Still in the NICU...

UPDATE: When I went to the NICU this morning, there was NO Emma in her bed. The nurses had her down the hall...are you ready? WITH NO FEEDING TUBE!!! WOOHOO!!! No more tube...only bottle feeds! We could take her home tomorrow, but since it's Easter, there will not be anyone to discharge her. (Remember...we are still working with DHS.) So, because the nurses are SO great, they have reserved us a room for the day! We get to stay and spend the day, the kids and family get to come up, etc. We are SO excited. Then, we will bring her home on Monday as long as everything goes as planned!

But we are very close to bringing Emma home. She is eating a little better every day. When she doesn't finish and entire bottle, she comes close. If we could get her to burp better, it would help. Also, if she get the hiccups, well, it's over. Emma does NOT multi-task! We are hoping to bring her home the first of the week.

As I have pondered this week over how long it seems to be taking to get Emma to come home, God reminded me that this is STILL all in HIS timing. I realized that when His work in the NICU is finished for us, then it will be time to come home. So my prayer has been that we would be a witness to whomever we come in contact while in the NICU.

Jacob and his story has come up many times in the past two weeks. The nurses are very interested in knowing how many children we have, how many we have fostered, etc. I don't make it a habit of going around and telling strangers about Jacob, but it has come up on a daily basis lately. Even now, Jacob is touching lives in the NICU. Amazing.

I met a nurse who experienced something similar to us with the loss of her baby. It was such a blessing to hear from her and get to visit. She is the first person I have talked to who lost a child to a "freak accident" like us. It's different than losing a baby from illness or at birth. Don't get me wrong...the LOSS is NO different. It's the pictures you can't get out of your head that are different. I have no doubt that God put her in my life that day. We spoke for a long time and hopefully, she walked away, as I did, feeling better.

I am going to post a picture of Emma so that you can get an idea of how "big" she is. Please forgive the picture of me...I am exhausted!

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This past week I received an update on the baby we were going to adopt from Texas. "T" was captured by police and is in the witness protection program. We have been told that she lost the baby. Now, we do not know if that means the baby died or just that she lost it to DHS, but God closed the door on that situation for us and I am grateful. God's timing is perfect and precious. I did not ask for that confirmation, but it sure did feel good to get it!

I have also realized something else about our Savior. It's all in the details. God promised to give me the desires of my heart. I trusted Him to do just that. What I did not realize was that God wanted to give me DETAILED desires. The little thoughts that you have like "you know, I would love a tiny chocolate baby girl, but I will take whatever you want me to have." God hears those thoughts. Would I have been disappointed with a vanilla baby?? Of course not! BUT...my God loves me SO much, He worked out every little detail. Not only has He provided the desire of my heart, but it's like He added His own personal touches knowing how much I would love them. He loves me, He knows me, He hears me.

Hallelujah, what a Savior! Praying you have a blessed Easter weekend praising the Father for loving us SO much that He sent His precious Son into our world so that we might have life.