Surgery Today.

This is Kristy. It has been awhile since I have been able to write, but tonight I am home and just trying to catch up.

Today Samuel had his trach inserted. The surgery went very smooth. It is a relatively easy surgery with little complication. The surgeon also did a thorough look into Samuel's oral/nasal anatomy. She said it was very interesting...nothing that she had seen before. There is a cleft in the hard palate and in the soft palate, as well as the tongue, and top and bottom lip. Also there may be a bony stucture in the nasal cavity-so there is no connection between the nasal passage and the throat. Jeff is a lot better at explaining these things, so if he has time he can update the blog. Otherwise, Samuel is stable.

Although Samuel is well, we still have a long unknown road ahead. So many things the doctors are unsure. Samuel is our miracle baby. I think he is a miracle baby to so many others as well-especially the doctors. I still vividly remember sitting with the perinatalogist and hearing him say the words, "no hope". Well, Samuel has proved him wrong. Technology is not always accurate. And our God is much bigger than any technology.

God has continued to amaze me through our circumstance. God has been seen in so many ways. God has been using this situation for his glory-already. I don't know what the future looks like, but I know God has shared this amazing little boy with us to glorify Him. And as I see God work, I also see Satan work-trying to get a foothold on something, anything. Please pray for us and that we remain strong. Jeff and I definitely need prayer for the decisions we make daily. A slight communication error between us and Satan starts attacking. Just pray that we can be aware and remain as one knit tightly together. That we are sensitive to each other's reactions. Emotions are high, we are sleep deprived-perfect weapons for the enemy. We also need prayer for our other little boy Dawson. I can't imagine how confused he is. I know he can only comprehend so much, but he sees our pain, our anger, our fear. Not to mention his world has been turned upside down. Family in and out, routine-not so much, and a new baby brother. Dawson has been a little trooper-we just need to figure out how to make his life as normal as we can, but still helping him to understand our new life ahead of us. Also, pray for Samuel's brain to grow. At this point we are very unsure of how much brain tissue he actually has...but we know it is not a lot. I pray that his brain will grow...I believe in miracles.

Thank you everyone for your continued prayers and support. Our God is a good God! I know when my family has all left we will definitely need you all more than ever. Thank you.

FYI: We are at Memorial Hospital. We are more than glad to have visitors and to show off our little boy. We can't have our phones on in the hospital, but if you stop by and go to NICU, they will contact us to come out. Jeff or myself are usually at the hospital. Also, I will try to post new pictures soon. We can finally see little Samuel's face-no tubes and tape on his face, and his head is so much smaller.