This is the day...
This is the day that dawned seven years ago to us watching a very sick baby in the PICU. He was as stable as he'd been for quite a few days, but he was still very, very sick.
(This pic was taken in early December 2001 - ouch!!!)
We had prayed for a Christmas miracle. He was such a mess, but we were clinging to hope that we'd be able to take him home. Alive. I know independently, we had both thought through some details for his funeral. It was awful.
Then Sunday, December 30 dawned. To see the details of the day, you can read Carson's journal. We were filled with so many emotions surrounding Carson as well as our donor and donor family. It was hard to have hope when we knew a family was grieving. It was a roller coaster of emotions.
Seeing him late that night after he returned from the OR was amazing. Yes, he was filled with tubes and IV's everywhere. Yes, there was an IV tree full of pumps next to him. But he looked GREAT! Well, GREAT for very sick Carson. Within hours we started watching his fingers and toes pink up and the bilirubin clear from his system. It was a miracle. His rapid recovery was really a miracle.
This is the day that Carson was given an amazing and precious gift - the gift of life. Not only the gift of life from his precious, precious donor, but from the many donors that gave blood that he needed during that surgery (and in the two months prior and two weeks after transplant). When we think of all of the people who worked to get Carson blood products and his liver...well, it is overwhelming.
Please join us in sending extra thoughts and prayers to our precious donor family - we have so much to give thanks to them for!
This is the day that we got our baby back. Seven years ago we started to have (very cautiously) hope that we just might bring him home. Alive.
And out of all of the 365 days in a year, this is the day, December 30, 2008, that we officially and legally have a daughter. This is the day that Grace Victoria Kitch officially became Grace Victoria Kitch. This is the day that the court declared we have a daughter - forever. This is the day that Carson officially has a sister - forever. She is ours!!!
To say that today has been full of emotions is an understatement. Many tears have fallen from my eyes today and as Carson would say they are all 'happy tears'.
I will journal all about it and get pics posted - (hopefully tomorrow) about our trip and the finalization. There is so much to tell of this amazing and wonderful day. For tonight I want to spend time with the Travis and the two little miracles that are our children.
This is the day which the LORD has made; Let us rejoice and be glad in it.
8 comments:
I am rejoicing with you!!! And there are tears of joy in my eyes and heart for you!! God's continued blessings and a very Blessed Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all of you! Love, Karlyn
What a beautiful, beautiful entry! I will NEVER, NEVER forget that day. It was a Sunday. I will never forget the phone calls from Grammy, waiting for updates, prayers, the candle story. The whole day was like wanting to peel back the petals of a rose -- so it would open faster. But we couldn't. It had to unfold it's beauty by itself -- the way God planned it to be. It's still unfolding in your family. Today another petal opened with the adoption of Grace Victoria. Of course -- she's been family in our hearts for months now, but today is special. December 30th -- a very special day. Love Auntie Diane
Oh how wonderful! I have happy tears flowing for you too! You all deserve all of this happiness. God is so good!!!
Once again I am crying at the computer. Congratulations!
HAPPY LIVER BIRTHDAY CARSON!!!
WOW! It seems like it was just yesterday that you called me and told me that Grace was going to be a part of your family. I started bawling then (in the street . . . at the Fargo street fair) and, like usual, I am bawling now. :-)
I am so happy for all four of you. I am so happy for Carson that has received the gift of life and that he has received a sister. I am so happy for the two of you that you have been given happy healthy children, twice. And last but not least, I am happy for Grace because although she may be too young to fully understand it, she is INCREDIBLY blessed to have the two of you as parents and Carson as a brother.
I love you all dearly.
Your entry brought tears to my eyes today. I remember so well following Carson's journey back in 2001, and can only imagine the emotional rollercoaster you were on. December 30th is truly a day to celebrate life! And now Grace is offically yours forever ~ Congratulations!
Happy New Year! Nancy
All Grammy can say is "Amen, and thank you Lord for orchestrating (is that how you spell it, God?) every detail of the Kitch's lives." Well, ALL of our lives, but it is so obvious in the Kitch family. Who would have guessed on Dec 30, 2001, that in exactly 7 years we would be gathered again as a family to see the blessings of another child given to this family, just as Carson was given to us twice in 2001? Carson's transplant delayed due to his fever, then Grace's adoption delayed to a signature goof-up, all because God had chosen the day.
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