Jehovah Rapha

Sometimes, Life throws you a curveball. Few days ago, my Ipoh pastor suffered a massive aneurysm. He doesn't smoke, drink or over-indulge. He's a thin, lean, preaching machine, frequently at the pulpit delivering sermons in 2 to 3 languages.

I got a sms from my brother then, informing us to pray. I quickly fwded the news to my sister and emailed my mom in NYC - activating a prayer chain to cover Pastor with prayers and protection with the blood of Jesus around the clock.

Eventhough separated geographically, the Church functioned as one. One part of the Body is griefly wounded, and the whole Body feels the pain intensely.

Pastor's eyes were swollen and bulging from her face, due to the internal bleeding in the brain. Doctors suctioned out the blood and warned us of the high risk of permanent brain damage or death. Everyone started fasting to claims God's promises...our God Jehovah Rapha who is our Healer, our Physician.

We prayed for wisdom and discernment for the surgeons, for their hands to be guided and stilled by the Master. We prayed for His glory to shine through, from the miraculous healing of His faithful servant. We prayed for the pastor's deliverance from the Valley of Death. We also prayed for the family, his young son and daughter, and for his wife, to be able to lean heavily, and draw strength and faith from His spirit.

Today, i got news that Pastor was moved to Gleneagles. He stabilised and doctors proceeded with angiogram scan. They later decided on an operation to remove the aneurysm which was lying precariously between two nerves. Operation lasted 5 hours. It was successful.

To God is the glory forever and ever. And to the wonderful medical staff who were there, who did such a good job on the complex and high-risk operation.

Lets hope for a full recovery for Pastor, with all his faculties intact. Lets speak forth healing and restoration into his body. May the Lord reveal and unlatch the gates to His resources to make this happen. Amen!

Yippie Yay Yay!

It's been awesome the past few nights and Abby has been taking to the new sleeping routine gladly. No more crying at nights. We're so thrilled that that nightmarish phase is over. Thank GOD!!

We're returning to Seremban tomorrow, so we'll get to try out this routine on her in a new environment. Hope she doesn't mind too much. All this is practise for the ultimate trip back to Ipoh at the end of the month! Will Abby breeze through the 2 hour car trip? Will she gurgle and bestow her sunny toothless smiles on unfamiliar relatives (including her granddad who'll be seeing her for the first time)? Will she be able to sleep through the manic barks of the neighbour's annoying Chihuahua?

Stay tuned.

Tummy Time

Abby @ 17 weeks

18th Week

Abby's at her 18th week now. She is starting to teethe, constantly drooling and recently starting to develop rashes around her mouth from the saliva. She has good neck control, and is able to hold up her head steady at all times. Though she haven't had much luck with flipping over either ways yet, but she's already sitting up (with support) steady...Sometimes I think she's kiasu.

Anyhow, we're still struggling to get her to sleep at night. I've ditched the rocking and singing routine for a much better one. We established a routine with her as below:

9:00pm - wipes down Abby and chg her into her PJs
9:30pm - carry her into the room, where a story is read to her
10:00pm - put Abby in cot and dim the lights, sticks a pacifier into her mouth and ensure it remains there until she falls asleep

On a good day, Abby will fall asleep after 30 mins off struggling and half-hearted cries. If it's a particularly bad day, she'll shriek and scream non-stop for ¹- 1.5 hrs until we give in and offer her the bottle to nurse. What I can say is, the Ferber method ain't for us. I don't think it's a good idea to let a babe cry for ¹hr or more. When Abby does this, she is unable to stop...and can go on and on and on, seemingly unable to console herself and her screams will sound more and more hysterical.

We're planning our first trip back to Ipoh this month end. Sleeping arrangements will be iffy...but my Dad and Granny will get to see Abby for the first time. I'm starting to feel the stress already. Boy, having a kid just ain't easy peasy.