About this time last year I was indulging in a mid afternoon bath watching back to back episodes of Portlandia on Netflix. I was desperately trying to keep my focus off of the phone call I was expecting — the phone call from our geneticist. The results of the amino would be in. The phone finally rang and from that point on my life was forever changed. I vaguely remember collapsing on the bathroom floor in a heap of abject misery. It went from “what if” to “what now”. I imagined all sorts of horrors before me. There is no way I could have foreseen THIS:
Further proof that God is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us. (Ephesians 3:20)
It’s hard for me to go back and read the posts from the early days of this blog. It was such a scary time, drowning in the metaphoric ocean of uncertainty. We didn’t drown. We were instead washed up on the most beautiful beach with this smiling, squealy baby that has stolen the hearts of thousands! Through her we were given an entirely different perspective on living. We were given an entirely different perspective on dying, in that there is no such thing, only new life in Christ.
So here we are a year later and I find myself asking the same question, “What now??” in regard to the realization that Greta and William have been formally diagnosed with the flu!!! We’ve been so careful by getting flu shots, diligently washing our hands, limiting visitors, keeping Nora inside. There’s only so much we can do when the virus is airborne and this particular strain is seemingly excluded from this year’s vaccination’s recipe. Once again the situation is out of our hands. I can only sit here and make myself miserable with my own imagined answers to, “What now?” OR I can only put my hope and trust in God and rely solely on the power of prayer, the power of God.
I went outside to get Greta’s overnight bag out of the car last night. It was dark out and I paused to look up at the starry sky. Out of the corner of my eye I could see a barely discernible steam trail streaked from one edge of the sky to the other. Usually I only see these during daylight hours or if the moon is directly behind one. As I let my eyes further adjust to the dark I saw that it was in the shape of a cross — directly over our house. I gasped a cold breath of air and thanked God for His obvious presence here, His grace and His protection literally right over us. We are faced with another trial, on a much lesser scale than we were given last year, but God is no less present. He is the same now as He was then, able to do immeasurably more than we ask or imagine.
Greta is feeling better, but her fever keeps intermittently showing up. At least she is in good spirits and eating again. She also has a lingering cough, but that too seems to come and go.
Legos, cartoons, a sick nest and a smile!
William, on the other hand, has been feeling terrible. He said he can’t remember ever feeling this bad in his life. He has been staying in one of the upstairs rooms of his office. Fortunately he just had those rooms renovated a couple months ago, and fortunately Greta’s old mattress was relocated down there just a few days ago. I sent some bedding for his own “sick nest”, some soup and vitamins down to him yesterday and he’s been there since. I’m so appreciative of everyone who has been taking care of him for me. I miss him terribly and wish I could be there. Get better, my sweet!!!!!!!
Gavin feels fine, although he’s been extraordinarily quiet without anyone to tease around here! Strange having an extra 20 minutes before catching the school bus when you remove all the shenanigans from the getting ready equation!
Nora woke up yesterday and this morning happy, pink and squealy. I couldn’t ask for anything more!!
That’s eye patch remnant on her cheek. Things stick like glue to the tegaderm!!!
Oh yeah – me. I’m feeling fine but for my stomach being in knots. I’ve been wearing a surgical mask around here on the off chance I have the flu but just not symptomatic yet. Nora looks at me funny.
Thank you so very, very much for your continued prayers!! Also wondering if anyone knows the whereabouts of Ethel? She hasn’t commented in a few days and I’m worried about her! I know her only through this blog and don’t know how to contact her. Praying that everything is okay!!
iwillcarryyou 
Yes, a year ago today I had one of my hardest days as I realized my mother had been gone 1 month and all of the drama surrounding her death came crashing down. Then I read your post and my focus shifted to you and the baby- as we did not know if she was a boy or a girl. I have been amazed by you and your strength. I only wish I lived closer to see you to tell you in person. I may not post often but know I am up to date and think of you often. Hugs.
I absolutely love your blog, I have been reading for the past 3 months and you all brighten my day everyday and look forward to each new blog. Nora is so sweet and I am amazed and I totally adore that little baby girl! I hope and pray everyone gets better and the others stay healthy! You are such a good mommy and such a beautiful family! I keep you all in my thoughts and prayers daily.
I have been reading your blog of months. I love that little Nora Rose! This is the first time I’m commenting as I have a solution for the sticky eye patch! My son was patched a few hours every day. If you put milk of magnesia on the skin before the patch…it will come RIGHT OFF w/o and ouchies!
Awwwww.. Little N! In the video, it looks like she is trying to block the paparazzi from being all up in her grill. Stay healthy, Nora (and Mamma)! Hope Wm feels MUCH better soon! I’m sure he misses y’all!
Love the video (as Mommy wears that weird thing on her face Nornor decided she also has to hide hers lol) and Greta’s big smile despite being sick. Poor William ” in exile”. Keep on praying. Muuuuaahh 🙂
I just saw something on FB saying that if you keep a half cut onion in the room with a virus it should soak up all of the virus and get it out of the air. But then, be sure to get rid of the onion right away! You might want to double check this old wives tale but maybe it’s worth a try! Praying for healing for all and as always thank you for your encouragement through this blog and precious Nora!
I checked this out on snopes.com a few weeks back when most of our family was sick but its a myth. I happened to be making a recipe with an onion and I saved a large part of it anyway, just in case there was even a shred of truth to the myth, but it did nothing to help us.
I’ve done the onion thing with my little one and it worked for her. I put it by where she slept through the night and the next day her stuffed up nose was clear.
I meant to message you about Nora’s eyesight when you first posted about it, but I forgot. Anyway, I wanted to share some information with you that I learned when we went to see an eye doctor for the first time with Kinsey. I believe Kinsey has the same problem as Nora, called Strabismus or crossed/wandering eyes, and her doctor also recommended glasses and surgery.
We didn’t think Kinsey would wear glasses, so I did a little more research after our appointment and I found a website that explains everything pretty well. The site also explains that surgery doesn’t fix the problem, just corrects the way the eyes look (just cosmetic). (I’ve also verified this with her doctor since reading it online). We decided not to put her through surgery just for cosmetic purposes. Here is the website: http://www.childrensvision.com/strabismus.htm
This site is also where we found the option to do Vision Therapy in combination with the glasses to fix her crossing eyes. There’s a link in the vision therapy section where you can find a doctor in your area who does vision therapy, although it can be hard to find someone who will work with very young kids. There are 2 doctors in our area who do vision therapy – one told me they don’t work with kids Kinsey’s age, but the other one does and he is great! It’s basically just doing certain things while playing while she’s wearing her glasses to help correct the crossing. So far the doctor says it’s going well. http://covd.org/AboutVisionTherapy/tabid/71/Default.aspx
Kinsey’s doctor was also going to use an eye patch, like with Nora, but he said the glasses are working so well that the patch isn’t necessary.
Anyway, if you do decide on glasses at some point, here’s a link to a special kind of glasses that were made for children with Down’s Syndrome. These are the glasses we ended up getting for Kinsey. The Dr said the shape of Kinsey’s nose was similar to kids with Downs and that these would fit her the best. https://www.facebook.com/pages/SPECS4US/112913938744295
I hope all of this helps you. Just thought I would share what I learned since going through this ourselves.
Trista
I miss Ethel too
I’m so glad that you mentioned Ethel because I have been thinking…where is ETHEL CHANEY been! I had to put that in ALL CAPS in honor of Ethel. I look forward to her comments every day and have noticed that she hasn’t been on for over a week, which is so uncharacteristic of her. I pray that everything is ok in her world and that she’s just busy right now. I hope she sees this and knows how much she’s missed! Happy New Year to the Yusko Family and I am praying that it’s healthier than it’s started off!
Many many prayers! ❤
Prayers for hubby to start feeling better, so glad Greta is doing better and BIG prayers that the nasty flu bug just goes right on pass you and Nornor!! I am so glad that Nora has been so happy and squealing, she is growing so fast! And I’m so glad that her eye issues can be fixed with a patch!! God is good!!!! Bless you all!!!!!!!!!
Still praying for you. You are such an inspiration to my family. God is so good!
Praying for family returning to good health soon! Nora looked so funny in the video..like she just discovered she has a tongue…” now what do I do with this thing”? Hang in there …spring will be here soon.
This flu is a doozy! Like Greta, the fever would come and go daily; this lasted for five days. And as William feels, it zaps your strength. To not have vomiting or diarrhea, it is unbelievable how bad it is! I believe the cross you saw was God’s sign to you that He was protecting you as He has brought Nora this far and a flu bug was NOT going to get her! Bet Miss Nora wonders what is going on that her Daddy and big sister have disappeared. Hope everyone is well soon.
You guys are in my prayers daily and I will pray extra hard for quick recovery for william and gretta. I look forward to your posts daily and have followed since Noras birth, I wish i could just pick her up and cuddle as you do!!! You are truly an inspiration to all of us following. I pray god keeps the flu bug away from her and you. sending love and prayers from Bethel Ohio
We see an opthalmologist named Cara Frasco who has an office in Springboro, OH — I believe that is quite close to you. She does vision checks for babies starting at about 7 to 8 months of age. Our current toddler is in glasses as Dr. Frasco discovered she is super farsighted. She hasn’t needed patching because the glasses are working. Our oldest son had amblyopia and Dr. Frasco worked with him too. He did need lots of patching.Just thought I’d mention her… she is awesome!
This flu is vicious! I don’t think we have it though we’ve had some nasty respiratory bug for a couple of weeks now. Praying for Nora’s protection.
Okay so I’m another random reader that is concerned about Ethel!!! Hope we hear from her soon I always enjoy reading her comments and have missed them lately! Praying she is just off with her feet in the sand somewhere enjoying some warm sun for all of us 🙂 Sure praying for your family and hoping the little miss will stay healthy and the rest of the crew gets well soon!
THANK YOU ALEISA, TERRI, LAURIE, AND REBECCA FOR YOUR CONCERN. IT MAKES ME FEEL GOOD TO KNOW THAT I WAS MISSED. SO GLAD GRETA WAS DOING BETTER AT THIS TIME, AND SORRY WILLIAM STILL FELT BAD. I THINK I WILL GO TO THE LAST BLOG AND MAKE A POST UPDATING ON WHY I WAS NOT ON HERE FOR A WHILE. I AM CATCHING UP ON ALL THE BLOGS. LOVE AND PRAYERS TO ALL.