Well, yesterday was a whirlwind if I ever knew one! It was half past six, when I began to write this blog. It was dark and we were all exhausted. We spent the day traveling to Milwaukee to the Children’s hospital. We left just before nine in the morning. Upon our arrival we HAD to go to chick fil a to get our fix, and it was just as good as we remembered! We let the girls run and play in the fun play area, walked around the mall for a bit, then headed to our appointment. We arrived 15 minutes early, and they got us in right on time at two. We did not leave until five.

Yesterday was a combination of important people, lots of questions, and not many answers. We saw the dietitian, feeding registered nurse, and the gastroenterology (GI) specialist (he is actually the director of the GI department at the Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin, and is well know in his field of work), so we feel like we are in good hands. She also had blood work done and we will get those results back within the week. It was determined that Aveline will need to have some upper GI tests, and a swallow study before her next appointment with the feeding team that takes place December 20. We hope this will help reveal some answers to know how to help her. If these two studies still do not reveal anything she will be given anesthesia and have an endoscopy done and then also see the otolarynologist/Ear Nose Throat (ENT) doctor. The radiology tests that we have to do are fasting, so we will be traveling down, doing her tests, and hopefully be staying the night at the Ronald McDonald house so we can get up and go bright and early to her feeding team appointment. At that appointment we will be seeing the dietitian, feeding nurse, speech language pathologist, and psychologist. I feel that it will be another all day affair, but hopeful that we will walk away that day with more answers on how to help our sweet Aveline.

All the poking and prodding and being out of their element, both girls did great. Aveline was full of smiles, waves and blowing kisses (especially to the doctor). Being there all day we saw a lot of other families and patients come and go. It was a very humbling experience for Ryan and me. A reminder of how blessed we are, and how little our problems are in the large scheme of things. We met some lovely people today, with children that have some serious medical problems, but these parents were amazing, loving, supportive and kind… oh and their children beautiful and sweet. It was a blessing and a good reminder of all we have to be thankful for.

Two of my favorite moments from yesterday were as follows. We told Novella that we had to get sisters blood drawn and she replied, “No! That will make her cry!” Then when Aveline was getting her blood drawn… I was holding her, Ryan was holding her other arm and legs; the draw was almost over and she was crying, real tears were dripping down her face and her big sister reached over and started to gently wipe her tears away. My heart about melted. Such a tenderhearted sweet girl. A reminder of how God looks down on us and loves us, and gently wipes our tears away when we are going through moments in life that sometime pain us.

Still many unknowns, but we are on the path to getting answers. It can be scary at times when they tell you potential problems, but we have Faith that God will carry us through this, and that he has a plan in all of this. If you are new to the blog and curious as to what all is going on you can read our previous blogs…. When you don’t have the words and Big Updates!. Thank you for all of your support and prayers through this journey.