A Christmas to Remember

There's been a lot of holiday action going on around here. And by action I don't mean baking and shopping and caroling. Action of a very different sort. I'm talking hospital visits. This Christmas season has already proven to be one I won't soon forget.

SATURDAY
You see, we're spending the holiday in Utah with Mark's family. And on Saturday night Mark's pregnant sister (who has been in the hospital on bed rest for several weeks now) went into labor. The problem is she is only 26 weeks along in her pregnancy. We waited and wondered and hoped things would stabilize. And they did.

SUNDAY
So on Sunday morning we decided we should go to church. It was the Christmas program afterall. Yet not more than 30 minutes into the meeting we found ourselves abruptly leaving and heading to the hospital. But not for Mark's sister this time.

Gavin had gotten wiggly and Mark took him out to the hallway to wander a bit. Gavin busied himself with opening and closing a classroom door, and in the process caught his middle finger in the door. This heavy wooden door didn't just pinch his skin. It nearly severed the tip of this finger. So off to the ER we went. Not long after that we found ourselves at Primary Children's Hospital getting an x-ray of the finger for bone damage. Luckily the laceration did not fracture the bone, but they needed to stitch the finger back together. So they decided to put our little Gavin under for the surgery.

Mark and I sat in the room while the doctors gave him oxygen and worked to repair the damaged finger. It was all so surreal. I'll never forget seeing his little body on that large hospital bed. Limp and hurt. And then sitting by his bed after surgery and waiting for him to wake. He looked like a little doll.

We spent nearly half the day in the ER. But we had a remarkably good experience there. The staff quickly brought activities to entertain Owen during the ordeal. We were served food and drinks. And the doctors and nurses were so sweet with Gavin. We felt very well cared for.

MONDAY
However the action was not over yet. Early Monday morning we got word that Mark's sister was delivering her baby, ready or not. Pins and needles! She delivered a 1 lb 15 oz baby boy. T-I-N-Y but breathing on his own.

TUESDAY
Today we headed back to Primary Children's Hospital for our first follow-up on Gavin's finger. Everything looks really good and the finger is healing well. Then this afternoon we headed to the hospital again to meet our newest nephew, lying in an incubator in the NICU. He is the tiniest human being I've ever seen. He is beautiful and precious. And I love him.

All these holiday happenings have kept us busy and left us a bit tired. But I can't think of a more perfect way to remember this season than seeing my happy boy with a healing finger and a newborn baby boy making his way into the world.

(Gavin's hospital souvenirs: a soft reindeer blanket, a plush dog, wristband and medical supplies)

(Owen's souvenirs: Hospital Buddies he decorated and cared for during our stay)