Hospitalized again... (UPDATED)

UPDATE: Samuel was well enough to come back home this afternoon and continue his antibiotics and other treatments here. His condition is delicate and he may need to return to the hospital again, but we are so thankful for each day we are able to all be home together. We got the whooping cough test results back also today and they were negative. So we will continue to keep a close eye on (well...26 eyes are basically on him most of the day :) ) this little boy and give him lots of TLC and continue to lift him up before the Great Physician. Thank you for praying...it's so good to have "Little Brother" home :)


Pictures taken this evening from Samuel's room.

Empty Crib tonight :(

Loading up the things for Samuel's room

When I told Daniel this morning that I'd update the blog tonight, I never thought I'd be saying that Samuel is in the hospital again. We have enjoyed 10 wonderful days with our sweet little boy here at home. It still amazes me how incomplete our family feels with just his little self not here. While it's been a lot of work and time caring for him, lost sleep is sweet when he's in my arms. I had to make a chart when he came home to keep track of all his treatments he needed around the clock. Between feedings, nebulizations, and medications, we had to take care of him in some way almost every hour. Either my alarm or his little cry woke me up all night long and the children got use to bringing whatever we were doing (schoolwork, sewing, reading, ect...) to the bedroom each hour to help take care of our baby. Last night we completed the last of the treatments and I was so glad to finally file my charts away and set my alarm for a time closer to when the sun rises :) Samuel had a follow-up visit scheduled with the pediatrician this morning. I was a bit concerned about the reoccuring fevers he'd been having the past few days. Daniel was home and had just finished preparing for the service tonight, so he offered to take him into town to see the doctor while I continued home schooling. Samuel was running another low grade fever this morning, and his heart rate was running about 200-220 (due to the fever). The doctor ordered another chest x-ray and blood test and then admitted him as he has another case of pneumonia.
About 4 weeks ago, when Samuel was first admitted into the hospital here, they tested him for whopping cough. Our family had unknowingly at the time been exposed to it up in the states before Samuel was old enough to get his vaccination for it.
While we still have not heard the test results, it appears that is what Samuel has which is the underlying reason for all his complications. A 2 month old baby here had just died from whooping cough the week before Samuel was admitted back in June. The hospital here sees about 1 case a month and we are so thankful for the knowledge the Lord has given the doctors here in caring for Samuel.
Whooping cough can last 3 months or more, so we may still have a long road to travel. There is no "cure" for it, but you treat the complications from it as they arise.
We are continually blessed and encouraged as we read the comments from so many of you who continue to uphold us in prayer. "Count it all joy, my brethren, when ye fall into divers temptations, knowing that the trying of your faith worketh patience." You know, between it being 97 degrees in the house each night, being over tired from caring for a sick little one, and having an awful "chest cold" for the past month (I may have whooping cough too...did you know you can get it as an adult even if you were fully vaccinated as a child?...I didn't! ), I have been tempted to complain on more than one occasion...and sometimes I just do complain and grumble and then not only am I unhappy, but I make everyone else unhappy around me. The Lord will work patience in me yet!
Just rising early, no matter how much I've been up at night, to have a bit of time alone with my Lord before I start the day, has carried me through and brought so much peace and joy to my heart. He is faithful and sure; He tells me to count each trial for joy and you know, when by His grace I choose to do that, He in turn gives me joy...no matter how hard it is and even if there is no end in sight, I know He is lovingly leading us and at times carrying us along and what a comfort to rest in Him.
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Well, I know this post is already long, but I had a few other things that I wanted to write about tonight seeing as how I didn't plan on writing about Samuel being in the hospital :)

Since Samuel came home 10 days ago, we've started full time in our new schedule and been able to work out most of the kinks now. I know many of you have asked to see it and I'd love to share it with you...when I first started scheduling, seeing examples of others schedules, especially ones who had many young children, was a great help in getting ours put together. But, we had a computer crash last week (part of the reason for the long time between posts here...that and the 12 children and 1 hubby who live here and require a bit of my time ;) ). I'm hoping my computer savy brother will be able to help his less than computer savy sister recover some of our documents, but if not, I'll have to type the schedule up again on the children's home school computer. I'm thankful that I printed up a couple of copies already. I'll let you all know when I have it ready.

My morning wake up time is 5:30 am as the children get up at 6:30 am and I love meeting the Lord there in our living room while it's still quiet. Monday, Samuel woke up early (4:30 am) and was hungry. After I fed him, I was wide awake and figured there wasn't really enough time for me to fall back asleep before the alarm went off, so I used the extra minutes to decorate our school room; Daniel let me go to the Dollar Tree while we were in the states and they have such a good size, fun school section! :) I tell you, what a few charts and pictures will do...the room looks so cheery and the children were so eager to study...that's a well spent $12! :)



Oh, I wanted to ask you all a favor. As you can see, I have a few pictures there in our kitchen.


Some of them have been sent to us by you! How exciting it has been to put a face to the name of those who we've been blessed to know through here. I have another large bulliten board waiting to be hung in our family room and I'd love to fill it with pictures from you all. So if you have a picture you could send us, we'd love to display it! Be sure to tell us who you are and where you are from and anything else you'd like to say. You can find our mailing address on the bottom of the right hand side bar.
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Daniel went out to the village of Jesus Maria yesterday for the first time since we've been back. Sadly, the men seemed harder than ever toward the gospel. They told Daniel he could come back another time but they didn't want to talk about the Bible anymore. Daniel said he'd return this coming week; there are several other villages in the "area" and he's planning on heading out early Tuesday morning and seeing how many villages he can preach in before dark.
Next week, Thursday through Saturday, we are having our 2nd annual Church Family Camp. With Samuel being sick, I'll probably have to stay home with the younger children, but the oldest 8 are counting down the days. I sewed Beka a new pair of culottes for swimming as she's grown several inches since last summer. We are praying that it will not only be a time of fun and fellowship, but that the Lord will work in the hearts of all who attend through the preaching.
We were encouraged last week to have 6 more come to trust Jesus Christ alone for their salvation...a man and his wife, an older man, a 20 year old lady, an 8 year old girl, and another lady who lives out on the way to the village. Five of them want to get baptized this month. How we rejoiced and praised the Lord all week long for bringing more souls to Himself! On the days when we just want to cry or give up, we remember how much the Lord suffered for us; how much we want the people here to know Him and His great love. Thank you Lord!
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And one last thing to share...
Timothy wanted me to video tape him doing what he calls a "Lazy Boy Backflip". When I first saw him do it, my heart about stopped, but now even Noah (age 4) can do one (though not quite as high as Timothy) and it's turned out to be quite a hit with my children and the neighborhood children too. :)