Recovering

When I posted on Thursday morning my mama-stress and worries were at their peak.  Lamp had been throwing up that morning and with her rapid weight loss the doctor said if she wasn’t keeping anything down by noon we needed to take her to the hospital for an IV and for observation.  Additionally, she had pretty much been her usual happy, silly self the past couple of weeks, but Thursday she was worn out and void of energy.  So while I did want to post about the exciting new developments, I have to admit a call for prayers was my most pressing agenda.

As I talked to B on the phone that morning, he suggested I make some chicken noodle soup and maybe she’d drink the broth.  Yes!  Chicken noodle soup!  Why hadn’t I thought of that?  Chicken, onions, garlic, carrots, broth?  Check.  The celery was missing, but it’d be fine.  I spooned some broth into her tired looking mouth and for the first time in days I heard the words, more mama.  And after we finished that little bowl again, more mama.   My heart sighed in relief.  Between the broth she took little sips of water and she kept it down.  I would have fed her tiny spoonfuls of broth all day long if that’s what it took.  While her eagerness for broth was hopeful, she was a sorry little sight.  Leaning forward on both arms in her highchair, expressionless and exhausted I asked her if she was ready for naptime and she quietly nodded yes.  She was a limp little sack of potatos as I laid her in her bed.  She slept for 2 hours, a little longer than usual, and when she woke up she said I want more soup mama.

It was at this point I knew she was going to be OK.  When it comes to Lamp I worry a little extra about sickness.  When I was pregnant I was told that just by nature of her having “birth defects” (I don’t like that term) she was more likely to be stillborn or come prematurely.  She was almost 5 weeks premature, but luckily stayed put 2 more weeks.  Remember when she was having random fevers last year everyday for 6 weeks?  For whatever reason having special needs tends to make her a little more predisposed to other health issues–I think this is pretty common.  So if I seem a little more worried than your average mama…well, it comes with reason.

Anyway, she turned a corner and Thursday afternoon and for the first night in weeks she slept through the night.  The rest of the weekend things picked up from there.  While she was asking for more food overall, her appetite still wasn’t up to par.  She was steering clear from her usual favorites.  She often eats Cheerio’s for breakfast, but hasn’t touched them in days.  Nope, nope, nope.

That is until Foofa came along and asked Lamp if she could feed her some Cheerios.  Gobbled them right up she did.  Foofa’s helped feed her a lot these past couple of days.  But that’s OK, I’m pretty sure Foofa would feed her tiny spoonfuls of broth all day long if that’s what it took.

I don’t want to brag, but I do a pretty mean Foofa impression.  

There is a lot I don’t understand about prayer, but I love and am grateful for this gift.  And I’m thankful to those of you who prayed in our behalf.  In some ways it seems strange to me to ask for more people to pray for her–as if there’s some magical number of prayers that suddenly qualify for blessings.  I know that’s not the case, but like I said there’s a lot I don’t understand.  But I do know it helps and it works.  When I say it works, that doesn’t mean that we always get what we want just because we prayed for it.  Regardless of the outcome, I can feel a power and a calming presence when I pray and when I feel the prayers of others.

I like what my friend Mr. Lewis has to say about prayer:

You can read the rest here.  
And here is a 2 part talk on prayer.  One and Two.

I didn’t really plan to talk a lot about prayer, but there it is.  Good stuff.