Finally....SORRY!

So....the pains of getting kicked out of the hospital room...that was a nice corner to post our blog.....I'll try to do better over the next couple days when we get this whole schedule thing figured out.

WHAT A DAY!!!!!!! Lots of celebration. It started out kind of crazy because we had the girls over. What a good time! Thank you to those who got this hotel for us (you know who you are, even though we arent 100% sure) So I woke up, and as you may have seen, this morning, I (Dad) did the care time for Melanie this morning. What a beatiful 1st surprise I was in for. To get to see the eyes of your child for the first time is such an incredible moment. The nurse was gracious enough to let me take a snapshot without the top on, and I kind of got her winking a bit. There is something about a 2 pound baby looking at you (and I know she cant see completely yet) that takes your breath away. As you read this, I would encourage any of you with children to spend time looking in your childs eyes. It was amazing, yet built up the most helpless feeling Ive ever had for this child. It was kind of like "dad..dad...make it stop! Make the pain go away!" She kind of had a "what the heck is going on" look for a bit at 1st which made me kind of chuckle, but soon after that, her mouth opened, the eyes squinted, and every part of Melanie tried to cry...but she couldnt. It didnt last long...soon she was sleeping again, doing really well.
After that few minutes, it was back to the hotel to make sure our other two children knew their parents existed. Its been a little hard on them I think...Ill explain later.
Miya, Jayden and I swam for about an hour which was soooo much fun. To see the smiles and laughing while playing with their dad again was awesome! I got to pick on them, blow water on them, splash, and laugh out loud at Jaydens water logged diaper that was nearly down to her knees....that would explain the stretched out swim suit. Soon though, it was back to the hospital for the other surprise Nicki talked about earlier. The ventilator was off....AND THEY DIDNT EVEN TELL US THEY WERE GOING TO TRY TO DO IT!!!! What a cool surprise! Im sitting here at 11:10, and still it is off, which is a great sign. She has had a few "Brady's" throughout the day. Those are the scary moments. The monitor shows a heartbeat dropping to nothing, breaths quitting, and everything falling apart basically. The nurses, as scary as it seems to be for a dad and mom, maintain composure and know pretty much what to do when this happens. Melanie had about a dozen of those today, most not lasting for much more than a few seconds...thankfully we werent there to see all of them. After we were done with these adventures, it was time to go home.
We went home early this evening to put Miya and Jayden to bed and to pick up a couple things for Nicki. This....is where the only male in the family started to feel his shoulders weaken. Over the course of the next hour, the only male in this small family got to see all four of his girls cry hard.
This is where Id like to make a very personal request. The birth of a newborn requiring a lot of attention flips a typical family life upside down. It started with Jayden who absolutely didnt want her dad to put her down. She wouldnt let go and wanted me to carry her everywhere. When it was time for bed, she just cried...I assumed she was very tired, which she probably was, but it wasnt until it was Miyas turn for bed that it really hit me. I wanted Nicki to put Miya to bed becuase she hadnt spent much time with her. I went home quick to pick up the stuff for Nicki, and Nicki put Miya to bed at grandpa and grandma Berens house. When I got back, Nicki was completely in tears because Miya wouldnt let go of her when she put her down. She didnt want her to leave and was crying saying "I want my daddy!! I want my daddy!!". I got to Miyas bedside and got the longest tightest hug this girl could muster...it had to have been a couple minutes. After talking long enough, and tickling like crazy, she lauged and was good to go. Time to head back to the hospital...where our other one was again crying, minus the noise. She had a Brady while we were there, but overall she was good. However, to look in those eyes, knowing there would be screaming coming out of that 5 day olds mouth if it hadnt been for the tube that used to be down her throat from the ventilator, she would have let me know she was sick of it too.
So after all of this, here is my request. For everyone who has been praying for us, we thank you. We can feel all of your prayers, and appreciate them. If you could add one thing to your prayers, please pray for this once strong dad to gain the wisdom of how to hold this family together. To have all four of his girls crying was pretty hard today. I know it wont be easy for the next while, however, I covet your prayers to find the best use of our time to keep us as close of a family as possible.
With that, Im probably due to read the most instructive book of the Bible on wisdom to my knowledge, and that is Proverbs.
Have a great day!
We'll try to keep this updated better than we did last night.
Love you, and thanks for your prayers and support..cya tomorrow