Stephen's Heart

Yesterday was a special day as we were able to bring Stephen to our church.  Riverview has been such a support to our family.  They have been providing meals, taking care of our yard, writing encouraging notes, praying non stop and even set up a medical fund to help with the hospital bills which are now beginning to flow in.   Even though he shouldn't be around large crowds we wanted to briefly give the congregation a little glimpse of this miracle that they were a part of.  The power of prayer is so powerful and it felt so great to get to show him off to some of those who have faithfully been lifting him up to our heavenly Father.  It worked out perfectly.  I snuck up on stage with him as Joe did announcements and then hid out in a locked office during and in between services.  The isolation isn't ideal but necessary.  I wish I could have carried him proudly around the patio and let people shower him with kisses and hugs but that will have to wait.  I also wish I coud have hugged everyone and thanked them personally for their support and encouragement but that day will too come.  This time of sheltering will fly by as life always does and before you know it he will be right behind his daddy pushing the coffee cart =0)
Stephen is continuing to put on weight.  Today when the nurse weighed him he was 10 lbs 10 ounces!!!  Seriously this kid is A-Mazing.  That means in 5 weeks he has gained 2 1/2 pounds form his birth weight...not too shabby!  We are still waiting to hear results form an ultrasound last week.   I am hoping no news is good news =0)  He will see the pediatrician again Wednesday, Cardiologist Thursday and Homecare again on Friday.  He is being well taking care of!

Check out the cheeks...and his smile!

"Rookie of the Year"

Today Joe got a special phone call.  Upon our discharge we gave every nurse a thank you card, and filled some with special gifts, and were able to give each doctor who cared for him a nice bottle of wine.  But we wanted to do something extra special for his surgeon.  He had mentioned the day of Stephen's surgery how he drinks a cup of coffee each morning so we designed a special ceramic mug for him.

It is simple and sweet as says "Heart Hero".  We paired it with some nice coffee and a bottle of wine...we didn't want him to be left out.  Today He called Joe to thank us for the gift.  =0)  How sweet is that?  When Joe shared his words I smiled ear to ear.  He said he has put them all to good use but that he especially loved the mug because he knew a lot of thought had been put into it. He was even using it as he called =0)  It was so neat that he took the time out of his busy schedule to make that call.  I had hoped the gift would show how truly appreciative we are for what he does, not only for Stephen, but for so many other families.  Dr. P is a hero in our books!