This past Tuesday, we visited Children's Healthcare of Atlanta. Specifically, the Cardiac ICU where Jake spent so much time. I wondered if it would be emotional, and honestly, I was focused on the task at hand and not emotional at all while we were there, but thinking back on it and even glimpsing little babies in those 'beds' with all those wires and tubes, the emotions are still pretty raw. In all honesty, I really don't want those feelings to ever go away - and I doubt they ever will - because it's those raw emotional twinges that make me that much more thankful for my HEALTHY and NORMAL little boy (both of them! =)! More to come about why the normal is added into that equation in my blog about our trip to the zoo!
Sam and I baked birthday cakes to take up to the hospital... one for the day shift and one for the night shift (thanks to Lyndsey pointing out that the night shift tends to get left out of celebrations.... we COULD NOT let that happen!!!)
There was a vanilla for the day shift:
And a chocolate for the night shift:
I know, cheesy but witty, right? Sam was my big helper as you can tell! Just for the record, I had already removed the bowl with the cake mix... Sam just helped himself to the beaters!
I am kicking myself for forgetting my camera when we went to the hospital! We went to the CICU and saw a few of Jake's nurses, Dr. Samai and a couple of Jake's other doctors. It was great to see them under happy circumstances, and they are always to happy to see "why they do what they do." Because Jake is a perfect example of "why." They deal with sick children all day everyday, and it's so heartwarming to see the results of their hard work. Jake performed quite well for them! He gave Lyndsey kisses and talked up a storm to them. He really wanted some balloons that were in there! Lyndsey took Sam to the break room to get him a piece of cake (he HAD to have one since he helped make them), and he was so funny carrying in out all by himself! He was SO CAREFUL!!!!???? Jake ended up eating more of it than Sam, and everytime Jake took a bite, he would look at BJ and give him this devilish grin and giggle!
We were able to hand in our donations that we collected at Jake's birthday party, and that was SO AWESOME! It felt great to be able to give back.
After visiting the CICU, we walked through the gardens where they have tons of pumpkins all over. Sam sat on most of them announcing that I needed to take his picture... all I had was my cell phone, so I have lots of pictures of Sam on pumpkins on my phone. Hopefully I can figure out how to get those onto the computer!?
Then we went to at Kids at Heart Family Dinner. It's designed for parents inside the hospital to meet parents that have already been through what they are going through. I only met one woman, and she was really weird... sorry to say! She just told me (very loudly) how all her doctors told her her child was going to die. Even when she was in labor. The child didn't and is now 22 months old. Sounds like she needs a different doctor. I (quietly), when I could get a word in, informed her that I did not have a negative experience like that at all. She didn't get the picture and wouldn't leave me alone... Later on, whe proceeded to put her child on a leash - need I say more? Then a speaker talked about forming a committee to be over the committees. Yep, it was that informative. She kept using Irritable Bowel Syndrome as an example (we were eating, mind you - and cracking up too). Yeah, we left, sure didn't stay for the whole thing. It didn't help that our kids were beginning to go NUTS too!!!!!!
I was able to take a couple of girls that I mentor at church along with us. They realized WAY before I did that that lady was putting her child on a leash - I thought it was a monkey back pack with a really cute (long) tail on it... oops! It was awesome for them to be there with us, and for them to see where we were and what we were experiencing (somewhat) when Jake was in the hospital. They are both such good girls, and it was fun to spend some time with them... it was like having a couple of babysitters along with us too! I wonder if anyone thought they were my daughters (they're Seniors in high school)!!!
All in all, it was a wonderful experience, and I can't express how full it made our hearts feel to go up there again. We have said from the beginning that Jake's condition and experience would not be in vain. We're not going to keep quiet about it. It is such a God-Story, and we're spreading God's Word as we go through every step of this. It may not have been pretty at times, but we have always kept at the forefront of our minds that God has a plan and a purpose for all of this. If one person can come to know Christ because of Jake, then it will be a win for us! But we're not going to stop. Every little thing we can do to 'piggyback' off of all of this, we're going to embrace it and go with it! It sure is a lot easier knowing that we have such a happy outcome, though. I'll be honest... not knowing how Jake would be, or if he would even be here at all, sure did make it really hard when we began this journey. The good news, though, is that this is only the beginning!
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