LADIES & GENTS, WE HAVE POOP!!!!!!!!

And you thought I was going to say lift-off?!?!? !0)  I think my favorite thing about staying here at the Ronald McDonald House, is that I am surrounded by other moms that get just as excited as I do when our children pee, poop, or pass gas.  It gets rather funny how crazy excited we get for each other and our kids.  For example, one mom received a call from her baby's nurse that he pooped for the first time since delivery.  He is a preemie with many complications.  She was so thrilled, she asked the nurse to save it so she could see it, cause she couldn't believe it finally happened.  When she got to CHOP, she found the nurse had wrapped the diaper up with a bow, which mom then proceeded to take a picture of it!  I loved it! 

We live in world so separated from the normal, that these small triumphs are HUGE victories in our children's lives.  I swear, someday when Isaiah actually gets a chance to read this blog, he is going to ask me, "Mom, was it really necessary to tell the world I pooped?!?!?"  I will say, "ABSOLUTELY YES!"  You have to understand, Isaiah has now defied death twice.  God allowed him to live through the pregnancy/delivery/birth, and now through this past bowel obstruction/strangulation.  I honestly didn't realize til 3 days after his emergent surgery, that Isaiah was knocking on heaven's door, that his surgeon did not expect him to do well.  I thought it was interesting his surgeon stayed until 4am to monitor him, but I didn't understand why til later--- it was because the surgeon wasn't sure Isaiah was going to survive.  Your prayers, and God's desire to perform a miracle for a second time, changed the outcome of Isaiah's life once again.  Thank you.  So for me, when Isaiah's kidneys started to produce urine again---I was excited!  When he passed gas on Thursday, I was even more excited!  When he pooped twice yesterday, I celebrated with my fellow mommies that have been down this path before!  WHOOOHOOO!!!!

So, in a nutshell, my friends, Isaiah's systems are starting to work normally again, which brings us just one step closer to going home.  This next week, they will start clamping his G-Tube, allowing his stomach contents to go through his bowels, rather than out into a bag.  Towards the end of the week or sometime next week, they may start him slowly on tube feeds.  He has been out of bed a couple times a day to walk and is starting to participate in playtime.  He continues to have quite a bit of pain and anxiety, but thankfully, he was able to come off of his continuous Dilaudid pain infusion, and they were able to back down on his anxiety medication.  PROGRESS!!!!

Continue to pray for this next month, as it will be crazy busy.  Josiah starts Kindergarten September 6th, but has several meetings before then.  We are not sure how we are going to work out all the dynamics.  Pray for pain relief for Isaiah and continued healing.  We probably won't be home for another 4 weeks.  Also, pray for a grant we applied for for Isaiah, that it would be approved.  We won't know for another month if he qualifies.  If we get it, it will allow us to purchase some much needed items for Isaiah, as well as offset some of the costs we are accruing.

Thank you again for your continual support and prayers.  Isaiah is here because of your intervention, of your "standing in the gap" (Ezekiel 22:30) for us before the throne of God.  For this, we will be eternally grateful.

Jeremiah 1:5, "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations."  Isaiah's journey continues to go around the world.  He is a testament to God's greatness and faithfulness.  Isaiah is a prophet to the nations, a miracle created only by God's hand.