A new little visitor...

Yesterday our friends Diana and Anil and their 5-week old little Zahra came for a visit. Zahra (as you can see) is just beautiful--and so tiny! It was fun to hold the little munchkin and visit with our friends. :)

Diana and the bean

Zahra and Joel

Anil and Lyla

Zahra and Lyla checking each other out :)

What a weekend :)

Our messy little eater :)

On Friday Lyla got her suprapubic catheter pulled--woohoo! She (and her parents) are enjoying being free of those pesky catheters. :) She's been sleeping better and eating better and just progressing really well every day. Her incision looks awesome too. She's even back to doing tummy time. :) We truly give thanks to God for bringing her through this on the wings of many, many prayers. On October 1st she gets the test done to see if the surgery has resolved the urinary reflux--we're praying hard that it has!

On Saturday Lyla got to help in her first garage sale. I think her cuteness definitely boosted sales! That evening we went for a long walk in the country while Daddy put up a tree stand.

And on Sunday we went to church and then fishing with Daddy. The weather has been so gorgeous lately! It was perfect weather to be out in the boat. Joel caught a pretty good-sized Northern and some slime got on Lyla's diaper bag--so that was special. The funniest part of the fishing outing was when we were coming back to the landing in the no-wake zone--just putting along, and Lulu (our 5 lb yorkie) decides to jump off the bow of the boat into the river. Joel had to scoop her out with the net. It was hilarious. :) Anyway, hope you are having a fun Labor Day weekend too!

Enjoy the pics and vids. :)

The Slimer

You can disregard my talking in the background--I had been on the phone with my parents but I actually ended up accidently hanging up on them--oops.

This video was taken about a month ago on another beautiful evening on the river. :)

Turning the corner...

Yesterday Lyla had a follow-up appt with her surgeon and she got her foley cath removed--yay! She still has the other one until Friday. We were of course concerned that she might not be able to pee after getting the foley removed, but she's been peeing like a champ! Oh, the little victories. :) Also, she's been eating much better--close to normal, in fact. And she's been sleeping through the night much more peacefully, and she doesn't require pain medication anymore. She's mostly back to her happy-dappy self! So thank you for your prayers--we know they are being heard and answered. We are looking forward to Friday, when she can be line-free if all is well. :)

Enjoy the pics and video--

Cutie pie

Pics from the hospital

Here are just a few from Thursday and Friday.

Two grandpas doting over their sweet granddaughter.

Her toes are still cute. :)

Oh, the hospital fun.

The beginning shot on this video looks a little gross--the bloody thing is Lyla's catheter bag with her urine in it. Every day it gets clearer and more normal looking.

She has had apretty good day today--eating better and smiling quite a bit--Lyla smiles are good for the soul. :) Hopefully she'll be able to sleep better tonight!

We're home!

Just wanted to let you know that we unexpectedly got to come home from the hospital today! Lyla's doctor seems to think she's doing well enough. He said her appetite will eventually return. She did come home with both her foley catheter and the suprapubic catheter, which isn't extremely fun but it's still better than being at the hospital. She's having a bit of a rough evening--crying and uncomfortable and we can't quite figure out why. But I guess she's not going to be 100% for at least a few days. She had a big, bad surgery for pete's sake! It's just hard to see her suffering though. Anyway, we praise the Lord for her progress--she was pretty happy and more back to herself for the majority of the day. It is just amazing what a human body can take--especially such a little one. But we are glad to be home. Thanks for your continued prayers. If you do want to come for a visit please just call first. We love you!

Jenny & Joel

9 months today...

Lyla's 9 month birthday probably won't be a day that we look back upon fondly. She had a rough night last night--woke up several times (Grandma Cathy stayed with her at the hospital through the night) and just seemed uncomfortable. She still was not peeing this morning after having her catheter out for over 24 hours so they did an ultrasound to see if there was urine sitting in her bladder that she wasn't passing. Sure enough there was, so she had to be re-catheterized. Also, we tried to give her tylenol with codeine twice and she threw it up twice. So we're going to stick with just plain tylenol I guess. She still isn't eating hardly anything, but does seem a bit more comfortable now that her bladder is drained. Please pray that she'll start eating and that her pain will be well-controlled with just the tylenol. And just that she overall gets well enough to go home! I'm guessing we might be here until Sunday or Monday. I'll let you know if her day starts to get better. Love, Jenny

Well...

Lyla's not having such a great day today. She has not peed on her own since the catheter was taken out--it's been 8 hours. Also, she won't eat anything by mouth--she's had a total of 6 oz today, most of which was eaten at 8 this morning. She seems very uncomfortable and has had to have several doses of IV morphine today. We think she's uncomfortable because her bladder is full but she can't pee it out. I don't think she'll be going home tomorrow. Please pray that she takes a turn for the better. Thanks and love to you--Jenny

Slowly but surely...

Lyla gets better every day. Yesterday was a little rough because the ansthesia had worn off and she was having some pain--pretty typical for 2nd day after surgery. But we did get the pain under control and she had a great evening and slept really well last night. She slept from 9:30pm until 7 this morning! Now it's 9 am and she's back to sleep after having a bath and a bottle. Her surgeon came in this morning and removed her foley cath so all she has left is the suprapubic cath and the IV. If she eats well today and seems to do well overall, we may get to go home tomorrow. That would be awesome. :) She's our amazing little trooper as always. We know the Lord is carrying her through.

Thank you for your prayers and love sent Lyla's way. :)
Love, Jenny & Joel

Photo Update :)

Grandma's here--yay!

Papa's here too--yippee!

Lyla's favorite thing to chew on--her burp cloth

Arriving at the hospital on surgery day at 5:30am

Mom's a little nervous--Lyla's just sleepy :)

Lyla's slightly ghetto surgery hat :)

Little gangsta, friendly gangsta

Papa and Grandma getting in their last snugs & kisses

Grandpa John taking a break from work to say hello and give some last minute loves to Lyla

This is Lyla on Versed--feeling good right before going into the OR--she was SO funny :)

Here the surgery is over and the bean is pretty wiped out. She has a suprapubic catheter that goes directly into her left ureter and also a regular catheter. She's hooked up to the monitor because of the pain meds she's on. And of course she has an IV. Even though she looks pretty rough, she's actually doing really well.

Thanks for your continued prayers!!!

Update...

Lyla is done with her surgery and doing fine! Praise the Lord. It took 3 1/2 hours. Her surgeon successfully removed the pouch that was on her bladder and while doing that, realized that her left ureter was actually draining into the diverticulum instead of her bladder. For that reason he ended up re-implanting both ureters rather than just the one on the right side. He said that all went really well. We are now on the peds unit and she is just sleeping peacefully and doesn't seem to be uncomfortable.

Thank you so much for your prayers and emails and phone calls. We feel so blessed to have so many that love and support us. We continue to pray for a speedy and painless recovery for Lyla Jane. And we'll continue to keep you updated as she progresses!

Love, Jenny & Joel

Surgery Tomorrow

Well, the day has just about arrived for Lyla's surgery. My parents are flying in today--yay!--and staying for 6 days. They will be a great support for us. :) Tomorrow at 7:30 am Lyla will be having her right ureter re-implanted into her bladder to hopefully solve the urinary reflux problem. She will also have the large diverticulum (pouch) removed from her bladder so urine and bacteria can't pool in there anymore and cause infections. The surgery is expected to take about 3-4 hours. We are praying that it is a huge success and that Lyla will come through it without a hitch. More specifically, we are praying that the Lord will give her surgeon and surgical team (who, by the way, have been hand-selected by Joel's dad who is an OR nurse) wisdom and that her surgeon's hands and mind will be calm and confident. We are praying that her anesthesia works exactly as it should and that Lyla will be pain free. We are praying that the surgery will be as sterile as possible and that Lyla will not get any infections from it. We are praying that her IV and catheter and breathing tube will go in effortlessly, and that God will watch over every detail. Most importantly we pray that Lyla will heal quickly and painlessly and that her urinary problems will be solved. And even more we pray that God will be exalted in all of this. Lyla is in His loving hands, as always. Thank you for your love and prayers.

Here are a few random pics from the last week or so...

We discovered yesterday that Lyla LOVES her sippy cup!

Auntie Bryana time--Lyla fell asleep in her arms :)

Joel caught a tree frog in our back yard and took some pics of it--

I think he's kinda cute

Found Lyla sleeping like this the other day--all stretched out!

Psalm 37:7 Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him.

A visitor & a blessing

Last week My Great Aunt Gina stopped by for a visit. She got to meet Lyla for the first time--this was really special because she has been a constant prayer warrior for Lyla Jane since the day she was born.

They had fun together. :)

Aunt Gina is a nun. Joel and I got a chance to ask her about her ministry. It was so neat to hear all the places she has gone and all the things she has done throughout her 50+ year ministry to serve others. What a heart for God. And at the end of the visit, Aunt Gina prayed a special blessing over Lyla--it was absolutely beautiful. She also prayed for Joel and I. This amazing woman touched our hearts and blessed our home in such a special way during her short visit here.

We love you Aunt Gina!

And one thing that she said to Joel and I really made us stop and think. We were telling her about how we have really learned a lot about trusting Lyla to God throughout this whole journey. And she asked us if we have ever stopped to think about how much God must trust us to have put Lyla in our care. This had never really dawned on us before--we were truly encouraged by it. :) :)

Prayer request...

Just asking for prayer for Lyla because she has not been eating well at all lately and it's really stressing Joel & I out. Can't seem to figure out why the change. She seems just fine, but I just wonder if she's growing very much with such a small intake. Thanks & Blessings to you. :)

Trip to AZ!

Lyla and I had a great trip to Arizona to visit my family. It was kind of a last minute idea, but it worked out so well and was just a wonderful blessing. I was worried that Lyla would have a tough time on the airplane flights (four total--Minneapolis to Denver and Denver to Tucson and vice versa), but she did awesome--hardly even fussed at all! We got to have lots of quality time with Grandma and Papa and Uncle Linc, Aunt Abby and the cuzzies of course. It was good to get away for a bit and forget about the stress of Lyla's upcoming surgery. We got to go to the zoo, go swimming, and we even got to have a special prayer for Lyla with all of the elders of Linc's church. They all prayed over her and she was anointed with oil for healing. Also, my parents actually had an open house one day so that all their friends and church aqcuaintences could come over and meet this little girl they've been praying for. It was humbling and altogether amazing. And of course my mom absolutely spoiled Lyla and I--she even did Lyla's early morning feeding every morning!

Six days was just not long enough...

Enjoy the pics and vids.

Grandma's girl

Charis Anne

The Ziggy look :)

Fun with Uncle Linc

What a cutie

Fun with Papa

She keeps getting stronger!

Feeding the giraffes at the zoo--look at Charis sticking her tongue out too :)

Sink bath!

Sophie helping Lyla with her bottle :)

Fun in the pool

Pink toesies! (Charis, Sophie, and Auntie Jenny)