Quick update on Nile

He is doing great. Gained 1 lb in a little over a week and he is sleeping so much better. In desperation I asked for sleeping advice on facebook last week. He was getting up every 2 hours to eat. That night I moved him upstairs to his room. He slept much better. Last night he slept from 8:30 to 5AM!!!!!!!!!!!! Can you believe it. IT WAS A WONDERFUL THING!!

At his check up I got the go ahead to give him regular formula and start him on solids. He is still a little unsure about my cooking, I am sure Clay would agree that it's an acquired taste :) Yesterday he had avocado and sweet potatoes, not too sure about solids yet.

We are having so much fun loving on this beautiful boy!!!

Nile's pictures 4.5 months

My friend Amanda is doing photography to raise money for their adoption. They are adopting a little girl from Ethiopia. Check this post out about getting your family photos done for only $80!!!!!!!!!!! This is a great deal! Great idea for Christmas photos or gifts for family! Click here for details

Look at some of the amazing photos she did for me yesterday! You can click on the collage to make it larger.

GREAT NEWS TODAY!!

Today was our appt with the Infectious Disease doctors at Vanderbilt. We went in with many questions about why we were told by the pediatric staff that he had HIV and why they said 100% the total opposite. They assured us that he didn't have HIV and didn't EVER have to be retested. He had 3 negative test and they were very accurate for a 4 month old. After, many questions from us the doctor looked at us and said, "would you like a certificate or something that says he doesn't have HIV." We said YES...haha!
They proceeded to tell us that he was perfectly fine and healthy now. We asked about what we were told at Vanderbilt about not leaving the house and treating him like he was a preemie. The doctor just stared at us for awhile and laughed. He repeated that he was perfectly fine and healthy!! He said that we don't have to live in a cave anymore!!!!!!!!! He said we are free to get out as much as we want! PRAISES!!!!!!!!! So we will be at church Sunday morning. Can't wait to see everyone!!

Our Ethiopia video

Click here to see the video of "Our Journey to Nile"

4 weeks ago we picked Nile up....

We had an appt today with Nile's pediatrician, he was very impressed with his overall health and weight gain. Nile has gained 2 lbs since we picked him up 4 weeks ago. He is back to eating every 2 hours about 4 oz. It has been rough at night but I know he needs the nutrition! We are going to hold off on cereal for now since formula is much better for him. Basically cereals are just empty carbs that will make him feel full where his formula has proteins, vitamins, ect.. So the doctor was pleased that he was eating so much!

We did get him on Zantac for acid reflux today. I will be glad when that kicks in. He is a spitter!

The doctor is also trying to get him qualified with insurance to get the vaccinations for RSV. The shot cost about $1500 per shot and he would need several injections. Insurance will only cover it if they feel like the child is a high risk for RSV. The danger of him getting it and being hospitalized has to outweigh the cost to our insurance company for the vaccination. Our doctor is going to hold off on any routine vaccinations until he is off the antibiotic and staying healthy.

Tomorrow we will meet again with infectious disease at Vanderbilt. It is just a follow up visit. I will update if there is anything new.

Overall, we are doing really good. He is just an angel that I cannot give enough kisses to! He is so adorable and smiley!! Here is a cute video of him, sorry for me being so cheesy!

Two boys that need a home….

You have to read this post

******update THEY FOUND A HOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Nile -- 4 months

Nile is doing awesome at home. He is eating like a champ. About every 2 to 3 hours he will now eat 4 to 5 oz! Last night he thought it would be fun to eat every 2 hours through the night. I didn't like the idea but love that he is eating well and gaining weight.

This may be a hard fall/winter for us. The doctors said that keeping Nile, Bowen and Anslee healthy is #1 priority, meaning stay home. They were very happy to hear that Bowen and Anslee are not in preschool. We are debating what we do about going to church and if A&B should be in class at all. I hate to miss and not let them be there but that is the only place they pick up bugs. If they get sick it is not going to be easy to keep them out of Nile's face. They just cannot do it! We've talked alot lately about germs and washing hands.

We are so thankful for the technology in America and that Nile is doing so well. We are so grateful that God got us to Ethiopia so quickly b/c several doctors have made the comment that he would not have made it much longer without treatment. It also makes me sad for all the babies and children we left behind. I pray for all of the babies waiting on their forever families.

I was looking at happy Nile last night thinking about his birth mother. I cannot imagine not knowing where he is and if he is even alive. I wish she could see his big smile and how much he is loved! I feel like he has been in our family forever and I cannot imagine life without him.
I am as happy as I could be!!

So today it hit me that although Nile looks like a 1 month old he is actually 4 months and can eat solids!! Maybe that is why he is eating every two hours. So I had my mom pick up rice cereal on her way over today. He like it. I took 91 pictures of his first taste of food. Who said the 3rd child doesn't have many pictures? I cannot help but take a ton of this cutie!! Those who know Clay know that he is master at crazy faces but I think he has met his match. What do you think?

The drama of the last 24 hours...

Oh man, I don't know if I will even be able to relay to you what has happened in the last 24 hours.

Yesterday about this time Nile was looking great and we were looking forward to discharge today. Clay left to go home and get the kids. I would stay with Nile until we were ready to go home. That afternoon our team of doctors came to the door and asked to see me privately. I could tell that something wasn't right. They took me into a private room and they all seemed very down. They told me that Nile had tested positive for PCP Pneumonia. Then they proceeded to tell me that because of several factors including PCP they were pretty positive that Nile had HIV. I was stunned and in shock. He had already had 2 negative tests with another more specific test still pending. They told me they were 90-95% sure and he would start the medications for HIV in the morning. They said that the pending test could come back negative but he could still have it and test positive down the road. I called Clay, a wreck, and told him the news. We had no clue what to do with the information. So until this morning we were praying for a miracle. We told a hand-full of our prayer warriors about the situation and asked for them to pray for a miracle. We knew that God wouldn't give us something we couldn't handle. And if he in fact, did have HIV we would love him just the same.

After a scary, "what if" night we saw the same team this morning. They got the RNA HIV test back and it was negative. We were relieved but knew that they had told us that this wasn't 100% and that he would need to be tested in the future.

Here is where the good news comes in.... we met with the Infectious Disease team from Vanderbilt....their take on everything was totally different. They are the people that deal with HIV every day. They told us that all of the tests done were very accurate and they were certain (less than 1% chance) that Nile didn't have HIV. They think that he was a preemie and malnourished and that is why he contracted the PCP Pneumonia. They told us that he didn't even HAVE to be retested and WOULD NOT START HIV MEDICATIONS!! They were surprised about the meeting that the other Drs. had with me the night before. The main Dr. told us we needed to be more worried about getting in a car wreck on the way home than Nile having HIV. So we knew that God had heard our cries and answered prayers. WE WANTED TO SHOUT PRAISES FROM THE ROOF TOP!!!!!!!!!!!

So, we are now at HOME AND NILE IS AWESOME. They said he has nothing that is contagious and that he needs to be cared for as if he were a preemie. We were told not to have him exposed to a lot of people due to the fact that he still has a weak immune system.

We are so grateful that Nile is OK and is gaining weight and acting more like a 4 month old now. We have seen amazing improvements!!

Please continue to pray for little Nile and his health. I know it will be hard to keep this little guy healthy through the fall/winter months. We will be following up on all of his testing in the future. We know that God is in control and will rest in that!!

THANK YOU FOR ALL OF YOUR SUPPORT, LOVE, CALLS, VISITS, CARDS, MEALS, PRAYERS!!!!!!!! THEY ALL MEAN SO MUCH!!!

Procedure went well...

Nile did awesome today during the lung procedure. We fed him last night around 1:30AM and he would only take an oz of formula. At 4AM he woke up hungry and crying. I was really worried that he would scream until 8AM--So after praying over him I turned on the TV and Handy Manny was on and he watched that and stopped crying!! The boy likes to watch TV!

He has had zero side effects that they prepared us for from the procedure.

I really think he is on the up side. We are hearing rumors that we MAY be out of here tomorrow. We are so ready to sleep in our bed without alarms sounding every 2 minutes. Since I sat down to type this I have gotten up probably 11 times to silence alarms that are going off. The alarms misread info on him and start dinging.

We should get lots of info today and more lab results.

Thanks for your support and prayers.

Prayers are working...........

I cannot tell you the number of ppl that are praying over this little guy! I have had people come by to pray over him, ppl call/text telling me they are praying. THANK YOU SOOOOOOOO MUCH!!!!!!!
I came back from a small break away from the hospital and came back to a different child. He is smiling, cooing, kicking, picking everything in his reach up and putting it in his mouth.....this is totally different than we have EVER seen him. I am soooooooo excited to see the positive changes.

Also, he hasn't had tylenol since 10am today and hasn't had a fever!!!!!!!!

Keep the prayers coming!!!!!!!!!!!!

2AM--is the last time he can eat b/c of his procedure in the morning at 8AM. pray that he sleeps through the night and isn't up screaming. Also, pray that the procedure is on time. I know that it is common to push these things back.

We should have results from the procedure by tomorrow afternoon. This will give us a lot more information about what is going on and what they need to do to treat it. I will update!!

Thanks again for being prayer warriors!!

Prayers for Nile

For now we still have the Vanderbilt doctors a little puzzled at why Nile is sick. We know some of the factors but there are still some missing puzzle pieces.

We would covet your prayers tonight b/c in the morning Nile will be put to sleep for a Pulmonologist to go down into his lungs for a sample of fluids. This means he will be unable to eat after midnight. It may be a rough nights sleep with a hungry little boy! Putting a baby under at such an early age I know is pretty controversial but I know he is in good hands at Vandy. I pray for wisdom over the doctors there!!
Thanks for all of the calls, prayers, texts and emails they mean so much!! We have an awesome support group!

We want this little guy better and we are ready to be back home as a family of 5.
-pray his temp stays in a normal range
-pray that the doctors will figure out why he is so sick
-that he will be able to have normal oxygen levels
-that he will start eating and growing!!
-pray that we get rest so we are able to function

I am now at home with the kids and they are napping so I am about to crash. Clay is at the hospital with Nile and I will be heading back later.

Love you all!