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ELIM IS COMING HOME!!! I walked into the NICU yesterday and the nurse started talking to me about my appointment in an hour with the home heath nurse. Basically this nurse is helping us learn the protocol on how to take care of Elim’s Heath needs till his corrective surgery because he will need daily care other than just typical baby care. He has some not so common adjustment made to his body that are temporary fixes till he is bigger for surgery but require medical training- that way we can care for him at home. I said, “excuse me? I wasn’t aware of an appointment being made so soon before discharge.” The nurse said, I went ahead and made the appointment for today so y’all can take your baby home by Monday. Wait, WHAT?!?! I was in shock! I told her, “no one has said anything about bring him home this soon! We were told six weeks at the soonest with the potential of four months being the longest... are you sure you have the right Smith kid?? Because there’s several in here.” She said YES! Elim is your son isn’t he?? He is going to be going home! 😭😭😭😭 Not, 1- not 2- but 5 doctors and nurses came to me and said “we’ve never seen anything like it! Judging by Elim’s first day in the NICU, we would have told you he would be here for months, but he has recovered faster and progressed better than any baby we’ve seen.. it’s miraculous actually.” It is miraculous, and it’s because God is good and can do able and beyond anything we could ask or think and we are forever grateful for the Lords provision and care over Elim. While this news was shocking but amazing to hear- it got me thinking. God told me I was going to have a son named Elim, he called him out by name! God told me the day I was going to conceive him and now God is working miraculously in Elim to heal his body faster than we imagined, and while we aren’t out of the woods yet, I have no doubt that the Lord will continue to amazing us throughout this process. The Lord is faithful to complete his work and I trust that he will continue to do above what we can ask or think because he’s a good father! **continue reading in comments**
Sometimes, you just need a little help from your friend! I am so incredibly proud and thankful for @amandalanephotography and @kortneyboyettphoto for capturing this wedding for my company! Elim came the day before this gorgeous wedding and these wonderful ladies knocked this one out of the park and I am forever grateful for all their help! @myhibbsdontlie75 looks like a complete vision!!!i love sifting through all the smiles and happy moments! Wedding days are some of my favorite days! Planing: @wedandprosper @kara.wedandprosper #destinationweddings #dallasweddingphotographer #dfw #dfwphotographer #fortworthweddingphotographer #dallas #southernbrides #luxuryweddings #dallasweddingvenue #bridesofnorthtexas #dallaswedding #stylemepretty #marthastewartweddings #luxuryweddingphotographer #fineartbride #fineartphotography #lawedding #theknot #laweddingphotographer #dallasweddingplanner #austinwedding #dweddings #oncewed #houstonweddingphotographers
The last 48 hours has been a lot of processing for Quay and I. Personally, I’ve needed some time away from social media and my phone to be able to wrap my head around all of what’s happened and try to be present with Elim. Honestly it’s been really hard and we are struggling. We feel a lot more optimistic today, but this past week has been difficult. We never imagined that less than 24 hours after Elim was born he would undergo umbilical hernia surgery or that they would find something more in-depth. After we went to the prep room for Elim’s surgery, the head nurse and the nicu nurse asked if we wanted to pray over Elim before his surgery and of course that’s exactly what we wanted. After we handing our brand new baby (that we’ve only held once) into the medical staffs hands. After they wheeled him back into surgery, we returned to my room via doctors orders to pump and have my incision redressed. During my redressing we got the call that they had some complications with the surgery and we needed to come to cooks children’s waiting room immediately. I grabbed the nurses hand as she was starting to redress me and told her i need to go NOW. Quay and I practically ran out the door, and while I am still recovering from a major surgery myself and completely exhausted from laboring for almost 100 hours I didn’t care- I felt no pain in that moment, My only concern was for my son. As we were waiting in the waiting room we had no idea what the surgeon was going to tell us. It felt like years waiting. Finally the surgeon came out and told us that he noticed a potential abnormality during the hernia repair and was curious, so he looked into Elim’s bowls and started investigating more and what he found was something he had never seen in person- only in text books. As he explained the condition to us his eyes turned red like he wanted to cry. He told us Elim wasn’t going to get to come home for quite some time, and the adjustments from this first surgery are going to be quite an adjustment when he does come home. The care he will need is much different and more complex then we ever imagined. (Continue in comments)
Happy birthday, Elim! 7.20.19 We are so in love with our sweet, squishy baby boy! After over 100 hours of labor, Elim was born in the wee hours of the morning at 2:04am! He loves his birthday so much that he wanted to get the party started as early as possible! When we heard our O.R team gasp Quay and I looked at each other nervously but shortly started laughing when we heard “congratulations ! Y’all have a toddler!” Elim entered the world weighing a whopping 10lbs 7oz and 21 inches long! He’s big, strong and brave and has already brought us so much joy! Tomorrow at 8am Elim will be having surgery to fix an umbilical hernia, so he is currently hanging out with our awesome NICU nurses! He’s definitely the biggest baby in the NICU and winning over the nurses with his sweet gentle demeanor. He’s the best thing since sliced bread ❤️❤️❤️ #family #maternityphotography #maternityshoot #mothertobe #itsaboy💙 #mybabyboy💙 #ebaby #ellenashtonphotography #expecting #stylethebump
Coming soon to an inbox near you, @courtneyraymanuel 🙌🏻❤️ this wedding is so precious y’all! It was such a dream to work with Courtney and Matthew! They have so much love for each other and you can see and feeling it in the photographs, not just between them, but the whole family! It was such a beautiful day filled with so much detail! Can’t wait to share more sneaks soon! @gritandgoldeventco @meaganbechtel @mossfloral @prettypostcalligraphy @companynfilms @tcuchapel @omnifortworth @theashtondepot @latavolalinen @emeraldcityband #destinationweddings #dallasweddingphotographer #dfw #dfwphotographer #fortworthweddingphotographer #dallas #southernbrides #luxuryweddings #dallasweddingvenue #bridesofnorthtexas #dallaswedding #stylemepretty #marthastewartweddings #luxuryweddingphotographer #fineartbride #fineartphotography #lawedding #theknot #laweddingphotographer #dallasweddingplanner #austinwedding #dweddings #oncewed #houstonweddingphotographers
Spent the good part of this morning meditating, praying and feeling so grateful and thankful for many things in my life. I use to start my mornings checking mails, or working as soon as my feet hit the floor. Restful time use to mean just sleeping in, binge watching a @netflix series, or chronically checking social media- but as time has gone on I’ve learn a bit here and there. I’ve found that those things didn’t give me what I wanted or needed. Finding time to just stop and appreciate the things and people around me and the gifts that I’ve been given is one of my most relaxing, restful pastimes. As I sat in my rocking chair this morning and as I prepare to welcome my son into the world very soon, my hope and prayer is that our morning meditations of gratitude can be shared together and become second nature to him. I pray that he’ll always spend his mornings waking up with a grateful song in his heart. Feeling so incredibly blessed this morning for lessons learned ❤️ hoping and wishing each and every one of you a beautiful, joy filled, easy and relaxing day! @gritandgoldeventco @meaganbechtel @mossfloral @prettypostcalligraphy @companynfilms @tcuchapel @omnifortworth @theashtondepot @latavolalinen @emeraldcityband #destinationweddings #dallasweddingphotographer #dfw #dfwphotographer #fortworthweddingphotographer #dallas #southernbrides #luxuryweddings #dallasweddingvenue #bridesofnorthtexas #dallaswedding #stylemepretty #marthastewartweddings #luxuryweddingphotographer #fineartbride #fineartphotography #lawedding #theknot #laweddingphotographer #dallasweddingplanner #austinwedding #dweddings #oncewed #houstonweddingphotographers