We are in the waiting room preparing for surgery. The anestegiologist is in another surgery right now so we have to wait. We talked to the neurosurgeon, Dr Scarli and the plastic surgeon, Dr Mann.
Pastor Tim always talks about Pastor Dave advising him not to pray with his eyes. I would have to add not praying with your ears to that. Ezra is doing well right now, the nurses in the NICU are keeping him comfortable. In a few moments he will be having the first of many surgeries.
The preop report from the surgeons is that the defect is larger than normal. The use of his legs is likely to be very little below the hips. We still have to talk to ortho to see what they can do, like moving tendons and such. The plastic surgeon said the closure surgery will need longer than he expected. It will likely be a few hours.
The nuero surgeon also said he will likely need a shunt, but we'll wait to be sure. What we were hoping would be a two week stay is starting to look like it will be longer.
After all the time we have had to prepair, it is emotionally draining. Having him here with us has helped, but we still cannot hold him. Now all we can do is leave him in Gods hands.
He looks strong, like a fighter, but he is still so weak. We pray for strength from God that he will not just get through the surgeries, but that Gods providence will be with him, and that Lauren and I will stand firm in our faith and the hope of out salvation.
We pray for ourselves what Paul prayed for the Ephesians.
14 For this reason I kneel before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. 16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.
Dave
January 5, 2011
January 4, 2011
Ezra James is here
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| Brand new Ezra |
Our day started bright and early at 5:30 to get prepped for my surgery. We did have some down time waiting for things, but we took advantage of by trying to name our son. Once things got going they started going fast.
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| In the NICU showing off all his hair |
Once Ezra was situated in the NICU and I started feeling better we were able to visit Ezra. He looks so good. This has been a very emotional day for both Dave and I. Tomorrow Ezra will have his surgery on his back. Because the spine opening is so large, about 4cm by 6cm, a plastic surgeon will come in to finish the closure. We don't know exactly what will need to be done and this might cause his stay to be longer.
It is so hard to be away from my son and I can't wait until we all are able to be together.
Here are some pictures from the day.
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| Heading down to surgery |
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| Visiting Ezra in the NICU |
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| More visiting |
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| Family hanging out in the recovery room |
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| Baby Ezra |
Thank you again for your prayers and encouragement. This has been one of the hardest days of my life but I know God is in control.
January 3, 2011
The Results are in...
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| Atreyu sleeping on the way down to Grand Rapids with all our stuff! |
I am so relieved, I couldn't imagine heading back home after all the packing I did, and the stressing over packing. I don't know what I would have done with myself for another week.
At the same time, I AM HAVING A BABY TOMORROW!!! I can't believe I am going to be a mom of two boys not even 13 months apart. We are so excited though, I can't wait to meet this guy.
We will be staying at the hospitality house in the hospital while he is in the NICU. We would love to hear from you. You can call (616) 391 9402 also Dave will have his cell phone on him, you can also write to us:
Renucci Hospitality House
c/o Dave and Lauren Hannon
100 Michigan Street NE
Grand Rapids MI 49503
Hopefully we will be out of here sooner than later, but we have to spend some time here. Thank you for all the encouragement we have received, and thank you so much for your prayers.
We will keep everyone updated.
December 27, 2010
Happy Christmas!
We had a great time with family for Christmas. It was fun to watch Atreyu open presents.
Here are some pictures. Some with the old lame camera and some with our awesome new amazing camera.
So in one week we will know if this new little guy is ready to join the outside world. Monday Jan 3rd we will be driving down to Grand Rapids to test to see if his lungs are developed enough. Then if they are my c-section will be on the 4th. On the 5th he will have his surgery to close the opening in his back. If he is not ready then we will deliver a week later.
We will love as much prayer as you want to bring. These are major surgeries for both of us. Prayer for safety, quick healing and for the doctors. Also pray that while we are in the hospital the doctors are able to find things, through the test the perform and observation, that will help the new little guy out. I would love to be in and out of there fast but I also know that if we are there for a while it will be what he needs, so the doctors can help him heal.
I have my moments of stress but I feel like we are ready. The freezer is full of dinner and cookies so the family wont starve. Atreyu is ready to be a big brother (even though he doesn't know it yet) and I think we will survive having two boys 13 months apart. We still don't have a name but I am sure we will figure it out once we see him.
I will update next Monday once we find out for sure if he is ready.
Here are some pictures. Some with the old lame camera and some with our awesome new amazing camera.
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| Christmas with Nana |
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| Checking out the presents at Grandma and Grandpa's |
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| He could care less about the present he wanted the plastic or box it came in |
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| playing with his new toys |
So in one week we will know if this new little guy is ready to join the outside world. Monday Jan 3rd we will be driving down to Grand Rapids to test to see if his lungs are developed enough. Then if they are my c-section will be on the 4th. On the 5th he will have his surgery to close the opening in his back. If he is not ready then we will deliver a week later.
We will love as much prayer as you want to bring. These are major surgeries for both of us. Prayer for safety, quick healing and for the doctors. Also pray that while we are in the hospital the doctors are able to find things, through the test the perform and observation, that will help the new little guy out. I would love to be in and out of there fast but I also know that if we are there for a while it will be what he needs, so the doctors can help him heal.
I have my moments of stress but I feel like we are ready. The freezer is full of dinner and cookies so the family wont starve. Atreyu is ready to be a big brother (even though he doesn't know it yet) and I think we will survive having two boys 13 months apart. We still don't have a name but I am sure we will figure it out once we see him.
I will update next Monday once we find out for sure if he is ready.
December 14, 2010
Atreyu is 1!
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| Brand New |
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| One month |
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| Three Months |
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| Two Months |
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| Five Months |
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| Four Months |
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| Six Months |
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| Seven Months |
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| Eight Months |
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| Nine Months |
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| Ten Months |
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| Eleven Months |
He had a great Birthday (I think so...I had fun). We gave him his present this morning. He loved that it had blinking lights.
Spent the day playing and getting ready for his party tonight.
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| Atreyu's homemade birthday cake |
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| Enjoying cake with friends and family |
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| Opening presents |
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| playing with his new frog |
Looking forward to the next year and for Atreyu to be a big brother in 3 weeks!
December 12, 2010
Only because you asked...
So I am writing this because I know if I had a friend in our situation I would want to know. A lot of people have been asking what we need for the baby and during our time in the hospital. So here it is.
-Size 1 and 2 diapers. Until we have a better understanding of how his bladder and bowels will work I will use disposable diapers instead of the cloth diapers that we have.
-Sleep and play 0-3 month/newborn outfits with snaps instead of zippers. It will be easier on the scar from the closure surgery, and if he has wires hooked up to him in the NICU they can just come through the snaps.
Thankfully since we are having another boy we already have a lot of the baby stuff that we need.
-For the hospital it would be nice to have a few gift cards for some restaurants in Grand Rapids. Even just a $5 gift card for Subway, Jimmy John's or Chipotle will really help us out.
-We will be able to store some food where we will be staying, so snack type foods or even Meijer gift cards would be great to stock up a little.
-The doctors let us know that we will have lots of follow-up appointments in Grand Rapids the first few months, just to go down to GR is a tank of gas which really adds up, so gas gift cards would really help.
Or if you want to help us with gas with out giving us a gift card, right now BP is doing a promotion until March that if you fill up over 8 gallons and take you receipt in after filling up you can receive a scratch card code. Once we collect 5 codes we can get a $10 BP gift card. The more codes we get the more gift cards we can receive for free!
Life will be crazy in January and all these things will add up for us but who ever can help will be such a blessing for us. Feel free to e-mail me if you have an questions, hannon.lauren@gmail.com
-Size 1 and 2 diapers. Until we have a better understanding of how his bladder and bowels will work I will use disposable diapers instead of the cloth diapers that we have.
-Sleep and play 0-3 month/newborn outfits with snaps instead of zippers. It will be easier on the scar from the closure surgery, and if he has wires hooked up to him in the NICU they can just come through the snaps.
Thankfully since we are having another boy we already have a lot of the baby stuff that we need.
-For the hospital it would be nice to have a few gift cards for some restaurants in Grand Rapids. Even just a $5 gift card for Subway, Jimmy John's or Chipotle will really help us out.
-We will be able to store some food where we will be staying, so snack type foods or even Meijer gift cards would be great to stock up a little.
-The doctors let us know that we will have lots of follow-up appointments in Grand Rapids the first few months, just to go down to GR is a tank of gas which really adds up, so gas gift cards would really help.
Or if you want to help us with gas with out giving us a gift card, right now BP is doing a promotion until March that if you fill up over 8 gallons and take you receipt in after filling up you can receive a scratch card code. Once we collect 5 codes we can get a $10 BP gift card. The more codes we get the more gift cards we can receive for free!
Life will be crazy in January and all these things will add up for us but who ever can help will be such a blessing for us. Feel free to e-mail me if you have an questions, hannon.lauren@gmail.com
December 7, 2010
Note to self: God is in control
Last week we were reminded of how much God is in control, even in all the little things. On Tuesday we had an appointment with Spectrum to see the NICU and talk with the Neonatologist.
We knew something was wrong with our car because of all the noise it was making, but we prayed and hope it would be alright. Well right outside of Grand Rapids the noise was getting worse and the car started shaking. Dave pulled off the road and checked the tire (which he could easily shake back and forth). He knew that our wheel baring was bad and if we were going to get home we had to have it fixed. Dave drove on the sholder up a mile to the next exit while I was looking on his Iphone for a mechanic near by, but the ones we were finding were to far away for the car to make.
(Here is where God does his cool stuff...) Once we pull off the exit there is a mechanic, and they can fix our car that day! And someone from the shop was heading down to Grand Rapids and could give us a ride to the hospital! (Good timing) Not exactly how we wanted to get there but hey it works.
We met with the social worker at the hospital, who was so helpful to us. She was able to answer so many questions and put my mind at ease about all the little things we (mostly I) was worried about. We also met with one of the Neonatologist who would be caring for this guy when he gets here, again he was great and able to answer more questions and explain a lot of what would happen once he is here. We toured the NICU, and found out we can have 4 visitors at a time, which is great for those who want to meet this guy right away.
Once we were done with our appointment we were planning on having dinner with Emily and Nate and Leigh and Andy, a couple of families whose boys have Spina Bifida. So thankfully Emily was able to pick us up, and make us a wonderful dinner (which I think I need to start making because Dave really enjoyed it) and then her husband Nate was able to drive us back to our car, which was now fixed. We were so thankful for their help and hospitality.
On our way home we were talking about how God's timing was in our whole day. Everything worked out, not the way we would have wanted but we know it was God telling us that he is in control and everything does not go the way we want it to, but the way He wants it and that "...all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose" (Roman 8:28)
Today we got the results from the amnio, and surprise his chromosomes are normal.
Also today Atreyu was really cute, I love that he can make me smile when I have been up since 4am because I can't sleep. He is getting so good at walking. I can't believe he will be 1 next week and in 4 weeks his brother will more than likely be here!
We knew something was wrong with our car because of all the noise it was making, but we prayed and hope it would be alright. Well right outside of Grand Rapids the noise was getting worse and the car started shaking. Dave pulled off the road and checked the tire (which he could easily shake back and forth). He knew that our wheel baring was bad and if we were going to get home we had to have it fixed. Dave drove on the sholder up a mile to the next exit while I was looking on his Iphone for a mechanic near by, but the ones we were finding were to far away for the car to make.
(Here is where God does his cool stuff...) Once we pull off the exit there is a mechanic, and they can fix our car that day! And someone from the shop was heading down to Grand Rapids and could give us a ride to the hospital! (Good timing) Not exactly how we wanted to get there but hey it works.
We met with the social worker at the hospital, who was so helpful to us. She was able to answer so many questions and put my mind at ease about all the little things we (mostly I) was worried about. We also met with one of the Neonatologist who would be caring for this guy when he gets here, again he was great and able to answer more questions and explain a lot of what would happen once he is here. We toured the NICU, and found out we can have 4 visitors at a time, which is great for those who want to meet this guy right away.
Once we were done with our appointment we were planning on having dinner with Emily and Nate and Leigh and Andy, a couple of families whose boys have Spina Bifida. So thankfully Emily was able to pick us up, and make us a wonderful dinner (which I think I need to start making because Dave really enjoyed it) and then her husband Nate was able to drive us back to our car, which was now fixed. We were so thankful for their help and hospitality.
On our way home we were talking about how God's timing was in our whole day. Everything worked out, not the way we would have wanted but we know it was God telling us that he is in control and everything does not go the way we want it to, but the way He wants it and that "...all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose" (Roman 8:28)
Today we got the results from the amnio, and surprise his chromosomes are normal.
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| He loves his sunglasses, even at night |
Also today Atreyu was really cute, I love that he can make me smile when I have been up since 4am because I can't sleep. He is getting so good at walking. I can't believe he will be 1 next week and in 4 weeks his brother will more than likely be here!
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