The Anderson Family--September 12th, 2011--Happy 2 Week Birthday, Caroline!

Monday, September 12, 2011

We are so excited and blessed to have celebrated our sweet baby Caroline’s 2 week birthday today!  We have so many praises to rejoice about.  Caroline’s weight has increased and she now weighs her birth weight of 2.9 pounds.  She has also increased in length and is 15 inches.  We are so happy that our little miracle baby is growing.  She continues to receive amazing love and care from all of her angels at the NICU of the Henry County Medical Center.  We have met so many wonderful nurses, doctors, staff, and parents through this journey.  We continue to ask for prayer about Caroline’s breathing. She continues to have the episodes where her heartbeat decreases and her breathing is irregular.  We pray that this problem will improve as each day progresses.  We thank y’all so much for your dedicated prayer and support for our sweet baby girl. Each and every one of you has played a role in this wonderful miracle.  We would like to share several Bible verses that we have been reading over the past week:

II Corinthians 13:4-

For though He was crucified through weakness, yet He liveth by the power of God.  For we also are weak in Him, but we shall live with Him by the power of God toward you.

Psalm 9:10-

And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee: for though, Lord, hast not forsaken them that seek thee. 

Ephesians 6:10-

Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.

These are pictures from each day of the past week.  We are truly amazed by the unconditional love that we have for our precious Caroline.  Thank y’all so much for everything!

                                            
    September 7th, 2011

 Mommy's dear friend, Miss Betty
Miss Mandy, Mr. Dave, Matthew, and Ryan gave Caroline the cutest UGA bib, gameday shirt, and pacifier holder.

With daddy's friend, Mr. Corey

September 8th, 2011

September 9th, 2011

With Daddy's friend, Mr. Ken.

 Mommy's dear friend, Miss Elizabeth

Daddy read Caroline the sweet book that Miss Elizabeth gave her.

Miss Elizabeth reading Bible verses to Caroline

September 10, 2011

 With Grandmama and Grandaddy

 With Aunt Jenni and Cousin Tori

 With neighbors Miss Kim and Mr. Paul

With neighbors and friends Maddie and Dillon, and Krista

September 11, 2011

 With Ma and Pa

 With Pa

Mommy reading a Spanish book to Caroline that her dear friend Miss Laura gave her.

 Auntie Em and Mary Beth

Caroline waving hello at her Auntie Em

September 12, 2011

 Caroline's birthday decorations

 With Ma and Auntie Em

With Caroline's loving and dedicated nurse, Kristy. She was with her the first night in the NICU and has been a blessing all throughout our journey in the NICU.

The Anderson Family-Tuesday, September 6, 2011







Miss Caroline continues to do well at the wonderful NICU at Henry Medical Center.  Again, everyone there is truly AMAZING.  Sweet Caroline  loves to stretch her arms and legs. Look how big the diapers are on her!!! It extends halfway up her back.  Mommy's dear friend Anita calls her the "tiny wonder" and it is so true!!! Her Bible verse for today comes from John 15:5: "I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit, for without me you can do nothing." Caroline's cranial ultrasound results checking for brain bleeds came back negative.  We were so relieved by this and thank all of you for your dedication to praying for her.  Please continue to pray that her sleep apnea episodes continue to improve.  Additionally, she has begun to experience reflux during her feedings.  Please pray that this continues to improve as well.  Again, we love y'all so much and God has blessed us by each of the relationships that we have with y'all.  Thank y'all so very much.

The Anderson Family :)

The Anderson Family-September 5, 2011

Caroline's 1st birthday card to celebrate her turning one week old.

This is Caroline's 1st song that our friend, Laura Alvarez, wrote her. Laura majored in MusicTherapy and knows a lot about the amazing benefits of music on babies who are born prematurely.  We have this hanging in her NICU room and sing it to her every day.

My best friend Beth has the sweetest daughter named Maggie.  I feel like she is my niece.  Maggie has been so excited about the arrival of Baby Caroline.  She colored her this beautiful sun and it is hanging in her NICU room.

Maggie decided that she wanted to write Caroline a story.  Since she is only 3 years old, she told it to Beth and Beth wrote it down for her.  It is the sweetest story and is hanging in her NICU room.  All of the nurses love it and so do we!  Maggie and Caroline are going to be best friends one day just like mommy and Beth. :)

Maggie gave Caroline this book.  I read it to her on her birthday.  It has the sweetest message.

Daddy loves our precious little angel.  It is so cute to compare daddy's big hands to Caroline's little body.

 Daddy is so gentle with our little doll baby.

Caroline is our precious sleeping beauty.

Daddy was the first person to ever hold you!  He was so calm and gentle!!!

 

While daddy held you, mommy sang you your song that Ms. Laura wrote you.

The Anderson Family-September 4th

Sunday, September 4, 2011

We continue to thank our Lord and Father for our little miracle baby.  The scriptures for her today are Psalms 32:7: “Thou art my hiding place; thou shalt preserve me from trouble; thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance.”, John 8:12: “Then spoke Jesus again unto them saying: ‘I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life’.”, and Colossians 3:15: “And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.”

Today was a pretty low key day for our sweet and precious baby Caroline.  She continues to remain stable under the care of her wonderful nurses and doctor at the Henry Medical Center.  Her two amazing angel nurses today were Laura and Kristy.  Kristy is the angel who cared for her the first two nights that Caroline was in the NICU.  Both Mary Beth and Phillip feel very comforted by Kristy and can truly feel the love that she has for Caroline.  We love angel Kristy so much and will forever be grateful to her.  Again, we say with full confidence that God has placed us at the very best hospital for our sweet Caroline.

Tonight, when we were visiting our sweet little angel, we were so very encouraged to meet a mother who had her sweet baby at 24 weeks and is now doing great at 7 pounds.  This mother was so sweet to introduce herself to us and share with us her miracle baby’s story.  She even invited us into her sweet daughter’s room. After we said good night to Caroline, we spent time with this strong woman of God and her sweet miracle baby.  It was so incredibly encouraging and we thank God for putting her in our lives.

We thank each and every one of you for your prayers and support. We are so blessed by y’all.  We love y’all so much.

In Christ’s unconditional love,

The Anderson Family :)

The Anderson Family- September 3rd



Saturday, September 3rd, 2011
Today was such a wonderful day for our precious little Caroline!!!!! We continue to be overwhelmed by the amazing powers and love of our Lord and Father.  He is indeed an awesome God and we are completely awestricken by this wonderful journey that He has placed us on.  The scriptures for our little miracle baby’s devotion for today were so calming and reaffirming that God is completely guiding this journey.  Caroline’s scriptures for today are Psalm 46:10: “Be still and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted on the earth.” Luke 10:39-42: “She had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus’ feet, and heard his word. But Martha was cumbered by much serving, and came to him and said, Lord, dost though not care for my sister has left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me.”, and 1 Corinthians 14:33: “For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.”

We have so many praises to thank God for. First, we continue to praise all of the incredible staff at the NICU of the Henry Medical Center.  Again, we cannot express how thankful we are and feel 100% positive that the Lord planned every single event in each of our lives to lead us to this amazing hospital.   Over the past two nights, we have been so blessed to become very close with Teri, who is one of Caroline’s nurses “angels”.  She is our sister in Christ and the love and care that she is giving our daughter is truly unbelievable.  She is extremely comforting and explains all of the details about Caroline’s care so thoroughly to us.  She does an amazing job at patiently answering each and every one of Mary Beth's numerous questions.  For those of you who know MB, you know that the word “numerous” is such an understatement.  Teri is truly an angel and we will be forever grateful to her for nursing our sweet baby girl back to life. 

Another wonderful praise and thank you that we so appreciate is Mary Beth’s best friend, Beth Kusar.  MB and Beth have been best friends since they were 12 years old.  Beth is the most selfless, caring, sincere, dedicated, and loving friend.  Throughout this entire pregnancy, she has been extremely supportive and caring.  She and her husband Mike are also blessed with a precious little girl, Maggie, and Beth continuously provides MB with helpful tips on mothering.  While MB was in the hospital with preterm labor, Beth made two round trips of 3 hours each to visit her on both Saturday and Sunday.  Then, she did the same thing again and took the day off from school on Monday so that she could be present for our sweet Caroline’s birth.  Today, Beth drove up here for the fourth time this week and spent the entire day comforting MB, running errands for us, and creating a schedule for MB to follow so that she can get the adequate rest that she needs while adjusting to her wonderful new life as a mother.  We will forever be grateful to Beth for serving us when we so desperately need it. We love you so much!

We have so many more praises.  Caroline gained 3 ounces and now weighs 2.5 ounces.  Teri said that she was very impressed by her weight gain.  Another praise is that Caroline’s episodes with sleep apnea are beginning to decrease.  We should have the results back from her cultures this afternoon that will let us know if these episodes are due to an infection or simply the result of her being born at 29 weeks. 

We had an awesome night tonight with our sweet baby.  Daddy took her temperature, changed her diaper, and bathed her while mommy watched and took pictures.  Mommy was so amazed at what an unbelievable daddy God has blessed Caroline with.  Daddy is so calm and fearless as he cares for our precious daughter.  Daddy’s calming and caring nature is just what mommy needs to ease her very intense anxiety. 

We have both been overwhelmed by the indescribable love that we have for our precious Caroline.  As we said in yesterday’s post, we have never felt the unselfish and truly unconditional love that we have for our precious miracle.  We would do anything in the world to keep her alive.  Yesterday, on our drive home from the hospital, we talked about how we now finally understand God’s truly unconditional love that He has for us.   We are amazed that God would allow his ONLY son to die for us to have eternal life, when we are all so undeserving.  This is truly unbelievable.  It was not until the birth of our precious Caroline that we now can fully grasp the true meaning of John 3:16: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him, should not perish but have everlasting life.”  One of our favorite songs is Love Song by Third Day.  Now, when we sing the lyrics to this song, it has a whole new meaning to us.  We encourage you to read the words to this song and then watch the video.    

Song Lyrics and Video

Again, we continue to thank each and every one of you for lifting our sweet Caroline up to our Father in prayer.  We feel all of your prayers and we will be forever grateful.  We look forward to the awesome day when we can introduce you to the incredible miracle that you all helped to bring into this world. 

As we close, we would like to share a reading by Max Lucado called The Choice.  Debbie Lotti is a very special sister in Christ who shared this prayer with Mary Beth about a year ago.  Debbie is such an amazing woman of God who served at Union Grove's (Mary Beth’s school family) media center paraprofessional for 9 years.  She is now spreading Christ’s love by serving at another school in the community.  Mary Beth will be forever grateful to Debbie for the amazing influence that she had in her life.  Debbie is an unbelievably serving mother to her two daughters and one son.  Mary Beth truly knows just what an amazing mother Debbie is, as she taught her eldest daughter, Antonia, in Honors Spanish IV.  Both Phillip and Mary Beth were able to see together the Christian impact that Debbie had on both of her daughters, Antonia and Anissa, through forming a relationship with them in the amazing Non-Denominational Christian ministry of Young Life that spreads Christ’s unconditional love to high school students. We were so blessed by our dear friends Jennifer and Tucker Perkerson to be a part of this awesome ministry from 2007-2010.  Both Jennifer and Tucker have played a huge role in our walk with Christ and this journey of bringing our precious Caroline into this world. 

THE CHOICE
   by Max Lucado

He placed one scoop of clay upon another until a form lay lifeless on the ground.

All of the Garden’s inhabitants paused to witness the event. Hawks hovered. Giraffes stretched. Trees bowed. Butterflies paused on petals and watched.

“You will love me, nature,” God said. “I made you that way. You will obey me, universe. For you were designed to do so. You will reflect my glory, skies, for that is how you were created. But this one will be like me. This one will be able to choose.”

All were silent as the Creator reached into himself and removed something yet unseen. A seed. “It’s called ‘choice.’ The seed of choice.”

Creation stood in silence and gazed upon the lifeless form.

An angel spoke, “But what if he … ”

“What if he chooses not to love?” the Creator finished. “Come, I will show you.”

Unbound by today, God and the angel walked into the realm of tomorrow.

“There, see the fruit of the seed of choice, both the sweet and the bitter.”

The angel gasped at what he saw. Spontaneous love. Voluntary devotion. Chosen tenderness. Never had he seen anything like these. He felt the love of the Adams. He heard the joy of Eve and her daughters. He saw the food and the burdens shared. He absorbed the kindness and marveled at the warmth.

“Heaven has never seen such beauty, my Lord. Truly, this is your greatest creation.”

“Ah, but you’ve only seen the sweet. Now witness the bitter.”

A stench enveloped the pair. The angel turned in horror and proclaimed, “What is it?”

The Creator spoke only one word: “Selfishness.”

The angel stood speechless as they passed through centuries of repugnance. Never had he seen such filth. Rotten hearts. Ruptured promises. Forgotten loyalties. Children of the creation wandering blindly in lonely labyrinths.

“This is the result of choice?” the angel asked.
“Yes.”
“They will forget you?”
“Yes.”
“They will reject you?”
“Yes.”
“They will never come back?”
“Some will. Most won’t.”
“What will it take to make them listen?”

The Creator walked on in time, further and further into the future, until he stood by a tree. A tree that would be fashioned into a cradle. Even then he could smell the hay that would surround him.

With another step into the future, he paused before another tree. It stood alone, a stubborn ruler of a bald hill. The trunk was thick, and the wood was strong. Soon it would be cut. Soon it would be trimmed. Soon it would be mounted on the stony brow of another hill. And soon he would be hung on it.

He felt the wood rub against a back he did not yet wear.

“Will you go down there?” the angel asked.

“I will.”

“Is there no other way?”

“There is not.”

“Wouldn’t it be easier to not plant the seed? Wouldn’t it be easier to not give the choice?”

“It would,” the Creator spoke slowly. “But to remove the choice is to remove the love.”

He looked around the hill and foresaw a scene. Three figures hung on three crosses. Arms spread. Heads fallen forward. They moaned with the wind.

Men clad in soldiers’ garb sat on the ground near the trio. They played games in the dirt and laughed.

Men clad in religion stood off to one side. They smiled. Arrogant, cocky. They had protected God, they thought, by killing this false one.

Women clad in sorrow huddled at the foot of the hill. Speechless. Faces tear streaked. Eyes downward. One put her arm around another and tried to lead her away. She wouldn’t leave. “I will stay,” she said softly. “I will stay.”

All heaven stood to fight. All nature rose to rescue. All eternity poised to protect. But the Creator gave no command.

“It must be done … ,” he said, and withdrew.

But as he stepped back in time, he heard the cry that he would someday scream: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mark 15:34) He wrenched at tomorrow’s agony.

The angel spoke again. “It would be less painful … ”

The Creator interrupted softly. “But it wouldn’t be love.”

They stepped into the Garden again. The Maker looked earnestly at the clay creation. A monsoon of love swelled up within him. He had died for the creation before he had made him. God’s form bent over the sculptured face and breathed. Dust stirred on the lips of the new one. The chest rose, cracking the red mud. The cheeks fleshened. A finger moved. And an eye opened.

But more incredible than the moving of the flesh was the stirring of the spirit. Those who could see the unseen gasped.

Perhaps it was the wind who said it first. Perhaps what the star saw that moment is what has made it blink ever since. Maybe it was left to an angel to whisper it:

“It looks like … it appears so much like … it is him!”

The angel wasn’t speaking of the face, the features, or the body. He was looking inside—at the soul.

“It’s eternal!” gasped another.

Within the man, God had placed a divine seed. A seed of his self. The God of might had created earth’s mightiest. The Creator had created, not a creature, but another creator. And the One who had chosen to love had created one who could love in return.

Now it’s our choice.

________________________________
From In the Eye of the Storm
Copyright (Thomas Nelson, 1991, 2001)
http://www.maxlucado.net/_product_30305/In_The_Eye_of_the_Storm

We love each and every one of you and we thank you so much for embarking on this journey with us. 

In Christ’s Love,

The Anderson Family :)

The Anderson Family- September 2, 2011

Our sweet baby Caroline continues to remain stable in a room of the NICU at the place that we refer to as "heaven" but its official name is "The Henry Medical Center."  We are so very thankful that she is laying in that little plastic "case" right now and is being monitored around the clock (literally second by second) by her nurses and doctors, which we call "angels".   With 100% confidence, we tell you that this is the BEST place for Caroline on this earth.  We honestly feel that every single event that God orchestrated in our entire lives was to get us to HMC on Thursday, August 25, 2011.  We will explain these events in detail later on.  If you know Mary Beth "MB" at all you know exactly what we are talking about when we say the word "details". Also, it is our goal to provide the ENTIRE NICU staff with as much food as possible in their lounge.  We honestly feel like this will provide them with the extra energy that we need for them to care for our miracle baby.  Therefore, to all of our unbelievably supportive friends who God has brought along on this journey who have been asking "MB" what they can do to help,  we would like to ask a huge favor.  If you are interested in helping, we would be so grateful if you would do the following. Just call Anita Wilder at   678-662-4071 or Jennifer Perkerson at 678-863-5288 and they will tell you what to do.

We would like to contine today's post by telling you about the amazing devotional book that has been guiding us since May of this year.  This amazing book is called Jesus Calling and is written by Sarah Young.  We recommend this book 100%.  It is theologically grounded and provides the reader with 2-3 daily scriptures that come straight from the Bible.  Let us continue by telling you how we received this amazing book.  Another one of the key angels in this journey has been Mary Beth's assistant principal, Cindy George.  Cindy gave MB this book on Monday, May 13.  When MB arrived to school that Monday morning she had this special present waiting for her in the most adorable gift bag on the floor behind her desk.  If you are reading this right now and do not know Cindy, you are probably thinking why did they just mention something as trivial as a gift bag.  Well, if you know Cindy then you got the inside joke and are probably laughing out loud right now.  Cindy  is an unbelievably strong woman of God.   Cindy gave MB this book in May after the death of her grandmother, Elizabeth Norris Meadows ("Betty"). Betty was an incredible woman of God who loved to share Christ's love by serving others.  Our devotion for today comes from 2 Corinthians 12:9-10. "And He said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.  Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore, I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in neccessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then I am strong." 

Again, we continue to be overwhelmed by God's presence through all of this.  Our precious little miracle baby has brought us closer to the Lord than we have ever been before. Each day, we are even more amazed by how God miraculously orquestrated all of this.  We are constantly discovering a different detail of His plan and we are in awe.  We cherish each and every hour of the day that we spend with our precious girl.   We had no idea that it was possible to love someone so very much.  We continue to thank everyone so much for your prayers and support for our little miracle. 

The medical practice of Eagles Landing OB GYN has truly been a blessing sent to us straight from God. We have been incredibly blessed by all of the AMAZING nurses, doctors, and ultrasound technicians that serve that practice.  One of our dear friends, Willane Joseph (who "just so happens" to be a Labor and Delivery Nurse, is the angel who recommended this amazing practice to us.  Our very first decision regarding the prenatal care, was that we would visit Dr. Lexman Rhamani and the first official appointment was scheduled, for Wednesday, March 24th. Since the day that we met him, we have been amazed by his incredibly caring bedside manner.

Also, the Lord led us to this video today and it gave us so much peace and comfort.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1KqziOKZ4AE

We love y'all so very much.
In Christ's Love,

The Anderson Family :)

The Anderson Family September 1, 2011

Today was an amazing day for our sweet Caroline. Our devotion for today was from Hebrews 10:23 " Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess for He who promised is faithful." After reading this scripture, we had full encouragement from the Lord that He was in complete control and has our precious baby in his hands.

The Lord fully equipped us with faith for when we arrived to spend time with her we learned that she needed a PICC line to be inserted in order to supply her with the nutrients that she needs. While in her room preparing for the PICC line we read and prayed over our precious baby this scripture from her little pink Bible that our dear friends Todd and Missy gave her on the day that she was born. This video shows us preparing our little Caroline for her PICC insertion procedure.

One hour later our wonderful nurse practioner came downstairs and delivered to us the incredible news that our sweet Caroline had a smooth procedure. We immediately thanked our Lord for carrying our precious little girl all the way through. We will forever remember this day and how our Lord carried our family through this challenge.

We continue to give so much thanks to all of our incredibly supportive family and friends. May God bless all of you for your amazing dedication to our new family. We love you all very much.

In His love,

The Anderson Family :)