Nothing yet

Just letting you know that we're still waiting to hear about when Noah's surgery will be. We've been told to call the clinic tomorrow and maybe we'll get an answer then! We'll keep you posted...

Trying to be flexible...

Well, folks, we were just kidding about Tuesday! We got a call today that Noah's doctor's father-in-law passed away yesterday (Saturday), and his funeral is scheduled for the same time as Noah's surgery. Please keep his family in your prayers...as we all know, it's hard losing a loved one. Surgery should be rescheduled for sometime this week, but we'll know more when the surgeon's assistant calls us Tuesday. And we'll let you know, too!
Shifting gears...I never learned to in a car (I STILL can't drive a stick shift!!), but I'm slowly learning how to in life : )

Surgery this Tuesday!

We wanted to show you these cute and fairly recent pictures of our children and ask you to please be praying for us, especially Noah, as we head to Augusta on Monday for his surgery on Tuesday. We have to be at the hospital at 11am, and his appendectomy will begin shortly thereafter. They expect him to only be in the hospital for one or two nights - we've never stayed such a short time in the hospital with Noah, so this seems like a real treat!! We have some specific prayer requests:

• that Noah will be content to only eat and drink clear liquids on Tuesday morning and nothing at all after 9am...he LOVES his juice and we need for him to forget it during those few hours!
• that the surgery will go smoothly, just as the doctors expect it to, and that God will guide their hands and instruments as they remove his appendix. They should be able to do the surgery laparoscopically, and that is what we're praying for - his recovery time should be much shorter this way.
• here's a Mommy request: that he would not experience much pain or fear or any other thing that a little guy shouldn't have to experience! I'm thankful beyond measure that his IV will be started AFTER he's anesthetized - his veins didn't cooperate very well last time and starting IVs was the yuckiest part of his whole hospital stay in December!

Our family has requested prayer so much in the last 18-months! We truly appreciate your love and generosity in holding us up to the Lord. We are certain that we all are here, healthy and strong, due to God's great mercy in answering your prayers and the prayers of many others. Noah will have such a story to tell one day, won't he?

At Matthew's suggestion, we enjoyed a night out last night by going to Red Robin as a family (it was really yummy!) and then wandering around Barnes and Noble. Well, you only wandered if you happened to NOT be in charge of Noah at any given time...if you were in charge of him, you raced through the store, whispering apologies to the poor patrons that Noah whizzed past as he giggled and squealed. It was fun for us...but I'm sure that store will never be the same! Matthew wanted us to have a fun night out before being stuck in the hospital for a while, and it was a much needed break away from home for us.

I'll post again as soon as I can on Tuesday to try to keep everyone up to date with what's going on. Thanks again for praying!

Love,

Ashley, Matthew, Noah and the girls

P.S. By the way, if you want to reply to any of our blog posts, but you don't want everyone who receives these updates to receive your reply, remember to close this email, and send a message to our regular email address (apiquette@att.net).

We're going home tomorrow - Praise God! This morning the doctor came by and said that Noah's white count has gone down to the normal range, so he's having his last I.V. medicines right now (it's 3:30pm) and will have his 1st oral meds tonight at bedtime. As long as all goes well tonight, we'll be home sometime tomorrow - yay! He has been so active ("wild" would be a better word to use there) the last few days, I secretly wonder if the nurses on this unit paid the doctors to falsify the test results so that we could leave the poor nurses alone : ) Actually, I believe that God has graciously answered our and your prayers over the last week, and that He will continue to do so. It's almost surreal to be able to think about leaving this hospital. I probably won't continue to update this blog every day like I have been while we've been here, but I'll try to at least once or twice before his next (and hopefully LAST!) surgery. And I'll try to put some pictures up, too.
Have a blessed Christmas season celebrating the birth of our Savior! And thank you again for your continued prayers for the health of our little boy!

Noah has enjoyed his whole family being here to chase him around! Matthew, Mary Kathryn and Claire are leaving after the SEC Championship game ends, and it will be back to just Noah and me - and any visitors that drop by! My parents seem to be tireless when it comes to helping out their children, and have given me the breaks I need to make it through each day while I'm here alone...I can never thank them enough.
We have really had a good visit. Noah was thrilled when they arrived last night, running around and squealing, smiling, and even bumping his head on a table leg leading to a goose egg that freaked the nurse out, causing her to call the doctor on-call. Such fun on a Friday night, who can stand it?? : ) Noah was fine after a few seconds of crying. It was his first real bump-on-the-head, so kind of unsettling for his mommy and daddy, but he's totally fine! He slept pretty well, but when a nurse came in at 5:20 am, he woke up, saw his daddy lying in the bed near the window, and never went back to sleep til after 10 am! They had fun together this morning, and Matthew even got to help torture Noah while 3 nurses attempted (and finally succeeded) to place a new I.V. line. While all of that was going on, I went to my parents' house, washed clothes, got everything gathered up from their house, and loaded up the van for my little family to go home tonight.
They will get home late, then be up early for Claire to be at church for the children's Christmas program at both services. My mom (once again, with energy from Above - that's the only place it could come from!) altered the woman's size 12 (!!!!) angel costume to fit our tiny little angel, Claire, so she can do her part(s) in the program. I think this will be the first time I've ever missed something like this for one of my children...hmmmm, that makes me sad. If you're there, clap extra loud so it will sound like I'm there, too!
Our BIG prayer request for Noah tonight is that his white blood count will go back down to normal so that we can maybe get out of here very soon! We can't thank you enough for praying for us when we are out of energy to pray for ourselves. It means more than you can know! Great is Thy Faithfulness, Oh God My Father!
Love from the Piquettes,
Ashley

Daddy and Sisters are almost here!

Matthew and the girls should arrive around 6-something...I keep asking Noah if he's ready to see them, and he just looks around and smiles and obviously thinks I'm crazy because he knows they're not here right now : ) Sleeping in his grandmama's arms (his new favorite place to be) as I sit at the computer, he's been very happy and active today! His diet is now normal, but lab work today shows that his white blood count is a little elevated. The dr. assured me this is fine, it's the expected course, but we do want to pray hard that it will go down...the sooner it's normal, the sooner we get to bust this joint!!
Did I mention that Uncle John, Aunt Michelle, and cousins John, Conner, and Hudson came to visit last night bearing gifts: a little ball (which he loves! My job is to keep him from throwing it into another patient's room!! This is no small task!) and a little Christmas tree complete with lights and ornaments. It's adorable and will be his forever. My mom wanted him to have a tree, and when Michelle heard about it, took off (as only she can - she's a super shopper!) and found just what we wanted.
In other news, Noah became an Honorary Submariner today when a retired navy submariner who volunteers here came by and gave him a ball cap, certificate, and detailed picture of a submarine. An unusual title to acquire while hospitalized, but another little something he can keep (as long as he promises me he'll never "join up" and go far, far away to protect our country : ) ) Unless he really wants to and God tells him he must.
When the rest of my family arrives, I may spend even less time updating this blog. But if there's something significant to say or prayer request to add, I will do so. Don't stop praying!
We know that Noah's progress is due to God's great mercy and grace in answering the prayers of you righteous loved ones!
Ashley

Free at Last!

Today Noah's doctor agreed to let him be unhooked from his I.V. except for when he's getting his antibiotics - woo hoo! He was able to eat a lot today and run around free of his tubing. The nurses couldn't believe it was the same child : ) I'm short on time tonight - thank you for your prayers and help and love and emails and phone calls. May God bless each of you as He has blessed us through you.Love in Him,Ashley