Let all praise and honor be to God. He is great and worthy of ALL PRAISE. Not just because of His grace in our situation, but simply because He is our great God.
Second, we are humbled by the thousands of people all around the world that have rallied around our family in prayer. It is truly unbelievable. We are not confused to think that we deserve this. We are eternally grateful. We love you all. Ruthie loves you too, but she can’t tell you that because she’s just a baby.
We arrived at Children’s Hospital in Cincinnati, OH at 5am. Kim was processed and placed in the room she is currently recovering in. Soon, we met with all the surgical staff. Well, not all. Later we were told there were upwards of 20 people in the surgery at certain times. Crazy. Carol and I said our sweet goodbyes to Kim and she went back for surgery around 8am.
Carol and I moved to the waiting room around 8:30am and met up with my sister Susan and brother-in-law Greg. Don came shortly after and we began drinking coffee and having hours of nervous conversation. Greg and Susan constantly reassured me, Don and Carol quietly listened remaining strong and optimistic, and I was kind of an excited nervous mess.
Ms. Judy (super nurse), would come periodically into the waiting room and give us updates. “Kim is under anesthesia now” or “The surgeon has made the first incision”, she would say. She was so great to do that. Each time she came out, we waited with baited breath as each update got us closer to our beautiful baby.
At about 12:15, Ms. Judy came out and changed our lives forever. She told us at 12:01pm at little baby named Ruthie Grace Thorpe was born. She showed us pictures she had taken with Carol’s camera. We were all amazed. At this point, I was hit with the amazing reality that our daughter was not only real, but very much ALIVE.
We were able to meet Ruthie for the first time by the elevators as she was being wheeled to the NICU. She was so beautiful to my eyes. It was bittersweet though, because she had to leave so quickly.
Soon thereafter we had a consultation with the main surgeons who had performed the operation. They filled us in on all the particulars. My head was still reeling. One of the Drs. made the point that it was still not clear what type of tumor it was. It would have to be sent of to testing. In a moment of clarity I spoke up and said, “Let me put it to you this way, if robbers broke into my house and put my family in danger, I called the cops and they run him off and put him in jail...I don’t need to know his name”. We all erupted with laughter and I finished by saying, “but if I saw him on the street, I would beat him to death with a bat”.
I finally got to see Kim as she was coming around from the anesthesia. She was in a lot of pain, but we got to hold hands and share a sweet moment together. Carol and Don got to see her too. There are just some things a husband can’t give his wife, but a Mom and Dad was all that she needed. We were all so happy that Kim was OK. We all exhaled a sigh of relief.
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Ruthie Grace: part 1
Let all praise and honor be to God. He is great and worthy of ALL PRAISE. Not just because of His grace in our situation, but simply because He is our great God.
Second, we are humbled by the thousands of people all around the world that have rallied around our family in prayer. It is truly unbelievable. We are not confused to think that we deserve this. We are eternally grateful. We love you all. Ruthie loves you too, but she can’t tell you that because she’s just a baby.
We arrived at Children’s Hospital in Cincinnati, OH at 5am. Kim was processed and placed in the room she is currently recovering in. Soon, we met with all the surgical staff. Well, not all. Later we were told there were upwards of 20 people in the surgery at certain times. Crazy. Carol and I said our sweet goodbyes to Kim and she went back for surgery around 8am.
Carol and I moved to the waiting room around 8:30am and met up with my sister Susan and brother-in-law Greg. Don came shortly after and we began drinking coffee and having hours of nervous conversation. Greg and Susan constantly reassured me, Don and Carol quietly listened remaining strong and optimistic, and I was kind of an excited nervous mess.
Ms. Judy (super nurse), would come periodically into the waiting room and give us updates. “Kim is under anesthesia now” or “The surgeon has made the first incision”, she would say. She was so great to do that. Each time she came out, we waited with baited breath as each update got us closer to our beautiful baby.
At about 12:15, Ms. Judy came out and changed our lives forever. She told us at 12:01pm at little baby named Ruthie Grace Thorpe was born. She showed us pictures she had taken with Carol’s camera. We were all amazed. At this point, I was hit with the amazing reality that our daughter was not only real, but very much ALIVE.
We were able to meet Ruthie for the first time by the elevators as she was being wheeled to the NICU. She was so beautiful to my eyes. It was bittersweet though, because she had to leave so quickly.
Soon thereafter we had a consultation with the main surgeons who had performed the operation. They filled us in on all the particulars. My head was still reeling. One of the Drs. made the point that it was still not clear what type of tumor it was. It would have to be sent of to testing. In a moment of clarity I spoke up and said, “Let me put it to you this way, if robbers broke into my house and put my family in danger, I called the cops and they run him off and put him in jail...I don’t need to know his name”. We all erupted with laughter and I finished by saying, “but if I saw him on the street, I would beat him to death with a bat”.
I finally got to see Kim as she was coming around from the anesthesia. She was in a lot of pain, but we got to hold hands and share a sweet moment together. Carol and Don got to see her too. There are just some things a husband can’t give his wife, but a Mom and Dad was all that she needed. We were all so happy that Kim was OK. We all exhaled a sigh of relief.
Second, we are humbled by the thousands of people all around the world that have rallied around our family in prayer. It is truly unbelievable. We are not confused to think that we deserve this. We are eternally grateful. We love you all. Ruthie loves you too, but she can’t tell you that because she’s just a baby.
We arrived at Children’s Hospital in Cincinnati, OH at 5am. Kim was processed and placed in the room she is currently recovering in. Soon, we met with all the surgical staff. Well, not all. Later we were told there were upwards of 20 people in the surgery at certain times. Crazy. Carol and I said our sweet goodbyes to Kim and she went back for surgery around 8am.
Carol and I moved to the waiting room around 8:30am and met up with my sister Susan and brother-in-law Greg. Don came shortly after and we began drinking coffee and having hours of nervous conversation. Greg and Susan constantly reassured me, Don and Carol quietly listened remaining strong and optimistic, and I was kind of an excited nervous mess.
Ms. Judy (super nurse), would come periodically into the waiting room and give us updates. “Kim is under anesthesia now” or “The surgeon has made the first incision”, she would say. She was so great to do that. Each time she came out, we waited with baited breath as each update got us closer to our beautiful baby.
At about 12:15, Ms. Judy came out and changed our lives forever. She told us at 12:01pm at little baby named Ruthie Grace Thorpe was born. She showed us pictures she had taken with Carol’s camera. We were all amazed. At this point, I was hit with the amazing reality that our daughter was not only real, but very much ALIVE.
We were able to meet Ruthie for the first time by the elevators as she was being wheeled to the NICU. She was so beautiful to my eyes. It was bittersweet though, because she had to leave so quickly.
Soon thereafter we had a consultation with the main surgeons who had performed the operation. They filled us in on all the particulars. My head was still reeling. One of the Drs. made the point that it was still not clear what type of tumor it was. It would have to be sent of to testing. In a moment of clarity I spoke up and said, “Let me put it to you this way, if robbers broke into my house and put my family in danger, I called the cops and they run him off and put him in jail...I don’t need to know his name”. We all erupted with laughter and I finished by saying, “but if I saw him on the street, I would beat him to death with a bat”.
I finally got to see Kim as she was coming around from the anesthesia. She was in a lot of pain, but we got to hold hands and share a sweet moment together. Carol and Don got to see her too. There are just some things a husband can’t give his wife, but a Mom and Dad was all that she needed. We were all so happy that Kim was OK. We all exhaled a sigh of relief.