Rewind

Rewind to the plane ride home. The plane ride itself was great, Lincoln slept the whole time. Getting to the plane was the nerve racking part. We asked about bypassing security to limit the proximity of Lincoln to other possible parasite carriers. They sent us to the family line, full of little kids and old people. After what felt like hours, but was actually minutes, we made it to our gate. Will placed our bags on the two seats on each side of us so no one could sit anywhere close to Lincoln.
After we got settled on the plane I breathed a sigh of relief, and asked Will to bust out the chocolate. As we were eating I noticed a small piece of brown substance on Lincolns blanket. Will picked it up and looked at it.

ME: That might be poo.
WILL: No its chocolate, why would it be poo?
ME: Well I just....
He stuck it in his mouth as I was trying to explain that I had just changed Lincoln, and his poo looked very similar to the substance on the blanket.
WILL: It's chocolate
ME: *Laughing uncontrollably*

Happy Thanksgiving

So grateful for...

These two

Will has been such a good support through all of this, and such a great dad. He spent the last 6 weeks taking care of me and protecting little Lincoln. I am so grateful that I had him by my side, I know that I couldn't have done it with out him. Especially how involved he was in Lincolns care at the hospital. He always knew what medications Lincoln was on, the dosage, and what their purpose was. If he didn't, he spent the night doing research, so he could ensure Lincoln was getting the best care possible. All the nurses joked around saying that by the time we left Will would have his undergrad in cardiology. He did everything possible to make my life easier. Whether it be washing my pumping equipment out, running down to fill my water bottles because I refused to drink California water, running upstairs countless times because I forgot something in our room, handling the headache of figuring out insurance, or taking care of me while I was sick, he was willing to do anything and everything on my behalf.

I am so grateful for Lincoln. 30 years ago I wouldn't be holding him in my arms right now. I can't imagine my life without him. He is such a sweet baby.

I am grateful to be home.
I am grateful for the Gospel and the peace it brings to my life.
And I am grateful for all the prayers that were said in our behalf.
Thank you.

Notice anything different?

We took out the tube! I went to the pediatrician on Monday, and he said that as soon as Lincoln was taking 50ml of the 60 by mouth then he would take out the feeding tube. At the time Lincoln had not been making much progress and would cry every time he had to swallow. I mentioned that the tube seemed like it was irritating him and the Doctor said "It might be uncomfortable but it doesn't hurt." In my book, pain and discomfort are one in the same for infants. It's not painful to have a poopy diaper but they sure let you know if they have one.

So after much thought, Will and I just pulled the tube out ourselves last night. Before you think we are neglectful parents, hear me out. We came to the conclusion that the tube was causing inflammation in his throat which was making it hard to swallow. So we started him on ibuprofen yesterday to help with the possible swelling and just fed him everything through his tube the next two feedings to avoid him having to swallow and further irritate it. When we pulled the tube we discovered dried milk up the entire tube and a hard green thing Will described as similar to a rose thorn right around the section that would have been in his throat. I refused to touch it. Lincoln has taken the five bottles since then like a champ. He even requested the last two after two hours instead of the usual three. Hopefully the tube is gone for good. If he isn't gaining wait by his next appointment they may make us put it back in.

We are all adjusting well to being home. Today I was trying to get Lincoln to take a nap, thinking of all the things I was going to do once he was asleep, showering being one of them. Once he was asleep I had a hard time wanting to put him down. I just held him in my arms and couldn't stop staring. He is such a sweetheart! We love him so much and he has brought great joy into our lives.

250 pictures later

It was interesting to look back on the 250 pictures we have in a folder titled Lincoln. Number one is a picture of me before we left for the hospital, completely oblivious to the journey on which we were about to embark. It is hard to believe that we are really home, I keep waiting to wake up in a hospital room with Lincoln on all sorts of monitors and IV's attached to him. Instead I wake up to the most beautiful sight in the world, my cordless, perfectly healthy baby. It's hard to express such an enormous amount of gratitude. Gratitude for the journey, the lessons learned, the prayers answered, the surgeons, and all of the family, friends, and ward members that gave us so much love and support. I am especially grateful for Will, who has been and always will be my rock. Not only has our marriage been strengthened by this experience but it was strengthened in preparation for it. Henry B. Eyring gave a talk in the October LDS General conference "Our Perfect Example" that stood out to me. He spoke on bettering ourselves and becoming more like the Savior.

"First, I give counsel to husbands and wives. Pray for the love which allows you to see the good in your companion. Pray for the love that makes weaknesses and mistakes seem small. Pray for the love to make your companion’s joy your own. Pray for the love to want to lessen the load and soften the sorrows of your companion."-Henry B. Eyring

I had been making an extra effort to do just that, and it has made all the difference. I am grateful for that extra preparation I received. It is humbling to look back and see all of the things that prepared us.


Lincoln waiting anxiously for the doctors final word.
Leaving the hospital.
For some reason Lincoln likes taking the bottle like this.

Lincoln playing air guitar.

Home

We are home.
And extremely grateful to be here.
And Exhausted.
More to come tomorrow.

One more night

Ever since Lincoln was admitted to the hospital he earned the nick name of "Chunky monkey", they called him the king of the CVICU. Now on the day we were supposed to be discharged his weight is what is holding us back. I guess under normal circumstances a 5 week old baby should weigh more than 7 pounds 7 ounces. So after losing 60 grams the deal is if Lincoln stays the same weight or gains weight we can still be discharged tomorrow morning, otherwise they may hold us here until he is gaining weight. So pray like crazy! Hopefully the next post I write will be about our trip home.
Lincoln seeing the outside world for the first time.

My cordless baby!!!!

First All Nighter

Last night it was my turn to stay with Lincoln. Now that he is on the 3rd floor we are transitioning from the nurses doing everything to us doing everything. We give him his meds, change his diapers, and feed him. The whole time I was pregnant my biggest fear was not being able to stay up with Lincoln, or that I wouldn't hear him and wake up when he cried. Last night I confronted my fears. I thought that I would be grumpy but every time I looked at his precious little face I lit up and all I could do was smile. It was a good night, even with the limited sleep I received. I think I was just happy to be doing what normal mommys and babies do.

Lincoln got his pace maker lines out today! Wahoo! Now all that he has is his NG tube, which he will be coming home with. We have to do training on it today and practice putting it in, I am not excited for that. They are still saying Friday or Saturday as our discharge day. I want to cry every time I think about coming home. Tears of gratitude of course, we are almost home!

Lincoln's New Crib

We have graduated from the CVICU! Hooray! Lincoln is enjoying his new living space, and I guess we kinda like it too. We have a private room, with a private bathroom, a t.v., a couch, and room service. I am finally getting the hospital experience I missed when I gave birth. Lincoln loves his huge crib, it makes him look so small.

We asked the doctor today if we were in the safe zone to buy plane tickets home, she said Saturday night would be pretty safe. His discharge date is Friday or Saturday as long as his chest X-ray looks good. So we went ahead and bought tickets for Saturday! It's hard to believe we really get to come home!

First Wagon Ride

Lincoln took a little wagon ride down to radiology to get his swallow test today. They wanted to rule out aspiration since he took a few days to get his voice back. He passed with flying colors, so tomorrow we are moving on up to the third floor. We were also able to try breast feeding, which the doctors were pessimistic about. Lincoln takes after his mom and likes to prove people wrong so he of course did great. Unfortunately the goal for tonight is to get him to take 2oz by mouth and we have no way of measuring if I am nursing. But at least he knows what to do.

Will is spending the night at the hospital to work with Lincoln on his feedings. We seem to have more patience and time than the nurses do. Last night they put him back on oxygen because his sats were low during his feeding. We are convinced that his sats were low because he was fed by the pump instead of at his own pace. His sats have never dropped when we feed him. Maybe he just likes us better than the nurses. Will took the oxygen off of him first thing this morning and he was fine.

We heard again from the surgeon that we could be discharged on Friday as long as his echo(heart ultrasound) looks good. He had some fluid build up on his last one so they want to ensure that it is decreasing or at least not increasing . So here's hoping...again!


He loved the wagon ride!
This side smile tells me one thing, Lincoln will get away with murder.
Lincoln and Will cuddling up for their sleepover.

One month old

It's hard to believe Lincoln has spent the first month of his life in a hospital. It has been a long journey that will hopefully be over soon. We have been so blessed and learned so many valuable lessons but Will is sick of sleeping on the couch so I think it is time to go home.

Today was a bit of a frustrating day but Lincoln made a lot of progress. With a little pushing on our end the doctors switched Lincolns feeds from continuous to every three hours over a 20 minute period. They wanted to wait to switch his feeds until after he had the swallow study, however someone forgot to schedule it so he will hopefully get it tomorrow. Feeding is the last obstacle that Lincoln needs to overcome, it makes it hard for him to want to eat if he always has food in his belly. So now at least can start working on eating like a regular baby.

They also removed his picc line today, again with a lot of pushing on our end. There always seems to be a break down somewhere in the communication line from surgeons, to doctors, to nurse practitioners, to RN's and we always seem to be the ones to have to fill in the gaps. We are just glad that it is gone. Not only was it a potential source of infection but we can now hold our baby without wheeling the iv stand around.

After the swallow study tomorrow we will have a better idea of when we will be coming home. We hope it is soon. We continue to feel the effects of your prayers. Thank you!




Will and Dr. Reddy, the man that saved our baby's life.

continued...

Yesterday we tried to go to the Oakland temple. We got there at 5:40 and the man at the front said "I'm not sure what you folks are wanting to do here tonight, the temple closes at 6:00." We just assumed the temple was open until 9 like the Provo temple. We enjoyed walking around the temple grounds, it was so beautiful.

Pictures of Lincoln before the nasal tube was removed.

Lincoln looks like a baby

During rounds yesterday the doctors said the only thing holding Lincoln back from going to the 3rd floor(out of the ICU and into a private room where they watch for a few days to make sure he is ok) is his vocal cords. He still hasn't completely gotten his voice back. Out of all of the things they could be concerned about I am grateful that it is something so insignificant. Other than his voice he is pretty much back to a normal baby. They took out his arterial line and his peripheral IV. They also weened him off his oxygen so they were able to take out the nasal tubes. Now all he has is an ng tube with breast milk going into it and a picc line with saline solution just to keep it open in case they need it later. We have some pictures but Will lost our card reader so I will post them when we can find it. I can't wait to take him home. He is such a good baby, and has the sweetest spirit.

I was brave today

I have been watching Lincoln's finger nails grow longer and longer everyday. He has his fist up by his face the majority of the day, I have nightmares of him scratching his eyes out. So I finally got up the nerve to clip his nails, which was something I was never planning on doing myself, I was planning on making Angie do it. I was so proud of myself.

Lincoln has been doing good. He is off all of his drips! He still has two IV's in, but they aren't being used. He is up to full feeds through his feeding tube, and is working on taking it from the bottle. He has finally started to make some noise when he cries. It's so cute. I can't believe how much I love this baby!!!


Linc and me


P.S. The credit card thief was arrested last night on account of our crazy mad investigation skills and information we provided to the cops. Which is good because 2 days after we canceled our card she stole someone else's and $500. I feel bad for her, Will wants me to mention that he feels absolutely no remorse.

28 days

Lincoln has now been in the hospital for 28 days. At 30 days he will qualify for disability from Medicaid. Initially we assumed that he would be out of the hospital long before then, and we would be paying doctor bills for the rest of our lives. We accepted this fact with ease, as our only concern was Lincoln. However I'm sure once we have him home, and the bills start piling up, we will greatly appreciate the Medicaid which will cover everything our insurance wont.

Yesterday Lincoln had a nice relaxing day, as relaxed as you can be with alarms beeping every few seconds. (I hear beeping when I sleep sometimes.) He slept all day, recovering from the productive previous day. He did get his inner jugular line removed, So Will was finally comfortable holding him.
Dwindling lines, what a good sight. This rack used to be jam packed full of fluid lines.

Another line bites the dust

I walked into Lincolns room and saw the most beautiful thing in the whole world. I saw it from the hall way before I walked in the door. There it was bobbing up and down in his mouth. A green and yellow pacifier! I was so happy I almost started jumping up and down. "babe, babe look, a pacifier!" It took Will a few minutes to realize why I was getting so excited about the pacifier. That blasted breathing tube is gone and it is never coming back! Lincoln looks like a baby again. He also got his right atrial line, and his foley catheter taken out. Every doctor that sees us stops to tell us how good Lincoln is doing.

I sat at Lincolns bed full of gratitude. He laid there with his eyes wide open staring right at me. I was in the most blissful, peaceful state. From another patients room alarms started sounding. Doctors started to flock in that direction, some were running. Will was coming down the hall when this was all happening and saw the parents outside the room crying. They wheeled the heart/lung bypass machine by our room. I looked at Lincoln in his perfect state, then at his monitor, his heart rate, blood pressure, sats, all perfect. An immediate feeling of guilt swept over me, and tears swelled in my eyes. How did we get so lucky? I will forever be in debt to our Heavenly Father for the blessings we have received.

A little later we recieved more blessings. One of the surgeons came in and said he was going to remove all 3 tubes from his chest and the drainage line from his stomach. These were the last of the items that needed to be removed in order to hold him. I have been aching to hold him for the last 2 weeks. Today was a great day. Thank you for all of your prayers, they are heard and they and answered everyday.

Day 5

I love to look at Will when he is looking at Lincoln. He stares at him in awe with so much admiration. I can see how much he loves him, and how he would do anything for him. I am so grateful for such a loving husband. He has so much strength to take care of a sick baby and a sick wife. I know he will be such a good dad.

I sent Will back to the hospital without me, because I can't seem to drop my temperature and my body aches, so he may come back with more updates. So far, he is completely off his versed, and slowly being weened off the other 2 sedatives he is on. He also had his arterial line and his intercardial lines taken out. The doctors are hoping to get him off the breathing tube tomorrow. He also started breast milk today. It is a very small amount, and is going through a feeding tube, but still a good start. He opened his eyes today for about an hour and stared at Will and I. He just kept looking back and forth between the two of us hovering over him.

I am continually amazed by the strength of my baby. I love him so much, and I can't wait to have him home and spoil his guts out!

On the road to recovery

We have our first picture of Lincoln post op! Like I mentioned before we wanted to wait for his chest to be closed due its graphic nature. His chest was left open, as most babies are with this specific surgery, due to swelling they accumulate during the procedure. There was a transparent meshed film over it. I am so glad it is closed! Besides the fact that it was one big step in recovery, it is difficult to see anyone in that condition, let alone my 3 week old baby. I would sit in the room with him and just get anxious to leave. Then I would feel guilty for wanting to leave. Laying there so motionless he looked like a doll that needed to be sewn back up.

Lincoln is recovering exceptionally well. All of the doctors keep telling us that all his numbers are strong and they seem very optimistic for a quick recovery. One of the doctors said that he was the "ring leader" of the CVICU. He never ceases to amaze me with his strength. They had to give him a paralytic today so they could re-tape his breathing tube and he started wiggling his toes 10 minutes after they gave it to him. He does the same thing with the sedatives they give to keep him calm.

Dr. Reddy, the surgeon, came to check in on Lincoln. (I am filled with extreme gratitude every time I see that man.) He said everything looked great and they will start pulling out tubes and lines starting tomorrow. They may even take out the breathing tube tomorrow. I can't wait to hold him! Thank you so much for all your thoughts and prayers!
Will also managed to get a great future souvenir for Lincoln, a football signed by his good pal Steve Young. And of course he HAD to get a picture with him as proof for all of you who may not believe how tight they are.

Lincoln - my main man, I am so glad I was able to see what a great man you will become!

(Steve Young 49ers)

8 hours!

Someone had to have been praying like crazy for me. Maybe several people were. I slept for 8 hours last night! It was amazing! I feel a lot better after actually sleeping for more than an hour here and there. So, thank you, thank you, thank you, to whoever prayed for me!

I called the doctor yesterday from Urgent Care to ask about my cultures. They were waiting to see what they grew in order to verify I was on the correct antibiotic. Depending on what type of bacteria grew, the doctor was going to see if they could find an antibiotic that would be safe in breast milk. Unfortunately, I am stuck with the one that isn't safe. While I had him on the phone I asked him if it was normal that my stomach was still hurting and that I still had a high temperature (He wasn't the same doctor that I had from Saturday, I liked her). This is how our conversation went:

Dr. : Tell me what you are feeling.
Me: My stomach hurts and I have a fever. Is that normal, after being on an antibiotic for 2 days?
Dr.: Where does it hurt?
Me: Right under my ribs.
Dr.: I don't know why you would be hurting there. That's not where your kidneys are. You better just come in, I can't diagnose you over the phone.
Me: Well, that's not where a normal persons kidneys are, but I did just have a baby. Isn't it possible that my kidneys are still a little displaced?
Dr.: Yeah, that's a possibility. I would have to have you come in to know exactly whats going on.
Me: I just came in 2 days ago, and they diagnosed me with a kidney infection. So now I am wondering how long it takes for the pain to go away.
Dr.: Well, typically it goes away in the first two days. So I would suggest coming in to make sure there isn't something else going on.
Me: Well, Dr. Carpendale was under the impression that I have had this infection for a few weeks. So wouldn't it take longer for me to recover than someone who only had it for a few days?
Dr.: Yeah, that's a possibility.
Me: Are you sure your not just the janitor pretending to be a doctor?

That's what I wanted to say. One of our many lessons learned. Just because someone knows more about medicine than you do, does not mean they know more about you than you do. I have definitely learned to question doctors after spending 3 weeks with Will in the hospital.

Will finally gets to shave!

Will decided that he wasn't going to shave until Lincoln got his surgery. He was getting a little scruffy.
Awww, no more itchy beard. I love this guy. Here is another picture of Lincoln. We will take some post-op pictures after his chest is closed. I think he is winking at me in this one.

On Saturday we went to Fisherman's Wharf. My sister Soni and her husband drove 11 hours to come spend the weekend with us. (Aren't they sweet?) They wheeled me around in a wheel chair all day because I could barley walk. It was nice to get out of the hospital and take our minds off things for a few hours. On our way to San Fransisco Will missed an exit because he couldn't hear the GPS over me singing to Miley Cyrus. So we got to go over the Bay Bridge twice! And of course pay the toll on the way back.

I remember when we were first informed about Lincolns heart condition they said he would be in the hospital 2-3 weeks. I couldn't imagine how hard it would be to wait that long. We are going on 4 weeks now and it is amazing how fast the days go by. When you have a child they completely consume your life, in a good way. All that concerns me is the well being of my baby. Hours fly when I sit by his bed and stroke his little head. I dread the nights. They are my enemy. Perhaps I don't sleep because my body is confused and thinks that since I just had a baby I should be up all night.
Last night I got in bed exhausted. But, I didn't fall asleep until 1am. Then I woke up. There I was wide awake, terrified to look at the clock. I had only been asleep for 30 minutes. I kept tossing and turning trying to get in a comfortable position. Poor Will woke up every time I made a sound and checked to see if I was ok. Finally I get comfortable and I hear someone in the next room snoring. Then Will starts to snore. Will doesn't snore, he says I snore, so I start to laugh, which in turn makes my stomach hurt. I get to sleep again and have a few dreams. Then I hear a baby crying. Wide awake again and it's only 2am. I find a comfortable position but I still can't sleep because I can hear my heart beating in my pillow. 3am, Time to pump and then dump it down the drain because I am on a stupid antibiotic. I get back in bed wide awake. Then I start thinking (which is always a dangerous road) and I can't stop. I kept telling myself to shut up but I couldn't. I had to finish every thought process that came across my brain. Hopefully I will sleep better tonight.

Has anyone ever had a kidney infection? How long does it hurt after you start the antibiotic? Is it normal to be in pain every time you walk or am I just a baby?

First Day Post Op

So with Lincoln having had his surgery now and finally getting on the road to recovery, I think all the stress and lack of sleep finally caught up to Cara's body today as she needed to be taken to urgent care for a fever of 103.5 and severe stomach pains. Turns out she has had a kidney infection brewing for probably going on a couple weeks now and she finally allowed her body to fully manifest the symptoms. They gave her some antibiotics and pumped her full of fluids to decrease her fever and increase her blood pressure so hopefully she will be feeling better by tomorrow. We are becoming way too familiar with the hospital scene. You know you've been around doctors and nurses too long when you can interpret the results your wife's CBC blood test and make a recommendation to the doctor as to what broad spectrum antibiotic to prescribe.

Ironically, five minutes away at the exact same time Lincoln was receiving fluids as well to increase his blood pressure. It was no big deal or anything. Apparently immediately following large surgeries they have to be constantly regulating the drips and other supports as their blood pressure and other vitals fluctuate. But as far as first days after surgery go, they told me that he had a fantastic day! His recovery seems to be off to a great start and they anticipate enough of the swelling going down to be able to close his chest by Sunday. Also they said that most post ops about 12-18 hours after surgery usually experience a slump in there vitals, but Lincoln just coasted right through without any problems. Unfortunately, Cara couldn't be there what with barely being able to move from a combination of the pains of the infection and pure exhaustion. But one of the first things the nurse told me was that Lincoln is so strong. I almost teared up right there. I immediately thought of how many times we've prayed for and blessed him to have the strength to endure all of this and, as she said that, the realization hit that those prayers along with all of yours had been heard and answered. So again thank you so much!

We are just simply in awe at the surgical capabilities that we've been able to witness and the tender mercies of a loving Father in Heaven. Truly amazing! This definitely has been a time of extreme growth for all of us. It never ceases to amaze me, the composure and resilience that Cara has shown throughout everything as she continues to face and conquer new battles every single day and I am positive that she has genetically passed these qualities as well as her strength on to our son. I know that I'm supposed to be the example and role model for him, but thus far that is exactly what he has been to me.

Today was the day!

Last night the doctor informed us that we were on the schedule for Thursday, and we should call at 5am to verify. I tossed and turned all night, awaiting that 5am phone call. Will called right at 5 and they said they didn't know yet and would call us back. (They were waiting for the labs with his white blood cell count and such.) At 5:40 we got the call, the numbers looked good and they were just waiting for the go ahead from the surgeon. We got ready and headed to the hospital. The whole time we didn't know how to feel. There was still a chance that they wouldn't do his surgery today. When they finally wheeled him into the OR it was real. We kissed him goodbye and the thought that I might never see him again crossed my mind for a split second. Then I knew with out a doubt, that I would. I was surprisingly calm and had such a reassuring feeling of peace. I knew that everything would be ok. I am so grateful for the spirit we had through out the day.

The 9 hours went surprisingly fast. We went to breakfast and then went and took a nap in the parents lounge. Around 3:30 our case manager Lupe told us that Lincoln would be up in 45 min. My first thought was "Are you allowed to tell us that." We walked around a bit trying to figure out where we should wait. We both had this scenario in our heads of the surgeon coming through two swinging doors and giving us the news. However since Lupe had already told us that it went well we didn't have to sit there anxiously waiting for that situation to play out. We were grateful for that.

We came upstairs and waited for about 10 min. before they called us in to talk to the surgeon. He told us that everything went well. He ushered us into his room through the mob of doctors and nurses and told us to give him a kiss. There was my baby laid out on a bed with his chest gaping open. I watched it rise and fall and saw his tiny little heart beating strong. I thought I would be horrified by the sight but I was simply amazed that they were able to perform such a complicated surgery and so grateful that we live in a day and age where this was possible.

Every time I see a nurse or doctor that was involved in getting him to where he needed to be, my heart swells with gratitude. I will write more a little bit later. They just told us we can come back in. Thank you all so much for all of your prayers!

Here's hoping

This morning the doctors made their rounds and they are thinking they will do the surgery tomorrow. This is all contingent on his cultures coming back negative and his numbers all staying where they are at. His white blood cells are up again but since he has been on an antibiotic for 7 days, they are fairly confident that he no longer has an infection. (If he even had one in the first place.) We arn't holding our breath but we are hoping for Thursday! Keep Lincoln in your prayers.

We continue our investigation of the card thief. We went to a hair/nail/tanning salon that she spent $140 at. They said she is a regular there, and the girl remembered her because she left her a $40 tip. She is a generous thief.

Patience is a virtue

Being the most impatient person in the world, waiting for something to happen that is completely out of my control is hard. However I am learning more and more patience everyday. Still no plans for surgery. Lincoln is still stable, the surgeons and Doctors just want him to be in the best condition possible for his surgery, which we obviously agree with.

So as if we hadn't had enough to stress about this past week, I just found out that someone stole my credit card from my wallet and racked up $1,900 on it over the past seven days. We already called our credit card and "With Capital one we pay 0% of fraudulent charges". So that was a huge relief. What isn't a huge relief is that someone is wandering around the hospital without a soul. We are pretty sure that it got stolen from the parents sleep room at the hospital. So whoever stole it knew that we had a child in the hospital. They also had to look at our faces every time they used our card since our picture was on it. Which leads me to my next frustration that she was able to make 48 transactions without a single person checking for ID OR noticing that she looked nothing like the face on the card. We assume it is a she because she spent $140 at a beauty salon. Moral of the story, always check ID.

I remember wondering if I would be ok to leave my stuff outside of the bathroom for the five minutes I was in the shower. Then I thought, "no body could be that heartless," stupid me.

The funny thing about this person is that amongst all the Starbucks, McDonalds, Subway, Tanning, Nail Salon, and many other purchases made, she also seems to have perhaps filled a prescription at a pharmacy. We assume that they will have a record of the transaction along with a name on the prescription. So now we have dedicated ourselves to tracking her down and seeing that consequences are served.

This post seems negative....Here are the things for which we are grateful:

Our camera didn't get stolen along with our memory card.
They didn't steal my whole wallet. I had $5 in it.
I decided to pay the rent for the Ronald McDonald house..That's how I realized my card was missing. I don't use my wallet a lot having Will around all the time.
They stole two credit cards but only used one of them. (Don't worry we canceled both.)
Most importantly I am extremely grateful for my wonderful husband. He is my rock.

Lincoln told us he loved us today:) Humor me

A Special Blessing

We had a great Sunday school lesson on Sunday. Half way through, Will leans over to me and says "That's Steve Young." (Yes, the Steve Young was teaching our Sunday school class.) (Yes, Steve Young, the quarterback for the 49ers). I think Will was slightly star struck. Before class they asked if there were any visitors and we stood up and explained why were visiting. After the lesson Steve and his wife, Barb, came and asked us how our baby was doing. While conversing Will mentioned we were planning on giving him a blessing with the missionaries later in the evening and invited him to participate. We figured he would be too busy and didn't really expect much. Will wanted to bring our camera in case he did show up so we could get a picture of Lincoln with Steve Young. I informed him that would be terribly tacky. He only fought a little and then conceded that it was probably just a little inappropriate.

Around 6:15 I told Will he probably should go call the missionaries and make sure they were still coming, since we had said we wanted to do the blessing at 6 and they weren't there yet. I expected Will to come back with the missionaries and instead he comes back with Steve Young. The missionaries had gotten held up in the ICU visiting someone else, so Steve helped us do the blessing. Besides thinking that we have a really awesome story to tell Lincoln some day, we were really touched that he took the time to come and see our baby having four of his own children at home. He is a really great guy.

The test from this morning showed that Lincoln's white blood cell count came down from 20 to 15, so that is great (Normal is under 20). They are still not sure when they will do his surgery. We are thinking they don't want to give us anymore dates because then they have to recant what they tell us if it doesn't work out. As long as Lincoln is doing well we are happy.

We finally got the disposable camera developed that Will took with him on the plane. (This was from the Saturday before last.)