My heart overflows with gratitude to our Wonderful God! He has clearly been on the scene, and shown His magnificence! Thank you for lifting our needs before Him, for He has heard your cries.



She looks good in scrubs, doesn't she? Her dreams of being a "baby doctor" may one day be realized!!!

Haddie was nervous upon arrival at the hospital this morning. I am thankful that she could communicate her anxiety to me. However; it breaks my heart, because I know this anxiety is connected to trauma much deeper in my precious girls heart.

I will never be one to hold back when it comes to the truth of what a child who lives without parents can experience. For Haddie, some of that truth has been walking through surgeries and scary procedures physically alone. We know our Heavenly Father was with her, yet there was no mama reassuring her that she would be there when she woke up, no daddy kissing her head telling her how beautiful she is, and certainly not the appropriate bedside manner a child deserves. As the nurses came to wheel her down the hall today, she asked them, "Is it scary in the room?" She was nearly panicked. Haddie's memories of rooms such as the one she entered today are filled with loneliness and fear. My prayer is that God will continue to heal these places in her heart that are still held in bondage to this spirit of fear.

She came out of surgery quite uncomfortable, and needing her mama. Well, when the green light came for me to go be with my girl there was nothing going to stop this mama! I was pretty much in a full sprint back to the recovery room. Words cannot describe how horrible it feels to see your child laying in a hospital bed. The color was drained from her face, her mouth was bloodied and her eyes were sad. I kept telling myself to pull it together, but I just wanted to bawl my eyes out and tell them to fix her!



They transferred her to the PICU right away. The decision to keep her in the PICU was purely precautionary in order to keep a close eye on her. An hour passed, then Haddie asked for a drink. She will be drInking from a syringe for the next 3 weeks, and this girl was getting that technique down from the first swig. She was a bit over zealous, which resulted in an upset stomach, but as I type this she is squeezing down a strawberry milkshake and loving every bit of it!!!



The nurses are blown away, and want every patient to be like Haddie. She is smiling, and being her usual sweet self. The doctor stopped in and he too was quite amazed at how well Haddie is doing. He felt it was likely that she could head home in the morning!!!! Pray us through the night.

All glory to God!!!




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Location:2 down 3 to go!!!

1 down...4 to go!

From the moment Maggie entered the hospital yesterday, she was commanding attention. She quickly made a new friend, Jerry who drove the transport vehicle to our destination in the hospital. We now refer to this as Maggie's chariot. After encountering several people, 2 of which called her princess, she was growing quite comfortable with her royal status; evidence beaming on her face. I was concerned she may begin to command to her subjects, who had so quickly placed her on the throne, and I was fully prepared to remind her who the queen was if necessary. The nurse who did her initial intake did a wonderful job explaining things to Maggie. Suddenly, the registration nurse bounded through the door with a new stuffed pink puppy to love on. She was quite taken with it!






Just after waking up...



More kissing up please!!! The girl was being showered with stickers!!!!



Being spoon fed jello, because the IV hurt when she dipped her spoon into the jello cup. Serious, she is such a princess, and I love it! So is her mama!




Ready to head home...and ALL praise to God!!!!!!
No vomiting!!!!! It was truly miraculous for this girl!
Thank you for praying!!!

Tests, procedures and surgeries....

The long awaited date has finally arrived. With each passing day this date that has loomed in my mind. A date that would mark our lives coming to a screeching halt, yet only for a season.

Today is simply a test, not a test of the emergency broadcasting system that will only beep on your screen for seconds, but an MRI. Maggie will have a series of MRI screenings today, for which she will be put under anesthesia. Apart from the initial wheeling away from mom, she should sail through them just fine. These scans are necessary for the next steps in moving her toward healing. The MRI will take a closer look to see what areas of her brain are effected; causing spasticity in her lower limbs. The doctors expect they will find her to be a good candidate for a fairly evasive procedure that would produce a much better gait pattern for Maggie allowing even greater independence for her future.

Tomorrow Haddie will have her first of 3 procedures that will take place over the course of the next 4 months. She will have what is called a tongue flap procedure. (Skip the rest of this paragraph if you are the least bit squeamish.) The doctor will cut a portion of the tongue, partially filleting it, and attach the top layer of the tongue to the roof of her mouth. This will, in essence, serve as a patch for the fistulas, or holes, in the roof of her mouth. Needing the blood flow to heal properly, the tongue will remain attached to the roof of her mouth for 3 weeks. I understand this is probably TMI for most, but seriously, the girl needs some prayer! She will be on a liquid diet that will be fed by way of a syringe. Fun times! When those 3 weeks have quickly passed, Haddie's tongue will be loosed and a cosmetic procedure will be done on her nose.

  

Just 5 days following that procedure for Haddie, I will leave with Maggie to have procedures done on her legs and feet. Basically, the goal of those procedures will be to straighten and reconstruct bones. She will be in casts, with a bar connecting her legs for 4 weeks. Maggie will not bear any weight on her legs during that time. She will gradually begin to weight bear on week 5 after surgery, but limited. Around week 7 casts will be removed, and we trust God will allow for her to move independently, yet slow.

All procedures will wrap up June 21st with Haddie's bone graft. That will be a process of taking bone marrow from her hip and inserting it into the palette so she will no longer have holes, but bone!

Is it not so amazing the wisdom God has lavished on man to bring about healing? I am blown away by methods and techniques in the medical world, and it leaves me praising a great God who gives ALL wisdom!

These sweet girls of mine have a heavy 4 months ahead of them, and we need an army of people who will pray. I intend to keep the blog updated so you can lift up specific requests.

If God chooses to use these procedures to work greater physical healing in these beauties of mine, then praise Him! If He chooses to bring miraculous healing that requires no further interventions or procedures, praise Him! He has proven Himself trustworthy in the choosing department and my trust in Him runs deep!

Specifically pray for peace over the girls. They are most anxious about leaving mommy before they go to sleep before their procedures. They are well equipped with new stuffed animal friends and blankets, but they are fairly rattled inside about that moment in particular.

Today Maggie's procedure begins at 8:00.

Thank you for coming along with us, and carrying us to the Father!

Update and Request

Long time since any news has been posted from the Arnold bunch, but honestly, life is filled with many needs and demands of my home. All continues to go well as Maggie transitions into this whole new crazy world. We are filled with praise that God's great plan included another precious child for our family, and we pray that she feels the same!

My purpose for this post is not to deliver an update, but to present a need.

Would you consider a true gift of love this Valentine's Day?

A sweet couple in our church is growing their family by way of adoption.

They are first time parents. They will be stepping into this new world with 2 daughters, whose ages are 2 and 8. You can read more about their journey here:

www.tonyandemily.blogspot.com

I would ask you to consider making a     love offering toward their travel expenses this 

Valentines Day. 

$14

(or more!)

I think it's safe to say that most spouses would forgo the box of chocolates and/or flowers to know that a true gift of love blessed a family in need of funding their adoption. The funds raised will go directly toward their travel expenses. Please join us in helping this precious couple as they begin their family and follow God's call to care for the orphan. 

Pass this along via email or Facebook. 

Really....what better way to celebrate this Valentine's Day?

DONATE HERE