Nehemiah's Surgery

Nehemiah Bill Dunham just after he was born.

On March 31st, our sweet little Nehemiah was born. He weighed 6lbs 8oz and was 20in long. It is hard to believe he is already 4 months old, and it has been quite a roller coaster. Of all our kids this has been our hardest transition in welcoming a new baby. Everyone, myself included, has always said the more kids you have the easier it is to bring a new baby into the family. Well, Nehemiah is destined to prove us wrong. He is different in every way, and his journey is already much different from the rest of our kids.

Dave reading a blessing to Nehemiah at his dedication to God. (1 month old)

Family picture on Mother's day. (1 month old)

 By the time Nehemiah was 2 months old we started having some concerns for him. Our precious niece, Heidi. was born 6 days before Nehemiah. We know every child is different, but seeing the two of them together we were noticing some milestones Nehemiah wasn't hitting. He was still going cross-eyed the majority of the time and when he wasn't cross-eyed the two eyes didn't seem to align just right. He also wouldn't make eye contact, and would avert his eyes from us when we would try to get in his line of sight. His left eye seemed to be slightly smaller than his right, he wasn't smiling or cooing yet, and he didn't like being put down or snuggling.

 At Nehemiah's 2 month check-up I expressed my concerns with our pediatrician. She referred us to a UC Davis ophthalmologist to get a closer examination. She suspected that he had a weak left eye and would need some patch therapy to strengthen it. She emphasized we needed to see them ASAP because if he was getting 2 different images from his eyes his brain might shut off vision to the weak eye. As for the social delays she guessed it was because of his issues with his eyes that was delaying the milestones. We had a 3 month check up before we saw the ophthalmologist and by then Nehemiah was smiling and even starting to coo. He still wouldn't hold eye contact, but was starting to look at us for a brief second. The pediatrician said he was doing great and is just a little slower than the average child.

 When we finally saw the ophthalmologist and later had an ultrasound. We found out that Nehemiah's left eye has cataracts and a stalk attaching the back of the eye to the lens. We have learned that a normal eye while in-utero has a blood vessel that attaches the back of eye to the lens. Once the eye develops the blood vessel detaches and goes away. The stalk the doctor found is that blood vessel, and since Nehemiah's eye stopped developing in-utero it didn't detach. This caused the cataracts and the left eye to be smaller than his right eye. Both the cataracts and the stalk were blocking light  from getting to the back of the eye. The best chance for him to be able to have sight in the left eye was to remove the lens with cataracts, snip the stalk and remove it or at least hope it would fall to the side of the eye allowing light in. Surgery wouldn't give perfect sight, but was his best chance at getting vision to his left eye. The doctor related it to having a working spare tire. Nehemiah's left eye wont ever work perfectly, but will hopefully be a good help to his right eye. 

On Nehemiah's left eye can you see the white spot that is on the right side of his pupil? That white spot is the stalk.

On Monday, July 27th, Nehemiah had surgery. It was a hard, horrible day and still we could see God's hand in it all. Nehemiah had to stop eating at 4:00am, 4 hrs before we were to arrive at the hospital. Nehemiah doesn't enjoy drives and then being hungry as well should have resulted in crying for the whole hour and a half drive. By God's grace Nehemiah fell right to sleep in the truck and slept the whole way to the hospital. Once there they took us back fairly quickly to pre-op, but we had to wait 2 more hours before surgery. At this point Nehemiah was getting really hungry and fussy. We tried his pacifier and praise God he actually took it. Nehemiah has always refused his pacifier before this and still hasn't taken it again since surgery. When it was time for Nehemiah to go back to surgery I was able to walk him half way. Then I had to hand him over to the anesthesiologist. It was extremely hard to hand him over then walk away. Again, by God's grace, my fussy little boy who cries when most people hold him was happy and content in the anesthesiologist's hands. This gave me a little comfort, but was still extremely heart wrenching to walk away. The nurse advised we go get food as she has had nursing moms not eat and then pass out when they go back to nurse their child post-op. We ate and waited about 2 hours before our doctor came to us to share how surgery went. She said Nehemiah did well, was coming out of anesthesia now, and was hungry. She went on to explain she was able to remove the lens on the left eye. She couldn't remove the stalk as it was strongly attached. She felt messing with it too much could cause more harm than help. She removed part of it and what is left isn't in his primary vision. She also found that Nehemiah's optic nerve where it attaches to the retina isn't fully developed. Because the optic nerve is damaged we aren't sure how much his brain will be able to understand of what he sees. This is something we wont know until he is older, monitored more, and able to express what he sees. Since the doctor started this whole conversation telling me Nehemiah was hungry, I only heard and understood a portion of all this. When she finally took us back to Nehemiah we could hear him screaming as we walked through the doors. He was swaddled with wires and tubes coming out of him in all directions. He had an eye patch and shield taped to his left eye. I held Nehemiah, sat down, and tried nursing, but he refused. He never opened his eyes, and continued to cry and fuss. We could get him calmed down for a few seconds, but he would just start crying again. He seemed to be swallowing hard and I wonder if his throat was sore from the breathing tube he had in. I continued to try and get him to nurse. I knew he had to be starving. I craved the closeness of nursing and comforting my boy, to feel like everything would be alright. I also knew we had to get him to eat and see if he kept the milk down before we could leave. After about an hour of this crying, getting him calmed down, trying to nurse, and then crying some more the nurse gave him some morphine. Once he was calmed down again he nursed lazily as he slept. About another hour later Nehemiah was starting to act more like himself and we were finally able to leave. 

In pre-op Nehemiah was such a trooper. Here he is getting his blood pressure taken.

Nehemiah actually took his pacifier. Praise God!

After surgery calming Nehemiah down. Praying he is alright and that he will nurse soon.

Finally able to leave the hospital. Nehemiah had the patch on till the next day. 

 Now we are focused on his recovery. It will take around 3 weeks for his eye to heal from surgery. He has antibiotic drops as well as dilating drops. Once his eye has healed he will get a contact lens that we will be putting in every morning and taking out every night. He will also have patch therapy to force him to use his left eye and strengthen it. Once he is walking he will then be getting glasses as well. This is just the start of the journey that will be on going for the rest of his life. I praise God for the care and wisdom of our doctor, that surgery is over, and Nehemiah is recovering well. We don't know, and only in time will we find out, how much he can even see from the left eye, but we do pray for God to heal and restore sight to this eye.  

Pics Of Our New House

  Thanks to the nudging of my dear friend Renee I have finally taken pictures of our new house. I have been wanting to for awhile now, but always want to do it when the house is clean. Then I never seem to remember when it is clean. So, I decided to take pictures as is. As much as I would like to have my house clean all the time, I try to remind myself that I am fully pregnant, with 5 kiddos running around, and a kitchen remodel underway.As humbling as it is, this is where we are at right now. So, I hope you enjoy the pics and can see past our clutter :).

Starting on one end of the house to the other this is our dining room.

Kitchen

Living Room

Living Room

Our extremely long hallway. 

Boys Room - Boaz gets the big bed on bottom and Davey gets the top.

Girls Room 

Hall Bathroom with its lovely wallpaper and matching dark yellow sink, toilet, and tub!

Our bedroom and Dave's office. Once the kitchen is back inside the house Dave will move his office to the garage until we have the opportunity to build him an office.

Master Bathroom with its matching blue sink and toilet.

Our makeshift kitchen in the garage fully equipped with oven, dishwasher, sink and fridge.

Backyard deck overlooking the property.

Through the trees you can see our barn. Right now it houses our motorcycles, but we are looking forward to getting chickens soon!

More of our backyard. The first part of the backyard is fenced in with fruit trees, garden beds, and lots of bamboo. Then out past the fence is the barn and forest area.

I am sorry I didn't take pictures of the front of the house. I am a little leery of posting them on the internet for all to see. With posting pictures of the kids and details of our family I don't like to post specific details of where we are not knowing who might stumble across this. So you all will just have to come visit and see us in person!

Our New House and Blessings

Well, I originally wanted to write an update as our Christmas Letter to everyone and Christmas came and went. Then I had hopes of writing quickly after the new year, no later than the end of January. That also came and went. I am sorry it has been so long in between posts. It has been a busy roller coaster these past few months. Let me fill you all in. It is a long post and taking pictures hasn't been a top priority lately, but I hope you enjoy reading what has been going on with us. (I put all the pictures at the end)
 In October we were in the process of buying a house, and we closed on Oct. 31st. After we closed I went up to the house to get the keys and went in with such excitement at finally owning a home again. Not just any home, but a beautiful (slightly outdated with one yellow and one blue toilet and sink:)) 3 bed/2 bath on 2 acres of property, high in elevation to get snow, if it ever decides to snow. Once I got the keys and let myself in (Dave was actually in Austin for work) I heard running water. It turns out a line in the kitchen had been running steadily for about 2 weeks flooding out kitchen. Ever since that day we have been dealing with cleaning up the damage, dealing with insurances refusing to pay, moving out of our rental and into our new home, and living with a makeshift kitchen in the garage thanks to Dave's uncle Paul. Needless to say it has been emotional, stressful, and not ideal, especially being fully pregnant with 5 monkeys running around. In spite of it all we are continually thankful for the blessings God has given us in this. We have had all our needs met, we are all healthy, we get to live in a beautiful setting close to family, we have a wonderful church family that has supported and loved on us through it all, and we look forward to this sweet baby boy to be born sometime end of March or beginning of April.
 Our prayer and hope has been to get the kitchen and floors in before this little boy is born. Up to January I honestly struggled a lot feeling hopeless that we could get a kitchen in, but through lots of prayer and support from friends and family we were able to buy all our base cabinets, counters, and a sink last weekend! We are having work days the rest of the Saturdays in February and it is looking really good that we will have a kitchen in before baby. Praise God! Once it is all done I will be sure to take pictures and post for you all to see.
 We are also getting excited about a father-son mission trip coming up in March. Dave and Davey are going down to Mexico with a handful of other dads and sons from our church. They are going to be bringing and putting in a play-set for the church down there. Missions have always been a huge part of Dave's and my life and we have prayed and desired to have it be a huge part of our family and kids lives as well. This trip is an answer to those prayers and Davey is supper excited about it! They will be leaving March 12th and coming back March 17th. We would really appreciate your prayer support before and during the trip.
 This time of year is also exciting for all the birthdays in our family coming up. Sweet Abigail is turning 5 this Tuesday the 17th. She is so excited to finally be 5 and get to go to school in the fall. Although I haven't fully accepted her going to kindergarten yet :). Cassia is turning 7 March 8th. She is turning into such a beautiful caring girl. Just last week she got the Student of the Month award for being a caring friend to her peers, and as she walked down the aisle to receive it she was hunched over giving every kid she could see high fives on the way down. Dave and his dad celebrate their birthday on March 17th. Even though Dave will be driving home from Mexico that day there is a good possibility that he and his dad will get to celebrate together for the first time in many years.
 And finally we look forward to the birth of this little boy. His due date is April 5th, Easter Sunday, but I think and hope he will be a little early. He is very active kicking and squirming through out the day. All the kids love putting their hands on my belly to feel him. Little Boaz gets such a kick out of it and always giggles "my baby brother just kicked me!" We haven't come up with a name yet, but I am looking forward to the day I finally get to hold him in my arms.
 We loved getting all the Christmas cards from you all and seeing the pictures of you and your families. Thank you so much for sending them. I am sorry we weren't able to send some this year, but know we miss those that are far away and love you all so much.

In October we went to our 10 year reunion at Westmont. It was lots of fun to see friends and be back on the campus. Here is Dave with his suite mates and good friends Jon and Kevin.

Boaz at the pumpkin patch looking for the biggest pumpkin.

Enjoying the pumpkin patch with the family.

For Boaz's 3rd birthday in October we celebrated by going to the zoo.

Christmas Eve with Nana and Grandma Kathy.

Kids on Christmas Eve. Unfortunately we couldn't get Elah to sit for the pictures.

Christmas morning with the Dunham clan on our deck.

Cassia decided she was ready to cut her hair and donate it in honor of her kindergarten teacher Ms. Hewitt to help make wigs for other people.

Cuties saying hi to daddy after he got off work. Yes, we had a pajama day!

Transition to CA

Last time I posted we had just found out we were going to move back to California. From that post on our lives have been crazy. School has just started for Davey and Cassia. With school starting it feels like life is finally settling down and no longer in transition. A new normal pace and routine is starting for us here that we haven't had since before packing up in Texas. There is a peace and comfort in finally feeling like this is home and we belong.
 Before I go on with our lives now I want to share what has been going on with us these past 8 months. This is a long post. If you aren't up to reading the whole thing I hope you enjoy the pictures and check out the video of the kids near the end :) January was filled with packing, living out of boxes, visiting with friends and getting as much time in before having to say goodbye. February 1st we packed up and started the move to California. Once here our lives were filled with unpacking, figuring out Dave working from home, and starting to create our lives here with church, school, and family. The transition here was a lot harder and emotional than I expected. Davey and Cassia did great starting a new school in the middle of the year, but there were struggles and sadness in making friends, learning the class routine, and finding their way around a new school.  We are going to the church Dave grew up in and where we went every time we came to visit so we aren't really new, but we are new to the church as we haven't regularly attended and lived life with this congregation. As we pushed ourselves to be active in getting our lives here going - in volunteering at school, doing a bible study as well as a small group, enjoying family dinner night and time with family, creating a regular weekly date night (which Dave and I have never been able to do) our pace of life and routine felt crazy and different. All of it was good and such a blessing to have in our lives, but took time to adjust to it. There were also changes in Dave's work situation. He now is working from home, actually in our garage. He is in a different position than he was in Texas, which requires more travel. The travel is still totally worth giving up commuting 2 hours everyday. There were adjustments to our daily routine and having him be a part of breakfast and lunch. He now gets off work and has a couple hours before dinner rather than pushing dinner later so we could eat as a family. All of these changes are answers to prayers and dreams we have had for our lives, but also required adjusting that I didn't anticipate.

Missing our Texas church family!

 Through the move and all the transitions we continue to praise God for His hand in it all. The house we decided to rent has worked out on so many levels: Dave being able to work from our garage, the bus stop for school is at our house, and the house has a great backyard for the kids and Daisy to play. Daisy hasn't even tried to escape. In church there was a small group starting up right when we were looking for one. We were praying about where to serve at church, feeling like possibly Jr. High if there was a need. The first Sunday we were asked if we might consider helping out in Jr. high. I have had many ups and downs emotionally in these past 8 months and God has been so present through it all. I was completely overwhelmed once we moved here. I was trying to make my old routine work here in our new lives. I have always struggled with feeling that I needed to do everything all the time: keep a clean house, care for a family of 7, be present and active with school, serve at church, and invest in others' lives. Then on top of all that I wanted so badly to visit our Fernley church family and see those friends we haven't seen in years. In Texas God was working on me, teaching me to let Him guide me in priorities and what our day would hold. Once we moved it became impossible to do everything I thought I needed to and wanted to do. I had many mornings of crying out to God so overwhelmed. God continues to remind me to let Him set the priorities for the day and the routine. In doing His priorities that may mean my idea of what needs to be done doesn't really need to be done and I need to let go of my expectation. Some days are busy with chores and activities, and some days my kids just need me to forget about the dishes stacking up, laundry needing to be folded or boxes that still need to be unpacked. They need me to just sit with them, read a book, play a game, or go on a hike. God reminds me that getting time to go out to visit our friends will come, but in time. Not everything is meant to happen right now. Letting go of my expectations is a hard lesson for me to get through my thick head. He was teaching me in Texas, and He continues to humble me and teach me now. I am truly thankful that God doesn't give up on me. The days that I listen and give my day and expectations to God there is so much peace, joy, and freedom. I look forward to the day that it becomes easier to do.
 Ok, enough about me and our transitions. Thank you all for your prayers and support over this year. It has been hard, but a blessing as well. God is good! We have had a very fun busy year so far. In May Dave and I celebrated our 10th anniversary and got a weekend away in Tahoe. We have been out rock crawling and motorcycle riding. We went to our annual 4th of July camping trip and got to go down to San Diego for my Gram's 80th birthday. Dave has been doing business trips down to LA frequently and the kids and I have gotten to tag along a few times and enjoy a mini vacation. Now, a quick overview of the kids.

Those crazy kids!

Taking a break on our work day at Grandpa Smith's house.

 Elah turned one July 2nd. She is not walking yet and didn't even start to crawl till after she turned 1. She now is crawling everywhere, standing up as much as possible and seems anxious to start walking. She is a sweet fun loving little girl. She loves getting the other kids to laugh at meals and is the most ticklish of all our kids. She absolutely loves Dave throwing her in the air. The higher the better! She also has a stubborn vocal side, that has to come from her daddy ;) She glares and screams at the girls if they try to unbuckle her car seat, only wants mommy to do that. She will crawl over and take food or toys right out of Boaz's hand, and he doesn't give them up easily.

Elah was dedicated on Mother's day. It was special to have her dedicated and prayed for by Pastor Scott who married us just 10 years earlier.

Look who's 1 and loving cupcakes! She cried when she didn't get a second cupcake.

Proud little girl for getting brother's gun.

Elah is a little fish that not only loves being in the water she also gets her arms and legs doing the breaststroke on her back.

Elah's first bike ride. Boaz wasn't quite as excited as Elah.

 Boaz is all boy, kindhearted and full of energy.. He loves motorcycles, 4 wheeling, monster trucks, guns, and airplanes. First thing in the morning he needs a few minutes of snuggles before he starts the day. Then he seems to be bouncing the rest of the day, literally jumping all the time. He is potty training and is so proud to be a big boy. He tells complete strangers he is wearing big boy underwear and goes on the potty. He loves seeing the school bus and can't wait till he turns 5 so he can go on the bus, and he wants to be 6 so he can ride motorcycles.

Bo's first hair cut before . . .

and after haircut. Amazing how much older he looks from just a haircut.

Boaz loved sitting on Grandpa Smith's quad.

Wheeling with the cousins!

Sweet Abigail 

My girls first thing in the morning!

Making sandcastles at the beach.

 Abigail still loves playing dress up and playing with her babies. She loves the movie Frozen and always wants her hair just like Elsa. Her hair is finally getting long enough to do a braid like Elsa! She has gotten really good at her Strider bike that doesn't have pedals and has just started going on a two wheel bike with no training wheels. She is a big help around the house with chores and is the best at folding her laundry and hanging up her dresses that she wears often.

Cassia showing me a praying mantis she found in the yard.

Cassia's first time riding a motorcycle. She's a natural!

Cassia sitting and playing with Elah. Such a great big sister.

 I am so proud of the girl Cassia is becoming. She has a kind heart and is always looking for ways to help others. She is starting 1st grade and reading beautifully. She loves doing crafts and makes bracelets for everyone she can think of. Her hair is getting long and beautiful and she wants to keep growing it until it is long enough to donate to make wigs. She is a huge help with the younger kiddos. She loves holding Elah's hands trying to teach her to walk.

Davey was excited to have a mustache like Uncle Paul's!

Davey and Dave playing motorcycle Frisbee golf. They even popped a wheelie off the starting line!

My Boys!

 Davey is growing up quickly. He starts 2nd grade this year. He loves reading chapter books and has been enjoying lots of nonfiction books. We have been working on swimming this summer and he is getting pretty good at freestyle. He loves riding his bike and his motorcycle. Over memorial day weekend he did a 46 mile ride round trip. He had a couple good crashes, but got back on and kept going. He and Cassia  have started soccer practice and are excited to be on the same team with each other as well as with some friends from church.
 The kids all have some great news to share . . .

We were excited to find out I am pregnant with baby #6! I always wonder if the kids are tired of having little brothers and sisters and want to be done, but they are so excited for another baby. Everyone we meet they love to share that mommy has a baby in her belly. Cassia said she is hoping for twin boys. I am guessing I am around 8 weeks. My first appointment with the doctor and ultrasound is next Wednesday.
 Sorry for such a long post and how long it has been since I have written. This has been something I had to let slide to figure out life here in California, but I hated not having this contact with friends and family far away. Hopefully I will be able to write more often and post pictures of our crazy family of (soon to be) 8 people!