Living Joyfully: May/June Post

A few months ago, I started a photo a day project and had been doing really well at documenting our life using this format. Then, we entered the crazy time of Luke's birth and our family life was turned upside down. So, I thought I would just do a giant post with our monthly happenings and get back on track in July with the daily photo documentation.

So here it goes......

The day all the craziness began. I woke up with a strange stomach pain that took me to the hospital for an overnight stay. The pain was never diagnosed, but it was the beginning of a very strange week.

Aunt Leslie was kind enough to take off work and spend the weekend with us helping Mommy with the kids. We were battling the virus that eventually caused Luke to arrive 6 weeks early.

I love this picture that Aunt Leslie snapped of the girls while she was here helping us out.

Sunday, May 27th brought the very unexpected early arrival of our Luke. Not feeling the amount of movement I was used to feeling, we went to the hospital at dinner time. The nursing staff was not happy with the results of our monitoring and consulted with my doctor on call. The decision was made to deliver Luke that night by c-section.

First time seeing Luke in the NICU at St. Mary's Hospital.

Seeing my sweet boy go through so much was the most heart wrenching experience of my life. I wanted more than anything to snuggle with him and comfort him, but I couldn't hold him.

Sweet friends from our life group supported us during this time period. These beautiful flowers brightened my day while I was recovering in the hospital.

Both sets of our parents came to help us out with the kids while I was in the hospital and during the week that followed while Luke remained in the NICU. We can never thank them enough for giving up their time and commitments to be there and support us during this time.

Andrew started summer school with Mr. Collin and rode the school bus for the first time. It has been wonderful for him to have this structure and he has enjoyed riding the bus.

Luke was treated by the amazing NICU doctors, nurse practitioners, and nurses at MCG Children's Hospital in Augusta, Georgia. I'll admit that I would never have chosen this path for our family and for the birth experience I had with Luke, but God's ways are always the best and I feel strongly that we have grown as a couple and a family in our faith through this experience. We received so much love, support, and prayers from both family, friends, and complete strangers to Brett and I during this time that only God could have orchestrated.

Our sweet boy was very sick. Countless prayers were said on his behalf from Pennsylvania to Kansas to Texas to Florida and Georgia. Many high school and college friends lifted him up in prayer. Our old life group in Texas stayed in close contact through email to receive updates and current prayer requests. Our current life group brought meals/ groceries, babysat for our children, and supported us through prayer.

Faithful prayers allowed us to experience this day...My Mom was able to hold Luke.

Daddy was able to feed Luke a bottle on Father's Day!

and after 23 days in the NICU, we were able to bring our little guy home.

While I spent the time in Augusta with Luke, Matt, Andrew, and Kate were having a great time with Grandpa and Grandma in Florida.

Caroline and Jake stayed home with Daddy and enjoyed some fun times like this one.

(Spending the day with Dean boating on Lake Oconee)

And Nick and Emily had a fabulous week with Pop and Nana in Pittsburgh.

Having a new baby at home means adjustments for everyone!

All the new baby stuff around the house causes curiosity for the youngest ones. On this day, I set down Luke's bottle and when I went to find it, I discovered Caroline chugging down his breast milk.