We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps.

Proverbs 16:9

So remember our planned meeting on Wednesday??........ Yeah, it didn't happen! God had other plans for us! At 11:15 P.M. on Tuesday, June 7, 2016, my water broke.  When we arrived at Kettering Hospital, I was immediately hooked up to monitors and checked to see if I had dilated.  If I had dilated they would have taken Ira that night but since I wasn't they decided to hold off on delivery, and wait for a transport team to be on stand by.  They also wanted to wait for details from the NICU doctor as to how they wanted to treat Ira as soon as she was born.  Linden and I were able to sleep all night in our room and at 7:00 in the morning on Wednesday, June 8, 2016, we woke up to my wonderful OB doctor, Dr. Sharma from Huey and Weprin OBGYN.  Let me insert here that Dr. Sharma is an outstanding doctor and person.  She has cared for me and my family as if we were her own family! (she told me that my situation has given her many gray hairs from worrying about us so bad).  She gave us information from the NICU which brought us both to tears.  They told us that Ira had very high mountain to climb and they could not promise that she would survive. After Dr. Sharma left, I was getting my bedding changed and that is when they realized that I was bleeding.  They checked me and I was not dilating which confused the nurses so they told Dr. Sharma and she did not seem too worried at first, then a short time later, a gush of blood came out and Dr. Sharma then said that at 9:00 a.m. we would go to surgery.  As I was getting prepped for the C-section I continued to bleed profusely so they hurried me to the OR.  As they were giving me a spinal, I had a wall of blood gush out and Dr. Sharma went into high mode. 

                                                          At 10:06 a.m. Ira Jo was born! 

We were blessed beyond words when Ira started crying, it was a strong cry and it was a healthy cry. In a room full of "blue suits" there were tears flowing, not only because of her cry, but also that she was well developed and looked fairly healthy. {NOT what they expected!} God had once again showed Himself to us by proving that we did not need to have that team meeting this morning because He was in control and NO doctors were expecting her to be this big or this healthy.  We had been told that she would not cry because of being so sick.  They whisked her away to get her breathing stable in the room right next to us and once they had her intubated, they transferred her to a NICU room where she could be monitored her until transport got there.  Once they were done with surgery on me and after recovery, Linden and I were finally allowed to see her.  We could not hold her which was unbearable, but we could touch her and hold her little hands, and I sang "Jesus Loves Me" to her.  

They then told us that her transfer team was in the building.  When the transfer team walked in is when we realized that she was being care-flighted to Children's, but by this time I needed to be taken care of, and Linden went ahead and left for Children's to be there when Ira got there. We had my mom stay with Ira while the flight nurses worked on her getting her ready for the flight. They gave her Morphin and also sedated her because the flight can be traumatic for baby's, and she left on 100% oxygen.  From my room I was able to watch baby Ira fly away in the helicopter; once again God had provided just what I needed, a room from which I could watch Ira take off. (Much needed for me!) 

The only update we got that night was that they had gotten her stable from the flight and she was doing okay.

 

 
 
 
(<---Transport team)

Thursday, June 9, 2016 (Ada is 17 months old today!)

Linden faced timed me this morning, so I could talk to the nurse, he said that she was on 23% oxygen and we adults are breathing approx. 21%, so she is doing great! They replaced the intubation tube and that helped greatly with her breathing, she is now breathing over the machine.  The nurse said that if they decided that surgery is not necessary, then they could take the tube out but they would not know this until they did a contrast enema that would allow them to see her bowels through an X-ray.  He said that once they had results from this procedure, then we would meet with the doctor as to what needed to be done.  We were praying that it was something that might heal itself and would not need surgery.

After the procedure we spoke with the doctor and he informed us that she would indeed need surgery today immediately.  It would start out as exploratory surgery to see just how bad her bowels were, and if there were tears or blockages, that they would fix them at this time.  We were told that it would be a long and difficult surgery.  At 11:15 a.m. they took her to surgery.  At 11:45 a.m. they told Linden that they had her open and surgery had began.  At 1:45 p.m. they told us that she was doing very well and stable, but still in surgery.  At 2:09 p.m. we finally spoke with her surgeon (3+ hours later) and he said:

The surgery was a very long and complicated procedure but successful for what Ira needed right now. Ira is a very strong, healthy and well developed baby; however, she had what is called a Meconium Cyst along with 3 holes in her small lower bowel.  He said that her bowels were a mess, but it was a unique situation, because he had never seen anything like this before. For some reason, her body had cocooned all of her bowels in a cyst that was full of meconium aka 'poop or stool'.  The good part is that for her gestational age she has the appropriate amount of bowel length.  With the third hole in her bowel they performed whats called an Ileostomy(a surgical opening in her tummy where the poop will drain into a bag), and they also put in a Mucous Fistula, which is where they will put the poop back in so that it can finish the natural path and she can create dirty diapers. This was done because they took out the small section of bowel that had the first and second hole in it, to be sent into the lab for testing.  Once Ira heals from this surgery and shows that her bowel is healed they will need to do another surgery to replace reconnect the two bowels.  Why did this happen?  The surgeon said that this is a very unique case and he honestly does not know why it happened.  We may find something out from the genetic testing and we may find out something from the samples that they sent to the lab.  However he said that right now the key is to see if she poops on her own.  This may take 2 - 3 weeks to happen, but this is what needs to happen in order for them to know what the next step is.  He is optimistic that if she poops on her own, that then they can see if her intestine will tolerate food in order to provide the nutrition she needs to thrive.  If this is not the case then there are all kinds of things they can do for her he said before trying a complete bowel replacement.  Is this a life long issue? We don't know.  We really don't know anything and we may never know the reason any of this ever happened, but that is okay! We know Who is in control and that He is faithful and good!

I was able to see Ira through FaceTime.  She is so small and perfect but the tubes and IV's just completely break my mommy heart.  So for now we wait and let Ira heal from this surgery and then go from there.

Thank you all for the prayers!!  We continue to feel them and need them for the weeks and months ahead.

As we know more information we will keep you updated. I will try as I feel better and up to it, to do a daily post/update on all that is going on, and how we are all doing! Again, thank you all for your love and prayers! ~Linden, Lani, Ada Lou, and Ira Jo <3

Here's some random photos for you :)

Our two amazing daughters after being born!! Ada Lou looked JUST like mommy and still does! We are thinking maybe Ira Jo looks like daddy?? (we don't have any new born pictures of daddy to compare) but Ira also has some characteristics that Ada had/has as well. So we will see!! We couldn't be anymore blessed by the two miracles God has given us!! So thankful for our Ada and Ira!! <3