It's a Boy . . . err, huh?

Hello all, this is Matt.

Both my girls are sleeping and under doctor's orders not to be disturbed so I figured this was a good time to head home briefly to get some house guests settled, grab a change of clothes and head back.

Some great photos can be found here - and thank you once again to Kristin (you may have to scroll down).

It has been a true roller coaster and the wife and I are just so happy - so happy when we heard that first little cry in the operating room. So happy to see her take a pacifier. So happy to hear that she most likely has the ability to eat. So happy that every single nurse that has attended her has remarked on how strong she IS.

Even now, as she recovers from two major surgeries in her first 48 hours of life, little Annie Lu is back at the hospital trying to open her eyes, trying to breathe on her own around the ventilator and moving her arms (I can only suspect in a desperate effort to back-hand whomever it was that was responsible for the past 48 hours . . .).

She is most definitely a fighter - and that is good (check back with me in 16 years . . .)

At one point today, the wife was asleep in her room and I was sitting on a bench outside the hospital lobby trying to get some fresh air and waiting for a friend coming from the airport. A car pulled up and two teenage gals got out - one of them carrying a 7-week-old puppy.

Turns out they had just picked up their new dawg today and wanted to bring it by the hospital to show their mom who is a nurse on duty. We started talking about my dawg and how I was missing him since I hadn't seen him in three days. The topic of our little baby came up and we chatted in generalities about her situation . . .

"Boy or a girl?" one of the teens asked.

"Boy" I replied . . . . and then the wheels slowly grinded into place . . . "Are you asking about my dawg or my baby?"

"The baby" the girl replied.

"Ohhhh . . . . a little girl . . ." I said, while mentally slapping my forehead . . . DOH!

My dear little Annabelle, I have terrible news . . . . your dad is a moron. Sorry. Not much I can do about it. What I lack in smarts I try to make up for in effort . . .

The miracles are stacking up around here and I BELIEVE it is because of all the prayers from the many people following our story.

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for my little girl . . . We may not even have her were it not for your prayers.

Please keep praying for her recovery - for her neurological development - for her mental abilities - and for all the WONDERFUL people attending to her.

I could write pages and pages right now but I have to get back . . .

I will continue to lean on my good friend Sean, who has been blogging on our behalf through all this.

Keep praying.

AND GO ANNABELLE!