A Good Day

I am so, so proud of my two girls.

Today, while thinking of what to write as an update the song "Survivor" by Destiny's Child came to mind. Well, mainly the chorus. The verses don't really fit this situation. But the chorus definitely does.

I'm a survivor (what),
I'm not gonna give up (what),
I'm not gon' stop (what),
I'm gonna work harder (what),
I'm a survivor (what),
I'm gonna make it (what),
I will survive (what),
Keep on survivin' (what),
I'm a survivor (what),
I'm not gonna give up (what),
I'm not gon' stop (what),
I'm gonna work harder (what),
I'm a survivor (what),
I'm gonna make it (what),
I will survive (what),
Keep on survivin' (what).

My girls are survivors. They don't give up. And they're getting stronger by the day!

Today was a good day. It started with Linda and I waking up after both of us were able to get our first full night's rest in three days. It's been a trying three days as you can imagine, so being able to sleep was definitely a gift.

Next, you guys need to know that Linda has been amazing through this whole ordeal. Sitting with her every day and chatting, you'd never ever know that she had just gone through an emergency C-Section and delivered a micro-preemie. I mean the woman is just all smiles and joy.

And I have to take this time to thank all of you that are praying for us. I believe that there hundreds of you out there all over the world praying for us and let me tell you, your prayers are really sustaining us and carrying us through. Throughout this whole ordeal, we've just sensed and overwhelming peace and confidence in the Lord, Our God, our Daddy, our Jehovah Jireh Provider and Jehovah Rapha Healer.

Back to today. In the morning about 9:30 or so, our dear sister and friend, Heather arrived and it was really good to see her. She was the first of our friends to visit us, and it was a comfort to have her to spend the day with us.

She was a great help in just chatting with us, and most of all helping to raise and lower Linda's bed as the need arose. And let me tell you, this was no small job.

About 10:30 or so, I was able to go in and see Alicia again. And she looked even better than she did yesterday. More color and some of her swelling had gone down. This time, while I was visiting Alicia, the head doctor -- Dr. Hsu came over and greeted us. He told us that he had received a call from my great-uncle asking him to take special care of our little Alicia and he promised that he would do his best. When I asked how she was doing, he said, she's doing better, but she's definitely not out of the water yet. But he said he would keep doing his best. He told me again of the problems that Alicia was facing, but said that all of those things, they would take care of as the need arose. The main concern right now was sustaining Alicia's life.

After spending a good half an hour with Alicia, I went back to our room to find Linda getting a special treat that she'd been longing for since she started to be alert again after delivery -- a hairwash! It was fun to watch the lady put down a plastic sheet and then an inflatable innertube thing with a drain under Linda's head so she could wash it all while Linda stayed in her hospital bed. Amazing! =) Linda was so happy and grateful to finally have clean hair. It was definitely a good thing.

Following the hairwash, my dear girl was able to perform a feat that any woman who's ever had a C-Section would tell you was excruciating. Linda sat up for the first time. It took her about 5 minutes to do this action that normally takes us but a few seconds, but she did it! It was amazing. I was so proud of her, I took a picture! =) I mean, normally sitting up isn't something we think too much about, but with a staple wound across her abs combined with the dizziness from shifting positions after so long being prone, it was definitely quite an accomplishment.

Later in the day, Linda was able to get her second round of blood transfusion, which we were a little nervous about. Linda got her first round of blood last night and she did not react well to it. About 1/3 of the way down the bag, Linda's body started to react to the foreign blood. She started shivering uncontrollably all over and got chills. So I immediately called the nurse over who stopped the transfusion and gave her a second blanket on top of the one she was already under, and t a heat lamp to help Linda warm up. She also told Linda to drink a lot of warm water. After what seemed like forever, Linda was still not doing well, so they had to give her a dose of medicine to stop the reaction. That helped Linda to settle down a bit, except the chills quickly turned into a high fever and more discomfort. Thankfully, after second shot of medicine Linda started to feel better and was able to finish off the bag of blood. (Haha. Sounds funny. But that's what happened.)

Anyway, so back to day, Linda got through the second bag of blood with no shivers and no fever so we were very thankful about that. By then Heather had said her goodbyes and was headed back to Taipei. Just in time for me to get a call from our friend Kevin saying that he was going to come down and pay us a visit as well. Towards the end of Heather's visit and prior to Kevin's visit, I started to feel a headache coming on and got really dizzy. I was familiar with these headaches as I often got them when I was dehydrated or too tired. So I immediately tried to get some water in me. But it wasn't helping. So I decided I needed to lie down and try to take a nap. After sleeping for about 10 min. The headache still wasn't gone so I headed to the bathroom, and while I was in there, I threw up and felt much better after that. Definitely understand now, about taking care of myself so I can take care of my wife and kid. Duh.

Anyway, so by now Kevin found his way to our room and it was really great to see him. He was such a servant, giving me a shoulder massage and offering to help Linda find a mirror from random strangers so that Linda would be able to get something out that she felt in her eye. It's such a comfort to have brothers like Kevin in our life.

By now it was time for my evening visit to Alicia and this time around we got some great news! Alicia was breathing more on her own and she was getting more and more oxygen into her blood stream so they were able to lower her dependency on the respirator! Also, the nurses said that she was pretty active and moved around a lot. So much so that they had to strap her arms down for fear that she would pull out the tubes and wires attached to her. Like I said, survivor! I was able to sing to her and hold her hand for a bit and that was super special. She actually gripped onto my finger with her little hand, and for such a tiny one, she had a pretty strong grip! I was proud of her. Doctor Hsu also said that she had a really good day and was doing better than she had been. Of course, he was cautious to warn us that just one day of progress wasn't enough. It's a long journey to full health, so we need her to continue to improve every day. But I have confidence. My girl is a strong one. But beyond that, My God is a mighty God.

As always it was hard to say goodbye to her. But I was comforted knowing that most likely I would be going back to see her in an hour or so for Linda's first visit with her.

Later in the evening, after dinner and an evening snack, Linda made her second attempt to sit up and this time she was able to actually get out of bed and stand up enough to transfer to a wheel chair so we could wheel her down to see Alicia.

Oh, man, friends, the reunion of Linda and Alicia was one that will forever be soldered in my mind. Before heading down to the ICU, Linda's sister and I both warned her to prepare her heart. But I don't think anything could prepare you to see your daughter strapped to monitors and having wires sticking out of her every which way. Linda had seen pictures that I had taken, but it was nothing compared to seeing Alicia live and in person. I wheeled Linda into the ICU and got her over close to Alicia's incubator. Then the nurse and I helped her to slowly stand up and transfer to a high chair, which was quite painful for Linda actually. Then she saw Alicia and broke down sobbing. Much the same way that I did when I first saw her. At first, the nurse and I thought that Linda was crying cause of her wound, but then I knew. She was crying for her daughter. You need to understand that Linda and I firmly believe that Alicia is going to make it, and that she is going to be healthy and strong. But seeing your little daughter so helpless is hard to bare.

Linda began to speak to Alicia and I'm sure that it was a comfort for Alicia to be able to hear her mother's voice, one that she'd gotten so familiar with over the past few months. Oh, gosh, I'm tearing even as I write this. Linda told Alicia that she was so proud of her, and she said, "Hi, honey! This is Mommy! Do you remember when we used to spend every morning together. We would worship God together, and we would talk? I'm so proud of you, honey! You keep fighting." A mother's heart, I tell you.

We spent as much time as we could with Alicia, and asked the nurse to take special, special care of our little girl and reluctantly said our goodbyes.

Then we went back to our room for the evening to rest.

Friends, this journey is far from over. But as I said earlier, we fully believe and have faith that Alicia is going to make a full recovery and be with us sooner rather than later. Linda and I, because of your prayers, go about our days in peace. We are not anxious over Alicia or her health. We have peace and trust that the Lord is taking care of her in our absence. We go through our day as if our daughter is completely healthy and stable. Because we have faith that Daddy God has got it.

Also, over and over and over these past few days we hear stories of people who've had 25-weekers and 24-weekers who were way smaller than Alicia and they're all healthy and strong now, to which we say, "Do it again, Lord! Do it again!"

Also, thinking back on the journey we've had over the past few days, and how God really provided and paved each step of the way, we have no doubt that the Lord would not have done all that simply to have Alicia die.

Also, I forgot to mention that the doctor who did Linda's C-section and delivered Alicia came and visited to check up on Linda and she just really put our hearts at ease. I told her all of the problems that Alicia had, and she was like, "Oh, that's normal. Oh, that's normal. Don't worry." So from that I gather that Alicia is very "normal" for a child who was born in such a way. Nothing that she has is abnormal for a preemie, so that's good.

And the doctor also said something that was very encouraging she said, "Most children in our hospital who are born above 500 grams usually end up being fine." So since Alicia was born at 654, I think she's going to be more than fine.

Of course, of course, she's definitely NOT out of the water yet. But you know what? We're not IN the water, we're walking ON the water! And as long as we keep our eyes on the Lord. We believe he's going to carry us through.

So friends, THANKS for your prayers, please, please keep them coming! Your prayers are like the lifelines for our spirits. We are so grateful for each and every one of you.