Who does she look like??

Ok Who does our Little Princess Look like???

Mommy? Or Daddy?

Baby Sarai Update

The Christmas Princess

Well here we are 2010! It seems as though time has just flown by! It seems like only the other day when we were blessed with the news of pregnancy....and like yesterday when she was born. As of yesterday she had her 6 week birthday. That was special for her and her big brother Danny as it was his 8th birthday as well!

Sarai is doing very well. She was moved from the PICU back to the NICU on December 19th. Each day that goes by we see more and more of our Father and His great Love for us all. Each day brings another step towards going home, her healing and recovery.

About 2 days after returning to the NICU she had her catheter taken out, her dialysis tube taken out and was taken off the ventilator! So close to being tubeless. On Christmas morning her last tube was taken out...the chest tube...Hooray it was such a great gift to her and us. She was left with one IV running her nutrients and the morphine which was slowly being weaned down. She was getting breastmilk through a feeding tube and all was going so well that they decided she could be moved up to the wards or floors as they say. This is just a normal hospital word, however when we got there I had a very uneasy feeling. Like "were we ready for this?" She was in a shared room with another child and the child's dad. We were not ready or even really knew that we could room in with her. So leaving her that night was very hard, maybe even harder than her first week of life leaving her in the NICU. The reason being our little princess was in this room and the nurses were in the hall! We have been so used to her having 24 hour care with a nurse at her bedside! So I am sure you can imagine to some extent how we were feeling.

Way too Cute! Little Cutie

Of course the next morning we were up pretty early so one of us could go be with her. When I arrived in the room she was awake and seemed sad and lonely, Poor girl. The nurse informed me that her heart rate had gone up a little and also her breathing, so she was being taken for an Echo Ultrasound. It was quite the production getting her there. I packed her while one nurse pushed her med pole and another with the monitor! I just had this feeling that she wasn't really ready to be on the "floors" yet. A decision was made later in the morning that Sarai should go back to the NICU. The doctor and nurses were so sympathetic about it, however I felt much peace about it. And not to mention when I told Sarai she was going back to be with her friends in the NICU she brightened up!

This has got to be my Favorite Picture so far!!

So we moved back to the NICU. We feel so much better now and we also know what exactly to expect when she does go back up to the "floors." We will be more prepared. After we moved back to NICU Sarai hit a little bump in the road, however it is not a bump we are going to be stuck on, we continued praying and praising and God continues to answer. Tests showed a bit of left diaphragm stunning, which the doctors think will come back on its own, and this is what we are praying for. She had quite a large accumulation of fluid around her chest cavity which was drained twice on the right and once on the left. Since then there has not been any problems with that Praise the Lord!! That being said she was having a harder time with breathing and was put back on the ventilator. Yes it was emotional having to see her getting tubes put back in however we are happy that they are dealing with all these issues. We want her to be healthy healthy before she goes home. Sarai was taken that next morning to the Cardiac Cath lab where they go into a vessel in the leg up into the heart to get good images of how everything is functioning. There was a lot of praying happening and the Lord answered yet again!! They couldn't find anything and things are functioning better than they expected...man God is GOOD.

She is so very sweet!!

She was getting x-rays each day to check for fluid but they have not found any more. The fluid they were finding has something to do with the fats from the feeds, it is called Chylothorax. To deal with this issue and get it resolved they have stopped her feeds and will resume in a week and a half. Until then she is on nutritional supplements so she won't starve, no worries. She also had a short surgical procedure yesterday (Jan 4) to insert a central IV line which was put into her leg. This will insure she is getting optimal nutrition and the meds she needs. She is still on antibiotics for a bacteria she got when on ECMO and will finish that on Jan 17. All tests for the bacteria are negative, Thank you Lord. She did however end up with a couple clots and is on a blood thinner to resolve those which we will have to administer once we go home, the total time for her to be on that is 3 months.....I just have to get the guts to do it, as we will have to give her 2 shots each day. But there is something called and encephlon that can be put in place so we can just inject into that instead of poking her all the time, that will make it easier.

They did go up on her morphine again and added another med to help with blood pressure while they give her time to strengthen. They began to wean the morphine again yesterday and will take it slow with weaning over the next week. Today she is to be extubated (be taken off the ventilator) again. YAY, this is exciting for us cause when she is on the vent we don't want to hold her...as I can see this tube being pulled or something and the fact that it takes a nurse and a respiratory to get her on and off our lap!

They're making her a soother girl!

Dad just called and says that she is extubated and on c-pap, which is just the little breathing tubes that sit just inside the nostril. YAY Thank you Father for all you are doing in this little girl!!

So we hit a bump, but we are over that bump and refuse to dwell on it and get stuck. We must keep looking forward with our heads held high, continue praying and praising!!

She is so content and makes such great eye contact. She communicates with us using her eyes and has shown us ta few smiles here and there. She is such a trooper. One thing she has made known to us all is her temper!! I told her brothers they better not make her mad....lol When she is mad there is no working up to it, she instantly turns bright red and sometimes purple, we try to console her quickly with prayer, singing and stroking her hair. The quicker we can get her to calm down the better cause they like to pull out the sedatives, so if we can get her to calm down then she doesn't get them. The one morning she got so mad at the nurse and she pulled her feeding tube out!! The nurses comment on how calm she is when we are around so we take turns going over to be with her so she doesn't have many long stretches without one of us during the day. One of us usually stays until late evening to get her to sleep and she is then quite settled throughout the night.

She was just chilling out lastnight after her bath

I am able to give her sponge baths and change her diapers, it's not much but it makes me happy as well as Sarai, she enjoys our time together with her.

We look forward and go forth towards our goal of going home soon. It is our hope and prayer to be able to take her home by the end of this month. But we will not rush her, she needs a the rest she can get for that is when the most healing takes place. It is so amazing how God has created these little tiny ones' bodies, cells and tissues to regenerate and fix themselves so quickly!! His creation is so amazing!

Thank you Father for our sweet baby girl, thank you for her continued recovery and healing. Lord thank you for the surgeons and the wisdom you have shown and given them, thank you Father for the nurses and doctors who look after all these children and thank you for the compassion, love, wisdom and grace you instill in them. Lord bless each one of these doctors, nurses and surgeons, bless each parent that is going through the same things as we are, bless each child and bring great healing to them all! Lord Bless each person who is standing with us in prayer and agreement Father for our little girl and Lord we thank you for each one of them. Thank Lord for the awesomeness of all you do all you show us and all ways in which you bless us Lord. Send forth your angels and let us here the ROAR!!!! In the loving name of Jesus
AMEN

Thank you to you all for your continued support and prayers be blessed!!

A Different Christmas

Well our Christmas was definitely a different Christmas for us. Of course being in a hotel room there was no baking going on for us. I am so used to baking up a storm; cookies of all sorts, candy, food.....so I missed that. However we had baking brought to us by our Aunt Edna and a whole lot of goodies brought to us from Nana....It sure didn't last long in this room with all these boys! The closest we got to any of our own baking was a trip to Superstore where we were able to find a ready to assemble Gingerbread house!
The kids were so excited to put it together. On Christmas Eve they all gathered around the table assemble the house. The older two boys were in charge, making sure everyone got a turn putting their section together. I think the hardest part for them was waiting the 15 minutes, once the house was together, for the icing to harden a bit! David was sitting at the table the whole time "guarding" the candy. It was too cute.

Time for the decorating....they had a lot of fun with this part. There was a lot of finger licking going on and I think David may have put two candies on the house and the rest in his mouth...LOL

David Caught red handed!!

Then came time for a few pictures of them with their masterpiece and.............................

within a matter of 10 minutes most of it was devoured!

The kids were very excited at bedtime as most kids usually are. However they all went to bed pretty good, I think it was a bit harder for the older two. Once Dad and I got to bed it seemed like such a short time when I heard the older two boys whispering in their bed (Very unusual for us since this was the FIRST time we never had to wake them up!). When I looked at the time it was 5:30am! I told them they had to stay in bed, then I could not go back to sleep so I got up and did some pumping before everyone else got woken up. It is always so awesome to see their expressions of complete Joy and Excitement!


Our Cute little tree, on Christmas Eve night

Thanks to Daniel this was David's most favorite gift!!

So they all sat around in a circle and we first took a few minutes to reflect on What this day means to us and to pray. Then the kids all emptied out their stockings. David was so overly excited with the candy that was coming out of his and I think breakfast for 3 of them consisted of a Kinder surprise egg and licorice...lol The boys were quite pleased with their gifts. They are pretty thankful kids for whatever they receive.

Josh I-Pod Mick I-Pod Danny DSi


Noah Got Woody and Buzz Lightyear

Once everyone was dressed we headed over to see Sarai. Aww her first Christmas I am thankful she is so little and really couldn't be bothered. At first I went in to see her with Josh and Mick. I had her little Christmas dress but she looked to peaceful to bother her by putting it on so we just laid it on top of her and the boys each posed with her to get a picture. I think Sarai had more presents at her bedside from various people in the hospital than anyone else had under the tree! What awesome staff they have there. So Sarai got a visit from each of her brothers and Mommy and Daddy, and not to mention 2 Santa visits.

Daddy & Noah Mick David Josh
Danny and I didn't get ours taken :(
We spent a while with her then we headed to Drayton Valley for the day to spend some time with family and to have an awesome meal or 2 or 3. We arrived there around lunch time for a late breakfast and as soon as we were done eating lunch was being put on the table and a mere 4 hours later a great spread for supper! Man were we ever FULL!!! It was great to be out of the hotel room and for the kids to have some space to play. They had a great time, we all did. The kids played and the adults got to have some time playing their own games, what a blast.

Obviously this was not taken at Christmas however it is cute!!

In the latter evening we headed back to the city, I think all the boys were absolutely exhausted. They all slept all the way back, well except for Danny I was quite surprised that he stayed up all day until we got back to the hotel. Once we arrived and everyone was in the room I went back over to the hospital for awhile to visit with our sweet little Princess!

Well that was our Christmas for 2009. Different however we were so blessed to have received what we did, to be together, to be able to spend time with our girl, to spend time with family, to enjoy some great food, but most of all to remember and reflect on this day when our Saviour was born!

Blessings to you all

Sarai Update

Hello all, sorry I haven't updated lately, however I am not sure what i was thinking....that there would be lots of time to blog! LOL Between the hospital, entertaining our boys and grocery shopping...time...not enough in one day!Special time with Mommy before her big surgery

Waking up for Mom and Dad

Well as you all know our sweet baby girl has gone through surgery...3 in fact! And we are very blessed to report she is doing absolutely FABULOUS, Praise God. He blessed us with the best cardiac surgeons in North America if not the whole world! and the nurses have been great! We are so blessed to have been able to be here at this hospital.

A visit with Nana

A visit With Auntie

So during her first surgery they did the arterial switch and moved the coronary arteries as well, there was also a bit of tissue that needed to be removed and everything went great. Sarai did very well all night and in the early morning had a drop in blood pressure which was unexpected for everyone. So she was rushed back into surgery where they just wanted to see what was going on and they found that the swelling had caused one of the coronary arteries to kink. Therefore they put her on a heart machine (ECMO) to allow time for the swelling to go down. She did very well after this. On day four she was taken again into surgery to move the coronary artery that had been kinked. Man what an emotional roller coaster ride that week was for us!! But what a trooper Sarai was and is. What strength the Lord has given her! what grace He has for us! What great LOVE He has for us! He is so very GOOD ALL the time!

Here she is is just snoozing!!

Once the 3rd surgery was completed all has been going great. She had a dialysis machine added to her many wires and tubes, this to help bring the swelling down quicker! She stayed on the ECMO machine for about 6 days and was then weaned from it, she responded very well to that, however they then found that there was a bacteria growing in the ECMO machine which went into the plastic tubing in her IV lines. So she was then put on antibiotics to start killing the bacteria. After a few days all IV lines were removed from her body and new ones put in, in different places. Antibiotics are continued and she will most likely be on them until after she is released from the hospital.Awake and moving around, checking out the lights

We had one day where we hit a teeny bump in the road in dealing with the bacteria and that was the day they decided the best thing to do would be to remove the lines and replace them. I quickly realized how the enemy sneaks in and tries to cloud all our Joy and Praise with something so small! I realized that he was trying to steal this from us, and most of all trying to make us upset and doubt, but we were having none of it! We know the word of the Lord and we know the word He sent for her is LIFE!! And that is what she will have.

We all sometimes wonder why? or what the purpose for all this is. However at some point we all find out the answers to these questions. What a testimony this has all been for many people. Us, our boys and many many friends and family. We hear from people who did not trust the Lord before or even pray, tell us they are praying for us, for Sarai and know God is in control! We have been able to pray for families and children going through similar circumstances, been able to stand firm in our Faith and trust in our Father, and to show people how important it is to have Him first and foremost in our lives! I wouldn't have it any other way!

We have met a beautiful family there as well. They are believers and their Joy is not being lost through all their trials! you can see (literally) the joy of the Lord shining in and through them. There testimony of all they have been through has been very encouraging for us and ours for them! The people we meet in all circumstances are never a coincidence that's for sure.

As of now we are on the home stretch....She is almost completely weaned from all the meds, the bacteria is being taken care of, she is off the dialysis, she is being weaned from the breathing machine and should be off that in a couple more days. She is getting breastmilk though a feeding tube which is good because I don't want her having a bottle.
and the only tubes that need to be removed is one more chest tube (which may happen tomorrow) and the IVs which will probably stay in until we are almost ready to go.
The doctors are continuously telling us how amazed they are with her recovery and healing. How her heart is functioning so much better than they thought, but I knew she was going to be fully healed, not our way but His!

I think right now the hardest thing for us is not being able to hold her. But once she goes back to the NICU(in a few days) we will be able to hold her as much as we want.
I think when we take her home she will probably never be put down!

Another hard thing is taking time out for the boys and spending time with them. I always feel in a rush to get back to her and a few times have felt very overwhelmed with anxiety. I know the nurses sense this and reassure me that it is okay to take time out, it's just a mother thing! They make things so nice there though, and allow me to help with her as much as I am able to do without having a nursing degree. So I get to bath her myself and put her lotion on, wipe her eyes and mouth when needed and change her diaper sometimes. But after the other day when I came in and there were diapers, baby wipes and poop everywhere I have kind of stepped back from that duty...lol it was quite the site! She hadn't pooped for like 4 days and she definitely made up for it then.....3 diapers and 2 packages of baby wipes later she was all done...glad it was them and not me!

Daddy and Mommy take turns going over to be with her, it would be nice if we could go sometimes go together but we have 5 boys to hang out with too. When we are there we sing to her, read to her and pray with and for her. Daddy also made her some CDs and the nurses have provided her with a CD player and keep her music playing for her all the time! They are so nice and take such great care of her.

When I am there I often can picture these beautiful angels dancing all around her continuously and the Lord standing at her bedside holding her when we are not there.
I was sure hoping that she would be able to come out before Christmas, however I do not think it will be, but now we can hope to be able to start the New Year with her in our arms and out of the hospital!!

Well now that things are going smoother I will hopefully have a bit more time to update!
Thank you and many blessing to you all who are in prayer for her and us!!

The Princess Has Arrived!!!

Introducing Sarai Faith Michelle Ladue

Born At 8:14 am Weighing in at 8lbs 4 oz with a ton of curly Black hair!!

Her First "Ride"


No one could hold this Mommy down!! I was gone from one hospital to the other one to be with her within 3 hours!! I had to be with her


Isn't she absolutely Precious!!!

Here is Daddy holding his little

"Princess" for the first time

Mommy holding Sarai
It was a whole day before we finally got to hold her
so these moments were so very precious for us!

So content is Daddy's arms!!! She already has stolen
his heart!!

Everytime I hold her now I just don't want to let her go
Leaving at nights is so hard for me.....I want to take
her with me everytime we go to eat or to go to bed
However we know she is in the Lord's hands and He holds
her when we are not!! The best place she can be, and I must
mention the awesome nurses the Lord has put in place to take care of
her and all the other precious babies there!!


Oh my the hair!! She has so much of it and it poofed
up like a little chickie...lol she is ust to cute!!


Well this is our little Princess. The Lord has given her great health and
strength. The doctors are very surprised at how well she is doing and
how healthy she is!! We all need to keep praying for her and that
she will continue to get stronger and healthier.
She will have surgery sometime soon, but we are not sure of a date
yet. Once surgery is complete she will have another two weeks in
hospital or until she is ready to go home. We will be so very happy
for that day to come. She is such a precious little gem.
She knows when her Mommy and Daddy are with her and gets very
upset when we are leaving.
She got to meet her brothers very briefly but we are hoping they will get to spend
a bit more time with her, however it is hard since we have to take them in
one at a time. The boys are such troopers though, keeping up with their
schoolwork and dealing as well as they can with all that is going on.
They were all so happy to meet her, and I think it they are quite
excited to bring her home. Noah was very concerned about us
leaving her there. Well there you have it in a nutshell, Sarai is here and
she is doing Great!! Thank you for your prayers and your continued prayers
stay tuned for more updates on our precious little Princess!!