March 12, 2010

Friday, March 12, 2010 10:17 AM, EST

Phillipians 4:11b-13

I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.

12I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.

13I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

Well, I can't say that I have learned to be content but I am learning and I'm afraid that will be a lifelong challenge for me. Yes, I trust the Lord and yes, I know His ways are perfect but I sometimes struggle and have to remind myself to be still.

So very often I say how thankful I am that things aren't worse and we've come so far. And I am truly thankful.

Geneva goes to endocrinology, neurology and urology appointments the first week of April. At that time her kidneys will get a ultrasound to check for horseshoe shape, which is a common issue for girls with TS. We are praying those appointments go well. Praise God she hasn't had any more seizure episodes since leaving the hospital and has been med free for about 5 months!!

I might have mentioned before but we received her newborn screening in the mail in December or January. It stated that although she passed her newborn screening, she is at an increased risk for hearing loss and needs to be tested every 6 months for the first 3 years of her life. Her hearing test is scheduled for Monday, March 22nd. The interesting this is many years ago I told the children I wanted to learn some sign language because we just never knew when it would be useful and a blessing to someone. I even said that you never know if the Lord would bless us with a child with a hearing impairment. When my husband's grandmother lost more of her hearing, I so wish we all knew more sign language to help us communicate better. Our oldest daughter was able to learn some when she want on a missions trip to help build a school for the deaf. So, we've decided that now is a wonderful time to introduce sign language to Geneva. We have shown her some signs but I would like to buy the Signing Times DVD set so we all can learn some more. It comes in very handy when in public, especially in quiet places like church and the library, and is also a blessing to use when everyone has sore throats. : ) Hearing loss seems so minor compared to other conditions.

We love our cardiologist and are so thankful for her! I suppose I just pray and hope one day we'll walk into her office and just for once be "out of the woods" and not feel like we are going to possibly face another surgery. It is frightening to think of that possibility but the fact is that Geneva's valves are just barely large enough to be adequate. The good news is that they are growing but just not by leaps and bounds and that is where I struggle with contentment.

Geneva is quite a determined little girl. She is growing and such a joy for us. She is not usually too interested in toys these days, except for a few, and mostly prefers computer cords, remote controls and phones. Oh, she loves phones but not fake phones, just the real deal please. :-) Instead of crawling like conventional babies, she likes to crawl on her back and shoot herself backwards and then dig in her feet and do it again. It gets her to where she wants to go.

On the homefront, we've had strep throat pass through and Geneva had a positive test for RSV. It was a huge blessing that her oxygen wasn't below 93% and she didn't need to be hospitalized. If she were to need a breathing treatment, it could cause some tachycardia which would put an extra strain on her sweet little punkin' heart. Thank you Lord that she did so well. We moved from there to the stomach virus and every day for the last nine days, someone has been throwing up between 1 and 3am and I've gotten up with them and am exhausted. Please pray this passes quickly and doesn't hit anyone else again and Harry and Geneva will stay healthy.

Thank you for your continued notes of love and encouragement! They mean so much to all of us. I still haven't taken the time to set aside to figure out how to resize photos. I tried something one day and almost wiped out a whole slew of pictures. LOL So, I need to set aside some undisturbed momma computer time and there are just other pressing needs at the moment. In the meantime, Harry has uploaded pictures to: LittleGeneva.com and you can see how much she's grown over there.

Many blessings,

Stephanie