Day 12 - AM

The nurse, Lisa, removed the arterial line and stopped the trickle feed. The respiratory technician took the last breathing machine away, and Rayna got to hold Peyton for the first time in 9 days! And with some help from a lactation consultion, Peyton started direct breast feeding again. Talk about major steps forward to feeling like parents of healthy child!The whole feeding thing got off to a rough start. Lots of tubes to manuver, some air in Peyton's tummy. I wish we could communicate telepathicly with her to encourage her, to calm her, and to understand if she's in pain.

Heavenly Father,

Thank you for your grace. The day may come, probably when she's a teenager, when I question your call on this one, but you are the sovereign one. Those troubles will serve the same purpose as these, to show your handiwork in her life, in mine, in Rayna's, and in our friends and family.

Nevertheless, I want to give thanks...thanks for letting me hear her hoarse cries and her strange squeaks when she sleeps...for seeing her blue eyes open and respond to my voice...for the healing and repair of my daughter...for the multitudes of prayers and notes of encouragement from our friends and family.

May your glory be seen in her life, my life, and Rayna's,

Amen