We are home again......

                           The normal life is the good life! That is what keeps going through my head as I am home with the kids and baby Ward. The Friday morning after Thanksgiving. Ward had a fever of 102 and we could not keep it down with tylenol.  We ended up at the Egleston ER that morning around 2 a.m. The hospital did a shunt tap [took fluid from Wards shunt] and it came back showing infection. They wanted us to stay overnight and watch the cultures to see what it did. Worse case they would have to take Wards shunt out and put 2 external tubes to drain the fluid on the outside. Give him antibotics for 12-14 days and then do surgery to put the shunt back in. This news killed Brian and I. We were given a room and I was given a bed to sleep in with Ward. He was not himself and all night I begged the Lord to make him better so we would not have to go through surgery again. Saturday morning the nurse came in and took his temperature he was 103. My heart sank. I went in the bathroom of our hospital room and fell to my knees. I needed the Lord to take me to the next step. Our doctor let us know Ward would have to have the surgery to remove the shunt. We walked Ward to surgery that morning and watched him be wheeled away.  We spent the next 11 days talking to Ward and surrounding him with toys. He could only sit up for 30 minutes at a time. He had to lay down for most of the day for the external tubes to drain correctly. The Lord took care of that. He has made Ward a people person. He loves people. He will watch them and smile and is very happy doing this. He stole the hearts of all the nurses on the 5 East floor. The infectious disease doctors determined that he had a staph infection. This was most likely contracted six weeks prior when he had his last surgery. The chance of this infection was 10%. Ward had his shunt put back in and was discharged from the hospital a day later. So, we spent a total of 12 days at Egleston. Thank you for all the prayers,visits and phone calls. We are blessed beyond words. You can never know how much a blessing it is to have people love you through something like this until you go through it. We have been back to the ER three times because Wards stitches from surgery were leaking. He has had his sweet head stitched up so many times.
                    The Lord made him so tough. He has not been held back at all through all this. He is still AMAZING! God has a perfect plan for Ward and we are blessed to be his parents. I was rocking Ward in his room this morning and looked at a plaque over his door. It reads Great is thy Faithfulness. Wow sums up our year of 2011. He shows Himself faithful in our valley this year. This past Sunday January 8th we dedicated Ward to the Lord at our church Grace Baptist. Plus Weston our second son was baptized on the same day. Weston accepted Christ as his savior after Ward was born. What a time of rejoicing this past Sunday was for us!! I just kept telling the Lord thank you all day.
                       Ward is so strong! He is sitting up and rolling over. He is ready to go. I can see it in his eyes. I know the look I have seen it with my other 2 boys. He is eating food and loves it. He has physical therapy every other week. He is so happy all the time. He is a party boy and does not want to miss a thing. Guess that's why he does not love to sleep! His brothers Will and Weston and sister Whitney can't leave him alone. They all want to be around him all the time. He is an absolute super star. He has stolen many hearts and is only 8 months old. I wanted to post some pictures of Ward and his everyday life. We are so excited for a New Year and can't wait to see what the Lord has!!!
  

Lamentations 3:22-25

²² Through the LORD’s mercies we are not consumed, 

      Because His compassions fail not. 

       ²³ They are new every morning; 

      Great is Your faithfulness. 

       ²⁴ “ The LORD is my portion,” says my soul, 

      “ Therefore I hope in Him!” 

       ²⁵ The LORD is good to those who wait for Him, 

      To the soul who seeks Him.             

    

Amazing

Ward is looking and doing great. We will have a CT scan in 6 weeks to make sure the cyst has shrunk. Please keep praying it has. We had a visit with a physical therapist in Atlanta this morning. She played with him and checked out all his baby moves. He has found his feet and it's the sweetest thing. You would think he is our first child the way we get so excited for each new milestone. After his evalution the therapist just went over somethings and gave me some ideas for some ways we can work with him more at home. Then she said "He is amazing." She just kept saying over and over how amazing he was doing after what he has been through. I had to look away as my eyes filled with tears. I felt my heart fill with thankfulness. I knew all the prayers had carried Ward to this place of amazing. I have been basking in amazing all day. I was talking to a friend the other day and I shared with her something the Lord has showed me through our journey with Ward. He has showed me not to worry about tomorrow. I don't always do that but, today I was able to just thank the Lord over and over. Amazing

Update on Ward

             Wards MRI showed that he still has the cyst. Our surgeon wants to put in a tube that will connect to the shunt to drain the cyst. Ward will have surgery tomorrow at 11:30 a.m. This has been tough because we thought we would have the shunt surgery and the fluid would be gone. We had no idea that as the fluid drained, there would be a cyst. I took a few days to pray and really asked the Lord how to feel now? I asked the Lord to give me a new song. I spent some time with some of my girlfriends this past Friday. When I got home I realized I had not thought about the surgery all day. I had peace in my heart. I feel that this is part of Wards testimony. I am in the midst of it. Brian had the opportunity to speak with a family who have a daughter who had a shunt at birth just like Ward. Her body rejected the shunt and over the course of the next 15 years, she has had 72 surgeries. Her parents are such a picture of faithfulness. After all they have been through they still call upon the same Lord we will call upon tomorrow at 11:30. So, I trust in my Jesus. He is in the midst of a beautiful testimony on my sweet Ward. This 15 year old girl I told you about.... She just gave testimony of the Lord to the kids at her high school! That fires me up. She has been through the fire and she is still able to stand on Jesus! WOW!  So, He gave me my new song. A song of peace in a storm. Only the Lord can do that!!!
Thank you
Thank you
Thank you
For your prayers!!

Psalm 40:3 - He has put a new song in my mouth - Praise to our God; many will see it and fear, and will trust in the Lord.

Prayer for Ward

                     I just wanted to ask Wards prayer warriors to pray for our sweet boy tomorrow morning, Monday the 26th. The last ultrasound on Wards brain showed something new. After they put his shunt in, we had another ultrasound. As the fluid has drained from his brain the doctor now sees what appears to be a small cyst on his brain. He said it is not a danger to Ward but, he does want to do a MRI and see what we need to do. We have asked the Lord to remove it. So, Ward will have his MRI this Monday at 9:00. He will not be able to eat for 4 hours before the MRI.  Please be in prayer for Ward. We are trusting the Lord.

The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?      Psalm 27:1

Check out the story behind Wards African wrap. www.mightyriver.wordpress.com
The Lord continues to use Ward for a mighty work!!

Ward Smiles

            Our friend Allen asked Brian and I share our journey about Ward this past Sunday night at his church. Allen is the pastor of Braswell Baptist church and he and the church have been praying for us. It was an honor and blessing. I do have to admit I broke down on the Friday night prior to speaking. I asked the Lord is this too soon? It feels so raw. I knew in my heart I could not pass a chance to testify of my Jesus and His faithfulness. The little church is so homey and sweet. When you walk in the members make you feel like family. I took notes for what I wanted to share and NOW I feel the Lord leading me to blog about our journey and share what I shared with the church. I realized after Brian and I spoke what we have been through with Ward is unreal. You can see Gods hand all over. I am humbled beyond words that He [my Lord] picked us to go through this.

            Last June Brian and I went to Honduras on a mission trip. Our first mission trip together. It is a very poor place with lot's of people in need. One day we had been out on the flat bed trucks taking food bags up into the mountains. The people in these remote, middle of no where villages would see the flat bed trucks coming and run out to greet you. They run out of huts with dirt floors. Some with shoes and some none. As we came down off the Mountain that day I had a though go through my head. I wondered where the Lord was and if He was who I believed Him to be. I HATE to share that but, it is part of my story. Seeing the sadness and not being able to do enough was too heart breaking. So, when we get home from Honduras we had news of a surprise that fall. Baby #4. Planned by God not Kim and Brian. When I was 19 weeks pregnant we went to find out the sex of our #4 baby. Our family came with us so we had a room full. After finding out the news of a baby boy my mom ask the tech " So everything is ok" She said no. She asked everyone to leave the room and told us she would have the doctor talk to us. I don't know much what he said. I felt numb. Our doctor sent us across the hall to the special dr. He showed us on another ultra sound that  showed too much fluid on his brain. He said it could go away or it could continue to increase and we would need to have a shunt put in when he is born. He asked us if we might want to think about terminating the pregnancy. My heart hurt so bad at that point I wanted to get out of his office.
          The next day I took the kids to school and went home. I just wanted to be alone with the Lord. I wanted to ask him to heal my baby. I was sick to think this baby could be in pain. I knew at this point the maker was the one who could take care of our baby Ward. I wanted to ask Him and I wanted to remember the times in my life He had be faithful. I wrote it down that day after carpool. I felt the words in the verse. Psalm 91:4 He shall cover you with His feathers and under His wings you shall take refuge. I had no idea at this point the refuge I would find. I had a hard time talking to friends for some time. I am so thankful for all my sweet friends who gave me the time I needed. They would text me sweet notes that made me cry and feel so loved. We went back every few weeks to find more and more fluid on Wards brain. Those days were so tough. I wanted with all my heart to call my family and give them good news. I remember after one visit the doctor said the baby's head looks like it's getting pretty big. That same day the nurse told me she had never seen as much fluid as we were seeing. I got in the car to drive home and I just felt like I wanted to run. I wanted to get away from all the visits and the bad reports. I prayed and felt the Lord say "I got this Kim" Peace came over me. I was able to find joy in the midst of a storm. The Lord gave it. On another visit one of my doctors told me to find something to do to take my mind off things. He said like "crack pecans". I was thinking do you know I have 3 kids?? I have always loved to write so the Lord put it on my heart to start a blog. I always pray and ask Him what He would have me write.  My heart was a blog that would point to Him and give Him glory. I could feel the Lord give me the words to write and I found strength in sharing what the Lord put on my heart.
             My pastors wife sent me a blog of a lady named Shannon Milsaps. I found Shannons blog and could not believe what I was reading. She told of going to Africa to minister to mothers who had chose to save there babies. You see if you have a baby like Ward in Uganda, Africa they believe that your cursed. The only way to break this curse is to throw the baby in the river and kill the baby. There is a hospital in Uganda that can do a shunt surgery, like Ward has, and can save the life of the babies. She was going on this mission trip in June. I emailed her and told her our story. She emailed me and said she would like to come pray over me. She came to my house many times and put her hands on my pregnant belly and prayed for me. The Lord sent her to me. She told me the Lord could heal Ward and she believed that. Her love for the Lord was so deep. I was so encouraged by her. The Lord sent Shannon to me and she is now a very close friend. She came by my house the other day and showed me pictures of her mission trip. Someone gave money in Wards name for a baby to have a shunt surgery. She told me how she held the sick baby and loved on her. I sent a book of pictures of Ward and Shannon gave it to the little babies mama. The mama had a smile as she looked at Ward and might have had some hope for her little girl. So Wards story touched a woman in Africa. I am humbled.
               I know now as I look back and remember my thoughts coming off that mountain in Honduras. I feel as if I am a different christian today. I know where the Lord is. He is right here with me. If I ever question that again I have a little boy who looked up at me and smiled for the first time the other day. Jesus is who He showed me He is. He has held me when I felt weak. He is my all and all. I feel many of those people in the mountains of Honduras would give testimony to that as well. My friend gave me a little sign for my birthday that said" Great is thy faithfulness on it". Oh, how those words go so deep in my heart. Tonight I held Ward as he was sleeping and I just pulled him close as my heart just swelled with love for him. I told the LORD how thankful I was for Ward and I told Him for the first time I would do it all over just to have my Ward!!!!
              

                

Head start in Uganda

   The other night I was putting some things away in Wards baby nursery. My boys were so excited to help me. I put a new piggy bank on Wards changing table. At some point the boys disappeared into their room down the hall. I went to check on them and they had their piggybanks open on the floor. I was a bit upset because they were making a mess and it was bed time. My middle son Weston got six dollars out and started back to Wards room. I asked him what he was doing. He said "Mom we are giving Ward a head start."  Both boys put money in Wards new baby bank. I just stood there as tears ran down my face. That is what we asked the Lord for. A head start for Ward. Jesus gives us that hope. So, as I look back at countless answered prayers, I know that the Lord hears. Now, as I pray for my friend Shannon Milsaps as she prepares for her mission trip to Ugaunda. I am asking the Lord to give these babies with hydrocephalus a head start. Shannon was given $1000 to pay for a surgery. Like Ward this baby has fluid on his brain. Like Ward this baby will have a shunt placed inside his brain to drain the fluid. Like Ward this baby will be given a gift of life that otherwise would not have been available. What strikes me as the big difference in my situation and this mothers situation is when we found out our babies were not perfect. The doctor told us about Ward and the fluid that was on his brain at 19 weeks. When this mom in Uganda had her baby placed in her arms she must have been overcome with fear.  She realizes in a moment she is in a tribe that believes this is a curse and the only way to break it is murder. To throw your baby in a river to break this curse. I am overwelmed with the fact that our differences are bigger. I have had my Jesus to walk me through this with Ward. This mom in Uganda must feel so hopeless. There is nothing more that can pierce the heart of a mother that thinking something will happen to her child. Shannon will also be able to witness to the mother of this baby. She will be able to tell her about this Jesus that has held me so tight. What a blessing that is going to be. I can just feel the joy of the mothers heart as her child is chosen to have this surgery. This child like Ward will get a head start. So, thank you Shannon for being willing and available. I am on my knees for you and I can't wait for you to tell of this baby who gets a head start! Please be in prayer for Shannon. She is on her way to Africa tonight. I Love you Shannon and I am blessed by you and your obedient heart.

Oh Praise Him Ward is Here!

A few weeks back I took the kids to school. When I got home I talked with Brian and went in the kitchen to check on Whitney. For some reason I looked at my china cabinet in the kitchen. A plate that Brian and I had got for a wedding gift just caught my eye. The plate has a picture of a woman who is on her knees praying. She has her bible in front of her. I just thought of the many times I have been on my knees like her in these past months.  I knew it had a scripture on the bottom of the plate. I walked over to see what verse it was. I had not really looked at the plate in a long time. I had no idea what verse it could be. It said "He shall hear my voice" Ps 55:17. 

I got my bible and looked it up. I wanted to know the whole scripture. "Evening, morning and noon I will pray and cry aloud and He shall hear my voice". I felt the Lord say this is for you Kim. I was so overwelmed. I felt like I had been given a gift. I could press on. So, weeks passed and I had a doctors visit in Atlanta. I was 35 weeks, so it was just a visit to check everything. On the drive to Atlanta I was not feeling great. My stomach was getting tight and my back hurt. Well, long story short I was in labor and my doctor sent me to the hospital. They could not stop the labor and my nurse said "Looks like we are going to have a birthday today." They got me ready for my cesarean. As I am walking back to the room where I will meet this baby I have been praying for, I asked the Lord for a word. I needed Him in that moment. As soon as I did I could feel Ps 55:17. It was as if the Lord was whispering in my ear. I hear your voice Kim. The days,weeks and months leading up to this day had been prayed over by so many. I was about to see this face I had been asking the Lord to heal. Over and over I had asked Him. Somedays I felt as if all I could whisper was"heal him Lord". When Ward was born I just wanted to hear his cry. He was early and I knew in my heart if I could hear a strong cry he would have that fighting spirit I had ask the Lord for. Brian was by my side as our sweet boy was born. The room was quiet as they put him on the warming table next to us. I could hear the voice of my sweet husband in my ear as he whispered prayers. At last Ward let out a very strong cry. Brian was able to look at him and they let me see him for a second. He was beautiful. He was so pink! They took him to NICU. From this point he went from Piedmont to Egleston Childrens Hospital. He had his shunt surgery the next day (diagram of shunt below). He did great. A small tube was placed under his skin behind his ear. It runs to his tummy and that is where the fluid drains. So much had happen in the past few weeks from the time of his birth to now. I have been asking the Lord to give me the words to even put down to share. I can't find them at the moment. My heart is so full and my spirit is overwhelmed. I want to hug and thank every person who prayed for us and Ward. I have never felt so engulfed by prayer and the Love of Jesus. Five days after Ward was born my sweet sister took me from the NICU with Ward to Calhoun to see my G [grandfather] in ICU. G went home to be with the Lord 6 days after Ward was born. My heart felt as if it was in a million pieces. The day of the funeral I called out to the Holy Spirit every time I felt as if I could not find another breath. It was as if he wrapped His arm around me and carried me through that time. I know the Lord gives and the Lord takes away.[Job 1:21]When we got home from 15 days in the NICU I did not even know how to feel. What had we just been through? How do I pray now Lord?  The Lord spoke to my heart as I was listening to a song by The David Crowder Band. Oh PRAISE HIM. So, that is what I have been doing. Over and over I am praising Him. For a baby that is here and healthy. A baby that the doctor asked if we wanted to abort. A baby that I hold in my arms and see a miracle. So praise Him. 

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Procedure

A small catheter is passed into a ventricle of the brain. A pump is attached to the catheter to keep the fluid away from the brain. Another catheter is attached to the pump and tunneled under the skin, behind the ear, down the neck and chest and into the peritoneal cavity (abdominal cavity). The CSF is absorbed in the peritoneal cavity.