back to the hospital

A lot of you know through Facebook that we were admitted to the hospital last Friday because Jovie had a fever of around 101 every day for 10 days in a row. We knew that was a long time to fight something but honestly did not think I'd be getting a call from her doctor to pack our bags for the hospital. With Mae we have only even needed an antibiotic for her TWICE. She's got crazy immunities I guess! We learned that with Jovie's heart condition we will always have to treat any illness with a higher concern. 

So this weekend we were right back in the hospital — next door to the room we were in just a month ago. This time Jovie was fully aware of everything and knew the drill. Last time she only left her bed a few times and never stood up until the last day... So this time was different. We spent a lot of our time walking this little buggy up and back. 

She was always happier when daddy brought Ian and Mae, the three of our children are so sweet together. Hearing their laughter fill the room was the best. Mae was an extra sweet big sister and showered her with a ton of affection. 

There is so much to be grateful for. I am astounded at the growth in my spiritual walk in just hanging on as this adventure unfolds. I'm stunned by the way God continually takes care of us and even in the smallest details I have felt loved by my Jesus. Going to the hospital again was just dreaded - I knew it would be harder on Jovie to realize she was back there. And as we got the call to pack, I got the word that my friend's daughter was also admitted to the hospital, same hospital, same time, same floor... And she greeted us as we were brought to our room, just four rooms down. For anyone that's stayed in the hospital you know how lonely it is to sit in your room for days. I had a precious friend their to share in our circumstances. And I was not alone. There are so many times that I feel like Jesus is leaving me love letters on my mirror. Having my friend there was one of those moments I just felt like my Savior was showering us with his love. Showing me his goodness. And on Sunday  both of us got to check out and go back home.  

And thankfully, every test they ran came back negative and the doctors were left scratching their heads as to what brought on the fevers. Jovie was free to go back home and we very joyfully loaded up are precious family and thanked God. Jovie hasn't had any fevers since, and yesterday we went back for a follow up appointment and she's all good!!! 

This little spotted chicken was very happy to be back home. All those little sensors fell right off in the bath and she was even happier to be in her bed that night. We all are back under one roof... As it should be. 

Another sweet blessing, we are so incredibly blessed by the nurses that cared for Jovie during our hospital stays. And I just realize how much it's impacted Mae. This was in her backpack yesterday -- the last one says " what I want to be when I grow up" and Mae said "take care of babies." I asked her about it and she said "I want to take care of babies in the hospital. I want to make them feel better. I want to be a hospital girl and I'll take care of you when you're sick too mommy." To our nurses, Chandler and Jennifer at Egleston -- THANK YOU! You don't even know the ways you've blessed this family in just 2 days times. 

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Mother's Day

On Mother's Day, I woke up to Mae rushing in our room to exclaim "Happy Mother's Day mommy" which of course was terribly sweet, but as Jovie was startled awake and began to cry in the room next to us, I realize Mae is about 1 1/2 earlier than her usual time of waking up. I brought Jovie into bed with me and while I got precious snuggles with tiger baby, my big girl went with her daddy into the kitchen to make me a special pancake breakfast! Mae is very tender hearted and loves to help and serve others. 

I am so grateful every day that I am given the gift of raising these three very amazing children. 

My favorite part of the day was going with my mom and Mae to get pedicures. Maebelle has never been to get her nails done and has discovered she LIKES it. A lot. She has the cutest little feet, that blue with polka-dots just makes that much cuter. The pleasure I had seeing her so excited was even better than the incredible treat of a pedicure. I loved this special time with just my mom and Mae. It was perfect. 

Cody made sure I had delicious meals all day. We sat outside and enjoyed our little family out on the deck. It is my favorite spot. I love being in the middle of all of the trees, soaking up the early summer night. The temperature is just perfect right now and the sounds of the birds were beginning to be joined by the crickets. Magical. 

These precious three children call me mommy. Mommy. One word that quite literally brings me to my knees. Because I recognize every day what has taken place for that single word to be true. This life with them in it is sweet and full and I am the happiest momma in the world. 

I hope everyone had as lovely a Mother's Day celebrating the blessings of motherhood and most especially to my own momma who is an example of the fiercest kind of love and continual encouragement in my life.  I love you momma!

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Ian's Birthday

So somehow a week and a half has passed and I still haven't gotten Ian's birthday pictures blogged. Bad mom! I think we had been so crazy and that maybe the adrenaline has worn off now that surgery is behind us... And maybe I'm not fully coming to grips that my son is no longer 2, and it happened so quickly. I don't get to see their baby sides for very long. 

I will finally share our glorious day we got to celebrate Ian! He woke up to all of us singing to him and then got out of bed and tore through his doorway of balloons and was singing "happy birthday to you" and pretty much never stopped singing it for the rest of the day. (: 

We decided on taking the family to the zoo to celebrate. 

Mae, Ian and Jovie got the awesome experience of feeding the giraffes! We all were so thrilled!!

Ian LOVES pandas and so it was so neat to be able to show him a REAL panda bear. He was more than a little happy about seeing them. Blessed my heart so much! 

Leaving the panda area there is a gift shop that only sells pandas and I took him there to pick out a stuffed animal... It was hilarious to see him grinning and kissing every panda in the shop. We made it out with one very special one that he now sleeps with every night. We picked out a small tiger for our Tiger Baby and a baby elephant for Mae too. 

We left the zoo extremely happy and blessed to have had such a perfect time.

We continued celebrating at our house that evening. Ian got his first ever cupcakes, candles and presents! This is the first year that he gets to learn what birthdays are... He was truly impacted and has continued with excitement everyday since with singing the birthday song, carrying around his birthday card and even sleeping with it. It is both happy and sad for me to know we've already missed so much but we will have forever to make up for it! 

He was a pro with the candles, let me tell ya! 

Isn't he delicious?!

He would have been completely thrilled without ever knowing about birthday gifts... We showed him how to tear off the paper and he shouted everytime. He knows how to make ya melt.  

I so love this 3 year old kid. But under no circumstance is he allowed to turn 4!! 

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Great Report!

Our tiger baby had her follow up appointment yesterday. She was definitely not happy to be back at the hospital. When they put on her hospital bracelet she really made a fuss. Poor baby just doesn't understand what all this means for her. 

She had an X-ray and was examined by the cardiac surgeon and it could not have been a better report!! She's doing exceptional with the surgery. Everything looks just as it should in her heart! Her oxygen was 98% and it still shocks me to see that reading after we were used to seeing 68%. AND it does not look like we will need a cardiac catheter procedure to plug the MAPCAs either (something they thought might be needed to follow the surgery). 

It takes 8 weeks for her to heal and it has already been 2 weeks. The doctor told us we should treat her normal and not have to restrict her...if she is comfortable doing something than let her — That she would know what she can do. Well, that means tiger baby should be running around here and doing somersaults very soon (;

I can only be in awe that we are on the other side of this. It felt like we have been climbing a mountain ever since we got these children 3 months ago... I hope this summer is full of uneventful playful bliss at the Lekberg homestead. (With the exception of one joyous event) Saturday we get to celebrate a BIG BIRTHDAY!! This little charming will be THREE. 

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Easter

Even though this was Ian and Jovie's first ever egg hunt it only took them a few seconds to catch on. Easter egg hunts are a whole lot more fun with 3! 

This Easter meant so many things, it's significance of having a Savior has always made it my favorite day, that alone makes for a day full of rejoicing. This Easter was three months to the day that Ian and Jovie were placed in our arms. And we especially are very aware of the celebration of us being HOME from the hospital with a baby who's heart is now restored.

The love of Christ for us was more real to me this year than ever. Jovie's open heart surgery was incredibly scary and emotional. I remember vividly standing in my closet at 4am getting dressed the day of her surgery and just going through the motions but in disbelief that the day had come. I remember thinking that if I could, I would trade places with her. I would have saved her from having to go through all of this if I could have. When the surgery was over Jovie spent 3 days in the cardiac ICU. She was sleeping for almost all of that time and I spent hours in a chair beside her just staring at her. She was the most beautiful sleeping baby despite all the tubes and IVs everywhere and my heart could have exploded just looking at her. Even now thinking about it I am getting so emotional. I love her so much and in the moment that my own child's life was in question, I couldn't hardly stand the amount of love I felt... when people use the expression "they were about to burst" that was never truer. Love is powerful and I can't say that I've ever experienced it quite like I did last week. Going through this experience I have felt overwhelmed by a simple truth I've known all my life. 

“Jesus [loves] me; this I know

For the Bible tells me so.

The Love of Jesus Christ:

"And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. (Ephesians 3:17-19)

How, exactly, does Christ love us? 

"The love of Jesus Christ manifested itself in His giving Himself, laying down His life for us. His was a self-sacrificing love. The death of Christ was not the only sacrifice He made, but the crowning one. His whole life was a sacrifice, from the manger to the cross. His becoming man at all was a sacrifice of immeasurable greatness and meaning.” (A. Torrey - see Philippians 2:6-7.)

 Nothing can separate you from Jesus’ love for you. Nothing can stop you from being loved forever. We don't deserve it. We are helpless without it. His love is invincible.

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:35-39)

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Leaving the hospital

We were discharged from the hospital last night. It felt AMAZING to walk out of our room and out of there with our girl. 

These last 5 days have been the hardest days. I can't even tell you the relieve it is to be going home. Jovie was sick throwing up a lot yesterday and threw up most of our way home. I can only imagine how painful throwing up is to her. Luckily she hasn't thrown up anymore. 

This morning she starting to walk around the house some. She moved slowly and with caution but went up and down the hallway and it was so strange not to hear her breathing hard!! I am so used to being able to hear her wherever she is. She also put on her jacket like she's always done but I wonder what she thought when she realized she doesn't get cold anymore. Her nose has run everyday that we've known her and her fingers are always ice cold. The change we see already is just a miracle!

Mae has been so incredibly sweet to Jovie. I've caught her kissing her so many times today. 

Jovie will need some time to recover - she gets meds around the clock and we will need to be extra careful with her until she heals. They said it will take 8 weeks for her body to heal. Tomorrow will be 1 week, it's pretty incredible the way God designed our bodies. 

So we have a follow up appointment with her surgeon next week and her cardiologist the week after next to make sure things are all going well. It amazes me what doctors can do and how quickly Jovie is recovering. Imagine how much her life has changed in 6 days. Forever. 

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Step Down Unit

Yesterday afternoon we were able to move to the step down unit... So we now have our own room!!! 

I finally got to hold her too. It was well overdo - I could feel my sweet darling melting into my arms. She's needed this... And so have I! 

Last night I was able to stay the night with her. She's still been sleeping almost all of the time and is still in a lot of pain, so they are giving her something around the clock. It's just been a couple of times we've heard her sweet voice. Last night we face-timed with Mae and Jovie Ming surprised us all when she made the kissing noise when she heard her big sister voice. I am so blessed by the bond these children already share. Mae prayed last night and thanked Jesus for Jovie's pink toes. 

This morning they came and took us to go get X-rays. So all the sweeties on this floor ride down in radio flyer wagons. I think Jovie enjoyed the little trip outside of her room. This trip will be a daily 4am wake up call while we stay here. 

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