Ian's Spine

I tell you dear friends, God is BIGGER! His will is different from what we expect and ultimately, infinitely more glorious than our wildest imaginings.

Today, I am writing you after going through and personally experiencing His perfect goodness displayed.

At the end of September we met with a brilliant genetics specialists for Ian. Because he was born with several malnormalities (anal atresia, esophageal and trachea atresia, among other things) we were recommended to see her. She spent a long time with us and went over Ian's medical history... which is a very thick stack. She recommended that we have an EKG for his heart and a full spinal X-ray, along with a complete chromosomal mockup.



We completed these tests at Scottish Rite Hospital and Ian had his two sisters there as cheerleaders. It was a long day and we had to end with blood work. ):

Ian is a rock star!

We heard the results from the EKG and X-ray on September 22. The EKG shows a small hole in his heart and a small amount of mixture of blood, but not enough to be operable. The X-ray shows he has 13 ribs, instead of 12 (this makes no difference, only an interesting thing about him). But the big finding was that he has a malformation of his spine at his neck. The pieces of his spine at C3 and C4 are misshapen and not complete, making an opening.

She told us we needed to get a CT scan to see his spine to determine the weakness due to this malformation. We started praying. The CT scan was on Thursday, October 6. Another hospital trip, but Ian left with a giant smile and an orange balloon.

When the CT scan came back it confirmed that the spine was malformed—leaving two openings to his spinal cord. We were referred to a neurosurgeon, but in the mean time we were told to use caution, that if this malformation has caused a weakness it could lead to injury. Her words were actually, "I would be Nervous Nelly until you hear otherwise from the Neurosurgeon." She advised that he not jump on the trampoline with other kids or bouncy houses, or do fair rides, etc.

I was sick at the thought of Ian undergoing more surgeries. He's been through enough! I was truly overwhelmed.  We have been waiting for a call any day of a baby being born, and flying to Japan, and then adding that baby into the mix of our already crazy-at-times lives.  There's a lot of unknowns for me here... even though I'm extremely excited, I am nervous too. BUT I didn't even know how to process the flood of emotions this brought. another surgery.  hospital stay. the regression Ian has had with every surgery.  Even writing this, it makes me want to cry. I wanted to be excited about our new baby. I wanted celebration with our family.

I did a great deal of praying and worrying. And I know worrying is an awful waste of energy. Why should I bother my head with worry if I turned it over to Him??

Tuesday, at 8am (Oct 18) we had our appointment with the neurosurgeon. He came into our room and said that surgery was not necessary. And we got to look at the CT scans with him. As soon as we saw the holes where bone should be we still couldn't believe he had just said, we did not need surgery? I couldn't compute... I'd gone into the appointment knowing we'd hear he would need surgery. Now he doesn't. Didn't I pray this? Didn't I believe my God is BIGGER!? 

The doctor said that he sees tons of kids that have holes like Ian's and they live problem free. Ian should not play tackle football or things of that nature, but that he will be fine. Just yearly check-ups are required. AMAZING!! God is all over it! Thankfully God's love is steadfast, and doesn't change based on our feelings, lack of faith or responses. 

So we are celebrating this day with Chick-fil-A. (:

Nesting Mama

Quick Update

We have one final step to get finger printed on Friday, and then we wait for the “OK” from Homeland Security. And then, we will be officially “Paper Ready” for our new baby!!!! 

We have applied for a grant from Promise686 to match some promised donations at this point. Unfortunately, they don’t meet again until August, so we’re in a bit of a waiting game to even see if we can finish our funding with what’s been promised. But God is in control of every dollar! We saw that in the AMAZING outcome of our t-shirt sales raising $4,000!! So, keep praying for that!

Provision

When we decided to adopt again, I had a lot of insecurity about some of the challenges we’ve faced with our other children and whether or not I was prepared to embrace those again. Mainly, I thought about the attachment issues we’ve faced with Ian, and I wondered if I could do that again. I wondered if adopting another boy would be good for him. And I even considered that it could make things worse for him. I tried to just push those thoughts aside as we moved forward because I clearly felt a calling from the Lord to adopt! And he has been so very faithful in this process!! The program we’ve been matched with doesn’t allow you to choose gender (so that one is completely up to God!), and we will be bringing home a newborn for the first time. A child who will grow in our existing family and never remember a day without us all.

But y’all, a newborn brings a whole new set of challenges we’ve never faced before! And we will certainly tackle them all! But one of the main challenges for me right now as I’ve been nesting has been not having ALL THE THINGS for a newborn ready and waiting! And yes, babies don’t need much, but a mom of FOUR sure does to make life easier…even functional! And God has, once again, provided where I didn’t even know I needed him to! The kindness of friends—old and even BRAND NEW friends I just met—has been absolutely incredible! 

One of the things I have to remind myself on a regular basis is that while it’s extremely humbling to ask others for money and baby items, this is just as much his calling for our faithfulness as it is for the faithfulness of others who are called to walk beside us!! Car seat and stroller, swing, burp cloths, rock’n’play, play mat, bumbo seat… the list just goes on! And while all have been a constant reminder of God’s faithfulness and his provision, it’s the story of two chairs that reminds me how much GOD IS BIGGER!!

Asking has been HARD, but I really needed a chair for our bedroom to rock this baby in at night. But I also needed a chair to rock the baby in during the day, in the main part of the house with my other children. It’s hard to just escape to the back of the house when you’ve got three other children to look after! So, I was torn as to where to even put a chair if I had one. Someone suggested that I post to Facebook what I needed and just see if anyone had something they were willing to part with. Then, if I found another one cheap, I was only buying one chair. 

And what did God do?!?!? Offers for chairs just rolled on in! And it was amazing, that God fulfilled my desire for TWO CHAIRS so quickly! Two perfect chairs. Not just “I’m getting rid of this” chairs. Really nice chairs that I love having in my home. And here they both sit in my home as signs of God’s promise for this baby who is soon to come. 

This nesting mama is so very grateful for the outpouring of support! For providing ALL the many things that make having a baby just a little bit easier—and making the burden to provide just a little lighter.

Special Delivery!!

While we were in NC this weekend we had a very large and unexpected gift arrive... a brand new beautiful stroller and car seat!! I just can't express the gratitude I feel right now. This baby's needs are being met even before I could even worry about how.

So, it feels like Christmas in the Lekberg home! I am looking at this and still feeling a little disbelief, but more than ever this is really happening!! With each of our adoptions we waited until the very end to get our children anything or get their rooms ready... but today it feels like the time has finally come, and I can get ready for our baby!!

The baby dolls are getting a lot more attention around here, and the kids talk about their new *real* baby every day.

4th of July

 We had a fantastic time with our family celebrating the 4th of July. I love these sweet cousins together!

Slip-n-Slide

Let's face it... Cody is just more fun than me. He just is. And today he proved it yet again, when he turned up from his trip to Home Depot with materials to make a giant slip-n-slide. Sprinklers are a summertime must, and add a giant piece of plastic and a little baby soap and you get loads of silly fun!  The kids didn't really know how to run and slide on the plastic so Cody showed them how. There are some happy lekberg children over here.