly
Get dresser from garage
Fix Saturn muffler and vacuum
Move fan to master bedroom from girls' room
Fix broken window
Mow and work on overgrown vines in yard

Oh, and on both lists...NAMES!! We seriously have had a few light conversations about names and that's it. We really need to sit down and discuss them. Angelica Pickles was named when she was almost 7 days overdue, but we did have a different name picked out prior to that. So, we aren't really quick at picking out names, but I also don't want a baby without a name for a few days either! The pressure is bad enough as it is!

Mr. Prince actually did a lot this weekend. He fixed the dryer and upstairs toilet with his dad and put my railing back up on the stairs. He's fixing the muffler tomorrow. I reorganized our kitchen cabinets and the girls' closet, which has the girls' clothes, mine and Mr. Prince's (a walk-in). So, all in all a successful Saturday. More to do tomorrow!