Starting Over!

Okay folks, hang on because we are going for another ride! 

We are starting over from square one! 

So as you all know, Ira has already had 2 surgeries. With the first she had the mucus fistula and ileostomy bag. With the second they reconnected her and hoped she would get better and things would start working correctly, then we'd be able to go home.

 Attempt #1 = FAIL

*If at first you don't succeed, try try again!!

*Don't give no for an answer!!

*Just keep swimming!!

(Every other "don't give up quote"...enter here!) 

To explain...after Ira's first surgery, her body started stooling out of her incision. Her body had made its own mucus fistula internally, and was leading her stool out the path of least resistance. Dr. H (head of the surgical team...his job is literally bowel problems!) said that he was pretty sure that her bowel had perforated again, and the reason for that was because there is a part of her bowel that just doesn't work at all. We have no clue why it doesn't work, but looking back he wishes really badly he would have just taken that part out while he had the chance. But he was trying to be hopeful and give her body time so that it may heal up and start working correctly on its own.

Eventually, her body closed up that hole, and that's when we all got excited because she was finally stooling through her bottom! Well, we got excited...not for no reason, but not the reason we were wanting! After her body stopped leaking stool out of her side, Dr. H was nervous that something like this would happen. She'd get sick. Thankfully, she didn't/hasn't gotten near as sick as she could. Her body...rather than continuing to stool out her side, closed one hole, backed up the upper part of her bowel (because remember that one section of her bowel doesn't work at all), and created another hole on the other side of her abdomen! Well that hole and mucus fistula, unlike the 1st one didn't have a way to get the fluid/stool outside of her body! So she was stooling out, internally! That's why she got sick! Her bowel perforated again, her body got an infection, her belly got very swollen, her fevers were high and finally they caught the build up of fluid/stool. So they placed a catheter into her abdomen to drain the build up...they got out 3 ounces of fluid.

>>GAME  PLAN!!!<<

1. Let her heal this week and get this infection under control, hopefully that means delt with!

2. Not this week, but the next...go in for surgery #1 (technically surgery #3), make a mucus fistula and ileostomy again...AND place a feeding tube into her stomach! (Will explain the feeding tube in a minute)

3. Wait until she recovers and they make 100% certain that all her colon works (feed her)...wait a little longer...preform surgery #2 (technically #4)  and reconnect her bowels.

4. Heal up, start feeds, teach her to eat from a bottle during the day and get a constant feed during the night through her feeding tube, then....GO HOME!!!! 

So yes, we will have a daughter with a feeding tube in her stomach.

No, you will not see it! (Unless you ask!)

No, you cannot touch it!

Yes, it's awesome!

Yes, it kind of makes me nervous! But oh well!

No, it will NOT be forever!

Yes, that means it will be temporary!

Our baby girl will be 100% PERFECT and pooping like a champ before we all know it! 

The reason she will have a temporary feeding tube is to help her gain weight faster. She will have the feeding tube, which looks just like a cap to a beach ball that you put your mouth on to blow up, and she will have it until she gets a little older. How long? Don't know. Don't care. It will be placed right on the side of her stomach and her clothes will cover it up.

We will have to change it out, just like an earring and put a bigger one in as she grows and eats more, but like I said this is just temporary! 

Eventually, they will just pull the feeding tube out and her body will heal that spot up all on its own, so there is no surgery needed to take out the feeding tube! 

Now...the Game Plan could be effected in a major way IF Dr. H, while in surgery...sees that Ira's colon looks AMAZING!! If it does look amazing, he may be able to just take out the bad section of bowel, reconnect and be done. We are all pretty confident that her colon works correctly because we have seen it, but Dr. H says...better to be safe than sorry. With this upcoming surgery she will lose more bowel, but if you didn't know...as your body grows so does your bowels. Your body makes more bowel as you grow and develop. So Ira will be fine as she gets older and has more bowel!. Either way,  this upcoming surgery, they will either make a mucus fistula and an ileostomy, or they will reconnect the two bowels. The rest of the plan will be the same IF all things go accordingly!

Your constant prayers have been much appreciated, but prayer warriors, we ask that you still make mention of Ira Jo! We've been on such a long journey and still have months to go.

Thank you for all your love and support

~Linden, Lani, Ada Lou & Ira Jo 

2 Steps Forward 1 Step Back

To sum up NICU life...two big steps forward and then one big step backwards! :(

Just when we get excited about one thing it all changes and breaks a little piece of your heart all over again.
Wednesday, August 10th, we were SO excited. Ira got rid of her breathing vent and all her tubes! Her sweet face was completely clear and we could finally see her cheeks with no tape on them! The whole day was so needed! The snuggles were none stop! Daddy even took off work to come down and snuggle sweet baby!! Have to get those kisses in on the clear cheeks while you can...because just like this, everything changed. After we left Wednesday, Ira threw up 6 times. It was just stomach liquids because she's not getting feed yet, but they were hoping she wouldn't throw up at all. So they took an x-ray and decided to put her suction tube back in her nose and into her tummy to suck out all her stomach juices. The x-ray showed that her stomach is enlarged and unable to do its job correctly. Yes, it has worked correctly before because she was on full feeds before surgery, but it's not working correctly now. :(
They obviously want to get her to start getting milk so that her bowels have more to work with, so they've came up with a plan. On one side of her nose she will have the suction tube in her stomach...on the other side of her nose, they are going to put a feeding tube in past the stomach all the way to the top of the bowel and feed her bowels directly. They are hoping that will help her bowels have more to push threw and hopefully work correctly or faster. She did have 2 dirty diapers that she has pushed out herself; however, she hasn't pushed anymore out, so they have had to help her. They do whats called irrigation every 8 hours...I'm sure you can all guess what happens when they do that!  It helps her that's all that matters! That and it doesn't hurt her at all! Anyways, that's the plan for now. The surgeon was honest with us and said that the stomach issue...yes, it's a pain, but it's not a surgical procedure...in fact it's something that will go away with time and if it takes a long time (he's seen cases were it takes months for the stomach to work again) we can come home with a feeding tube and little by little her stomach will learn to work again. Of course it's not ideal, but we will do WHATEVER is needed to help our baby! The bigger issue would be if her bowels closed where they were reconnected. X-rays are showing that that has happened a little, but not enough to be worried. If it does happen there would be another surgery and just that much longer of a stay. (Praying that DOESN'T happen!) But also if her bowels don't start pushing out the stole by themselves, she will have to be irrigated every day, every 8 hours, and yes that is something we can do at home as well, but they are not fond of the idea of letting us bring her home and doing that right now. They aren't comfortable with us bringing her home with two tubes in her face. (Pray she starts doing EVERYTHING herself!!!) Surgeon said there was a boy they kept at the hospital for 3 extra months to watch and irrigate everyday..then one day his colon woke up completely and he was able to go home! I was happy but my eyes got huge at the sound of 3 extra months! The surgeon looks at me and so sweetly says, "I know you want your baby home and we want you to have her home, but we want her to be safe. We don't want you to have to worry about anything..even though we know you will...but I do want to tell you, your family has a good couple more months here at the hospital. Specially, with this stomach issue now showing up. So, please don't get your hopes up on having her home for awhile, but obviously we don't know for certain so we will just hope her stay time is much shorter than we expect!"
A smile on my face...my heart on the floor.
We knew it was going to be a long road to recovery, but like I said..when you see the two big steps forward, you get so excited, then you're taking that big step back, and it hurts. We are just praying she comes home for Christmas!
There is so much to pray for...we feel selfish to ask for a miracle, but we know God is capable, and in the end we will be happy with whatever God's plan is because Thy Will Be Done!

Prayer Requests
1. Ira's bowels don't narrow, close, or develop any blockages.
2. She starts pooping by herself, at least once a day...out of her bottom.
3. Her stomach size goes down, and it starts working properly so they can feed it rather than suction it.
4. Over all health and development...that everything can just start working the way that it's suppose to so that she can be a happy healthy little girl!
5. Mom and Dads hearts are feeling very weary so prayers that we find peace and patience on this long constantly changing road.
6. Ada Lou is feeling plenty of love and attention through all this..specially because we honestly have NO idea how long our lives will be like this.

P.S. Don't be alarmed if this all changes and this isn't the plan by like..oh Morning? Sorry everything is so unpredictable!! Things are just getting a lot more complicated than just dirty diapers!

August 6th BEST DAY EVER!

Other than June 8th (Ira's birthday), August 6th is going down in the Sink Family Record book as the best day in 2016!!!

HER FIRST POOP!!! 

Then about an hour or two later....HER SECOND POOP! Lol 

I will never forget the months of my life were I prayed so hard that God would give me a dirty diaper to change, and I can promise you,  I will NEVER complain about dirty diapers, explosions or anything else that may come! Lol 

The surgery team is very impressed that Ira started pooping on her own after her little set back, and of course they have to thank surgery, but we all know the real reason behind her life and this miracle!! So we know WHO is really to be thanked for all of this! ;) 

All the Glory to God!! 

Aurter...(pronounced Aurther)...can't say his last name..(surgeon fellow...from Ukraine...AWESOME accent! Lol) 

Says Ira has made HUGE progress, but with surgeons,  good news also comes with  bad news! He said although she's pooping, there could be another set back. Knowing her colon works is awesome, but also knowing that there is still weeks of recovery isn't. Unfortunately, there are cases were the bowels heal together all the way...all the way meaning, it literally heals the bowel completely shut so she can't pass stole. How do you fix that? Surgery! They would go back in, cut out the bowel that was shut completely, and sew two new ends together. 

My question was, "what would stop those two ends from doing the same thing?!"

His answer...."nothing." 

Perfect. 

But good news is, that if that doesn't happen, which we are praying it doesn't {HUGE Prayer Request}, she wouldn't need anymore surgery at all! Woohoo! Liking the sound of that! Of course they are wanting to see a poopy diaper everyday, so my poop praying days are not over yet! 

Ira is not a fan of the effort it takes on her end to poop...poor thing isn't use to all this gas and the hard pushes, so she's very unsettled and grumpy. {Prayer request}

So for now that's all the updates I have other than my baby is 2 months old today! :) 

But thank you for your prayers and your love!! 

Please help us continue to pray for Ira's healing and that there doesn't have to be anymore surgery!!! 

Thank you all so much!! 

Love to all! 

~The Sinks 

All Things Are Possible If you BELIEVE!!! Mark 9:23

God is here with us! No doubt about it!

As many of you know, Ira had her second surgery (reconnection surgery) on Monday, July 25th. Friday, August 5th, God showed just how in control He really is!! First I HAVE to tell you about the past week in a half!

After Ira's surgery she took a nasty turn for the worst. Thankfully, she never spiked a fever, but she did what the doctors called "clamp downs" several times. "Clamp Downs" are when a babies stats drop very low, and if not helped immediately, it could result in death. The reason for these so called "clamp downs" was because Ira was having a very hard time breathing. There was a big build up of liquid in her lungs, as well as, an unbearable amount of pain from surgery that she could not handle. On top of all of that, she has a breathing tube down her throat again which is very uncomfortable. So I don't blame her at all for being scared, in pain, and uncomfortable, I just wish I could have skipped seeing my baby turn blue and be bagged in order to breath again. 'Bagged' is when a nurse or doctor has to take matters into their own hands and literally hook a bag up to a baby's vent and initiate breaths for the baby because they stop breathing for whatever reason. 

Fast forward a few days...

A red spot developed on Ira's tummy, doctors proscribed antibiotics right away just in case it was an infection. It presented itself to be an infection at first, then all the sudden it went away... Then things got interesting. 

Monday, August 1st, (1 week after surgery) she started leaking something through her incision...more antibiotics were given for infection...not infection. Instead, POOP!

Her body had made its own mucus fistula out of the incision that the surgeons had made.

(Note...I told my daughter "Ira...this is mommies birth month..please be a good girl and poop for me!"....Guess I should have been more specific!?)

That Monday quickly turned into the worst Monday Linden or I have ever had!

Hearing a surgeon apologize to you because the surgery didn't work, and the next step is to start completely back over..is heartbreaking. But then to hear to the man who's suppose to help save your child look you in the face and tell you "If her colon is the problem, and it doesn't work at all..we will take her colon out and reroute her small bowel to her bottom. Now please know, babies have a very hard time living without a colon. Yes, it is possible for babies to live...but not very often do they live long." Those words set me back into my seat...Tears STREAMING down our faces, we felt helpless. Right then and there we died inside at the very thought that we could lose our baby. We held each other, prayed, cried, and repeated. Just thinking about what the surgeon said and the feelings they give me, still makes my eyes fill with tears and my heart hurt. 

That was THE worst night of sleep I had ever gotten. 

I remember countless amounts of times, while Linden slept...I just stood over Ira and cried out to God, "please don't take my baby!"

He heard me!

I didn't sleep...I sat in the chair next to Ira and watched the time roll by.

7:00 am Tuesday, August 2nd...God showed himself to me and told me that everything was going to be okay...that I just need to be still.

Beside every baby in the pod...there is a computer. Us parents are not suppose to look at any other computer except the computer next to our baby! HIPPA!!

Anyways, at 7:00am the nurses switch from night shift to day shift...they sit at the supply desk next to each baby and give the updates and notes for how the baby did for them and so on. As I sat next to Ira, I watched the nurses across from me chat. I could not hear a word they were saying because I was in my own mind, thinking about all the news we received the night before. For some reason, my eyes drifted towards the computer next to the baby's bed across from us....there I saw a perfectly white screen...it looked like it was in word excel with nothing else around it...in the middle of the screen there looked to be a column with about 10-15 blocks, filled vertically. (No idea what any of them said) About a forth of the way down the vertical column there was a horizontal sentence going clear a crossed (no idea what it said)...It made an absolute perfect cross right smack in the middle of the computer screen. I stared in disbelief until the nurses got up and walked towards the baby's bed, passing the computer. Without either one of the nurses touching it or the keys, I watched the screen go back to its home page. I was meant to look at that screen. It was the first time through this whole big journey that I smiled, felt joy, happiness, peace, and KNEW God was telling me that He had this all under control, all at the same time. I finally fell asleep after that and it was the best sleep I've gotten since Ira's been born.
Fastforward to Friday, August 5th...my parents went to see Ira Jo.
I received a text message at 6:04 pm from my mom that put me in joyful tears for the very first time!
Ira is passing gas out of her bottom! LOUDLY!!! She's proclaiming to the world that her colon is waking up and wanting to work! The surgeon came to take a look at Ira just before my parents left, and he mentioned to them just how big of a deal her farts were! (lol never thought I'd say and/or type that!) We aren't sure what the next step is exactly, but as of right now the surgeons are not planning on doing any surgery, in hopes that this miracle continues to happen and she poops out of her bottom!! That would mean her body is fixing itself! How Great Is Our God?? Seriously! Now please know we are not getting over the top excited because there's not been any poopy diapers...but let me tell you the day there is a poopy diaper, every single one of you will know!! New Center 7 will broadcast about a crazy young white female running around Cincinnati Ohio screaming and crying "Hallelujah" all while holding and waving a poopy diaper above her head!! LOL (You think I'm kidding...you wait!)
But seriously guys how AWESOME is our God!?!? (Im squealing!)
Thank you all so much for praying for Ira Jo and our family!
Please continue to pray for Ira to poop correctly and her body to heal itself without needing surgery again...but most importantly that Gods' will be done through all this! All the glory be to HIM!
Thank you all so much! Much love!
~The Sinks