For Prayer

• God would give us travel mercies as we drive 2,000+ miles there and back.
• Ruth's intubation would go well so that her extubation goes well so that there would be minimal or no swelling in Ruth's airway. Last time Ruth was intubated, in October, Ruth's throat swelled from the trauma of it. They weren't able to extubate her until the swelling went down with the help of steroids 24 hours later. This is an outpatient surgery, so we won't have the assurance of constant monitoring once we've left the hospital on Wednesday afternoon.
• Dr. Allen would surgically correct Ruth's eyelids the exact amount that would be most helpful for her. He said he takes a conservative approach, but if she can close her eyes post-surgery, he didn't do enough. So we don't want him to overdo or underdo it. We also want symmetry so she wouldn't need a corrective surgery in the future. King Jesus knows exactly what Ruth's "goldilocks zone" is for this. All wisdom and knowledge are found in Him (Col. 2:3).
• Our hearts would be comforted by the Father of mercies and God of all comfort (2 Cor. 1:3-4) as we accept that our daughter's sweet little face will be forever-changed. There will be much temptation to mourn and regret the decision we made.
• We will be given the insight to know how best to comfort Ruth and make her comfortable as she recovers from surgery. 

Here We Go Again

We've been waiting all summer for this ptosis surgery and her cleft repair surgery in August. Our summer feels like it's coming to an end as we focus on making it through these operations and recoveries. Before we know it, it will be September.

Currently, we're in hurry-up-and-wait mode. The typical pre-travel jitters are present, but the travel isn't what I'm most concerned about (though I sure hope there's somewhere to park a camper van downtown). Surgery isn't even what I'm most concerned about. It's Ruth's recovery that's weighing heavy on my heart.

We've been there before. The weeks of recovery post-surgery are hard for a baby who doesn't understand what's happening. As parents, it's a grueling in every way: mentally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually. I think of it as some sort of marathon, and I found myself unintentionally preparing my mindset yesterday. (Unfortunately that meant I was not very nice to be around.)

Post-surgery, Ruth Truth will look like she just got in a fight in the schoolyard. But if you think she looks rough, you should see the other guy. If anyone has a leather jacket that fits an 11-month old, we could make Ruth look really tough.