Terribly Poetic

Praise God! We have been granted a surgery date in Edmonton of February 4th. This is sooner than we where expecting and it just goes to show how God is listening to our prayers and looking after our little girl. Right now we are still excited to have a date set and the reality of what is going to happen in surgery isn’t setting in yet. We are still at peace that God is in control and we know that He is with us every step of the way. We are so thankful for getting this date as early as we have.

On a related note: Yesterday while attending the Saskatoon Evangelical Youth Workers monthly meeting, myself and my family received an outpouring of love and prayers as I was surrounded and prayed over. I don’t think it is a coincidence that we got word of surgery date the very next day. God is so awesome! When I told them about how we had applied at Kinsmen Telemiracle for funding to cover our travel, accommodations, and other expenses they felt led by God that the Body of Christ should help rather than relying on another organization to help a brother in Christ. Therefore, Ranger Lake Bible Camp is taking donations to help cover our expenses. We have already received over $200 and are feeling so blessed by this act of love and generosity. If you would like to help with our expenses, which could be close to $1000, you may donate online to Ranger Lake here and just add a note in the comment box to let us know that’s what the funds are for.

Thank you for all your prayers and support. Please remember to mark down Feb 4 on your calendars to pray for us. Also please be praying that our family and Norah stays healthy. Any sickness, even if only small, will delay her surgery. Which also means that if you are visiting us, please just stay away if you have any cold or flu symptoms, and remember that we still love you and will happily have you come visit us after the surgery is over or you get better.

Donate to Ranger Lake Bible Camp to help the Grunau’s

Most of you know this already from my many facebook status updates this past week, but in case you missed it. On Tuesday we went into the hospital to have Norah’s NG tube put in. We have been trying to do whatever we could to avoid this, but Norah just wasn’t gaining weight. We realized that this was the correct decision and as unpleasant as it seemed, it was necessary. God continues to give us peace about how He is walking us through this journey.

Tuesday late afternoon the tube went in. Watching this was the hardest thing I’ve had to see Norah go through. However, once it was over (it is very quick), and once Norah stopped screaming and we stopped crying, it really wasn’t as bad as we thought. Norah actually screamed louder each time they had to take her blood pressure. So after a couple nights in the hospital we finally got to leave. We had to stay for so long to get the feedings down, learn how to use the feeding pump, how to put in the NG tube (Dawn did it once), and to make sure she was gaining weight in a healthy manner. On the first day she actually gained weight too quickly. Weird. Here we had been trying to get her to gain weight and she goes and pigs out first day in the hospital. What we didn’t know was that gaining weight too quickly could be really bad. So they got that figured out and we are at home now. Norah is taking to the new feeding schedule very well and had gained 8oz just in the time at the hospital! We are so thankful to all the nurses, dietitians, and doctors at the hospital. They made our short time there so much easier. It makes me appreciate all the nurse friends I have so much more. Who knows, maybe I’ll go back there to volunteer some day.

So now we just continue to wait for Norah’s surgery. And we also hope we can figure out how to get some rest in the meantime. Please pray that a date would be given to us soon. Thank you for all your prayers and support.

Just wanted to give everyone a quick update to pray for us as this afternoon we had Norah admitted to Royal University Hospital to have her feeding tube put in. While it was difficult to watch the tube go in for the first time we are seeing that she is taking a lot more food in already. In just two feedings she “drank” 6 oz, which before would have taken most of the day. So we are beginning to see the advantages, however, we are still getting used to having Norah hooked up to machines and equipment to monitor her.

As I write this I am at home alone as Libby has gone to the grandparents until Norah can come home and there is only room for one parent to sleep on the peds ward. It is very weird to be at home alone. While one would think that I should be able to catch up on all that sleep I’ve been missing, however, I’m not sure I will get much rest tonight.

Please pray that our hospital stay can be cut as short as needed and that Dawn and I will feel comfortable to bring Norah home soon and continue tube feeding on our own. After seeing the tube go in, I just can’t think of one of us having to put the tube back in when she pulls it out or it needs to be changed. Thankfully we know some nurses

Lastly, pray for Dawn tonight as she is alone at the hospital.

It seems like such a long time since my last update. I feel like so much and yet so little has happened since my last update. Holidays was mostly relaxing as I was able to be at home with the family. However, it was also very exhausting and in some ways continues to be. In an effort to do whatever we can to avoid a feeding tube we have been feeding Norah as often as possible. We continue to wake up and feed her in the night, which is the job I get to do. While the routine has set in and we are somewhat used to it, we still continue to fight the lack of sleep we are getting. But, it is all paying off because Norah doesn’t need a feeding tube, yet. She is finally over 9lbs!! (She was 7lbs 13oz when she was born) Now we are in the waiting game as we wait for her surgery. While there is some paper work we can do like Ronald McDonald House, Kinsmen Telemiracle Funding, etc, etc to keep our minds off the actual surgery itself, in the back of our minds is still this one big thought…. Norah is getting OPEN HEART SURGERY!!!! Please pray for our energy levels, while we are leaning on the peace of God and feel like He is in control, we still have moments and need to continually reminder ourselves that we are not in control. And for that fact we are thankful.

The next step now is to keep doing what we are doing to help Norah gain as much weight as possible before her surgery. Until next time.

Hey everyone the LOVE adoption shirts are now available for purchase for $25. Buy a shirt and know that the proceeds are helping a wonderful couple in their quest to adopt from Ghana. In fact, we are having a fundraiser this coming weekend. To get your shirt and your tickets to the Steak Night, please contact Kathy at 306-222-8731. Please get your tickets before this Wednesday as that is the cut off date.

Let’s all show this couple how much we love and support them as they get ready to fly to Ghana in less than 2 weeks time. And don’t they just look great in those shirts? Who wouldn’t want one?

In a stunning turn of events the Grunau’s ended up getting a Nintendo® Wii this Christmas season. It has been more than a few years since I sold my Xbox and my old Playstation has been collecting dust in the garage for quite a long time. So once again, we are the proud owners of a Wii. While I will admit that a PS3 with its Blu-ray and assortment of games did entice me, but the creative game play, the “get my butt” off the couch ability, added with the ability for my kids to play video games from my childhood ultimately won out. So far we just have the Wii Sports and Mario Kart as we bought it in a bundle. But we plan to join my parents (that’s right, my parents had one before me) and get Wii Fit.

So for those of you out there that already have a Wii, what games would you recommend? If you own one I would love to become friends on the Wii and try out some online play. Especially if you have Mario Kart too. The other games I will one day own will of course be a version of Rock Band or Guitar Hero, but until then, I will be mastering Mario Kart. The other thing I plan to do is get a classic controller and buy a few of the original NES® games. Then my kids can really learn to appreciate great games. Afterall, Nintendo® keeps proving itself as a world leader in video games, and has proven that faster, better hardware and graphics don’t make games better. Great game play, and design do! Thanks Nintendo® for years of entertainment and many more to come at the Grunau’s.

Well, it’s official. The regular blog updates have been replaced almost entirely with Norah’s Story. Maybe someday this story will reach and end, or maybe I’ll find time during the holidays to post something worthwhile besides these updates, but until then…

Yesterday Norah had her weigh in. After a long wait at the hospital to get a quick weight and check (so I’m told as I couldn’t be at this appointment), we found out that Norah had only gained 56 grams in 5 days, which is just under 2 oz. Wow is what I thought. That’s it? This little bit of growth for the hours of work? I guess it could be worse, she could have lost weight. But come on. So the next plan is to increase the concentration of formula we mix into her bottles to the maximum strength. We had tried this a couple times already, but found it bothered her stomach, but I guess we will just have to deal with that now. But the best part of this new plan is that we have to wake her up at night to feed her. So her 2am to 8am stretch of sleep will now be interrupted. Norah won’t mind though as she has been learning the art of feeding in her sleep. This has actually been the best way for her to eat, but now it means alot less sleep for us.

So we will add one more thing to do to get Norah to gain weight and hope this one does the trick. The benefit of this last ditch effort is that we won’t have to be learning how to use an NG tube over the holidays. However, on Dec 29th we will go for another weigh in, and if she hasn’t made significant progress by then, we are quite positive she will need the feeding tube then. Please pray that Norah can gain weight over the holidays. So while you are finding it easy to gain weight over the holidays with Christmas baking, turkey and stuffing, remember that not everyone has it so easy. Please keep us in your prayers over the holidays.

Until next time.

Merry Christmas

Well today was abit of a whirlwind. We decided to take Libby with us to Norah’s appointment with the cardiologist. The problem was relying alittle too much on Libby waking us up in the morning. Therefore, when Libby slept in till 9:30am and we had an appointment at the hospital at 10am we were abit rushed out the door. Somehow we got two kids ready, gave Norah some meds, got a bottle ready, and out the door to the hospital and through admitting in 35mins!

Norah’s checkup revealed much the same as it has always been. There hasn’t been any change in the hole in Norah’s heart and for the first time the cardiologist told us that it would require surgery. The nurses and other health professionals had been hinting towards surgery for quite awhile, but the cardiologist had still been hesitant to say those words until he was sure. This was the first time the cardiologist didn’t increase her meds, but this is because she is at the highest dose that they would give her. We have been told that they will most likely do surgery when she is 4-6months old, which would be sometime after February. However, she is still having trouble gaining weight. This is the area they are most concerned with. So we have increased the formula we mix in her bottles in an effort to add more calories. We will monitor her weight gain over the holidays and if things don’t progress like they should, then we will have no choice but to use a feeding tube. Please pray that Norah can gain weight without having to use a feeding tube. We are desperate to do whatever we can to avoid this. They have also said that if her weight gain becomes a bigger issue that they will also have to think about pushing up the surgery.

We have been blessed with great care from the staff at the Pediatric Cardiology department at RUH. They are actually connected in a network of other departments like theirs from all across Western Canada. They meet weekly via video conference to discuss cases before they get to surgery. This next week, Norah will become part of that discussion. So now we have not just one expert cardiologist but a whole group from around Canada talking about Norah. This group is who will ultimately recommend when Norah gets surgery. We are so thankful for these people and the skills God has blessed them with.

So we will go into the holidays knowing she will get surgery and doing everything we can to get her to gain weight. All the pumping, feeding, and medications with a long stretch between now and Jan 4, when our next appointment with the cardiologist will be, could add up to a stressful Christmas. We are thankful that we where able to purchase a very nice electric pump which has made all this quite abit easier. Through all of this we know that God has everything under control. Despite everything we can say that we have peace. While it has been hard and will continue to try on us, we know who is in control. We also are very thankful to all our friends and family for your prayers. Until next time.

Just a short update on our cute little bundle. Thursday marked another return to the hospital as her meds got increased yet again. In the process she got weighed and checked over again. This time we got the news that she wasn’t gaining as much weight as she should be, even with the supplemental feedings from a bottle. As well her breathing had increased again. They would like it to be about 45-50 breathes per minute and her’s was up over 85+. Yikes! They might have to look at changes her meds again when we see the cardiologist again next week. Her little body is just working so hard that she doesn’t have the energy to breast feed naturally. If she doesn’t start gaining weight than they might have to look at giving her a feeding tube. We really want to do everything we can to avoid that. So we have switched to feeding her from the bottle all the time. However, this means Dawn had to pump ALL the time. Therefore we had no choice (unless Dawn wanted to gain huge forearms from using a manual pump) but to buy a very expensive pump. During the months ahead it will get a ton of use and it will also help Dawn to maintain her supply so she could return to breast feeding when the heart issue is fixed. It will be great to have this pump, but financially this was the worst time for this. With Christmas season here, house in the middle of renovations, it wasn’t the best timing. But we know that God will provide as He always has in the past. Please continue to pray that Norah would gain weight and that the God would give us peace and rest. It continues to take its toll on us; especially Dawn. Between pumping every few hours, feedings, medication, the stress of what’s going on and Libby; she finds it very exhausting and is constantly looking for ways to find a nap. On top of that we have been averaging 3 appointments per week. However, I am constantly amazed at my amazing wife. Somehow in between all this she has managed to bake TONS of cookies and Christmas goodies! She deserves the “Mom of the Year” award.

As always we continue to be thankful to all our friends for their support. We will continue to lean on you.

In His Service…

I don’t think I’ve said it here often enough, but I really love my job at Ranger Lake Bible Camp. One of the biggest part of my jobs is being in charge of all things creative. Like a Creative Director. Anyways, as we are gearing up for the summer of 2010 I have been busy lately getting posters, brochures, t-shirts and the like ready for promotion. I am very pleased with this years design and with the theme of Believe. Here is the official desktop wallpaper that shows off the design. It is from this design that all my other designs will take their influence. I decided this year to go with a much more typographic treatment as compared to the heavy graphic components of last years theme. You can download the wallpapers for your desktop and iPhone/Touch below.

As we look to our theme, what is something you believe in?

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