This Girl

A few months ago we learned that Ruby had stopped gaining 
weight and had actually lost some.
The doctors were a bit concerned.
There was even mention of a G-Tube.
Yes, I know many people have them,
I just didn’t want to have to ‘go there’ if there was another way.
I asked the Knee Team to pray,
cause those ladies sure know how to pray.
{Thank you sweet friends.}
Since it would be awhile till we could get in to a nutritionist,
Emma suggested something different for a couple of her feedings,
which was an awesome idea and
 I incorporated them immediately.
The nutritionist
 took four months to get into.
In the meantime, we worked hard to get some weight on
this little treasure.
This morning Nehemiah went along as my “date” to Ruby’s 
 long-awaited appointment with the nutritionist.
I was almost holding my breath to see if 
she had put on weight yet.
As always I introduced the nurse to Ruby…
Ruby was animated and giddy meeting her…
of course I pulled out my “before” picture of Ruby
and shared just how much of a miracle Ruby is….
The nurse was moved so much so that she had to leave the room.
When she returned she brought a co-worker,
who she said, “had to see the picture and hear Ruby’s story.”
The co-worker immediately started to cry and couldn’t 
even speak.
There is no doubt that our little bundle stirs 
strong emotions
deep inside most people.
When the nutritionist appeared, she was a super sweet lady,
who had actually done missions with YWAM in Central America.
How cool is that?
Anyway, so the awesome news is that 
Ruby has finally gained weight!

Yippee Jesus!

BUT
The not-so-awesome news is that it’s a little too much 
weight for her height.
Would anyone ever think that Ruby could gain too much?
Not in my wildest dreams.
We’re guessing that since increasing her seizure meds,
she has not been nearly as active, hence, burning less calories.
I shake my head.
This girl.
 Mmmm-hmmmm.
This girl.

47 thoughts on “This Girl

  1. My sweet little chunky treasure! You keep showing them what God is doing in your life and that weight will soon come down. Love, love love you, precious.

  2. Wow! Glory to God! No g-tube for that girly. God is so very good. I think she looks just delicious. I love those thighs and cheeks! I think she looks just perfectly wonderful. I would not worry about the weight. Her next growth spurt will stretch it on out. Often times our kids need that little extra for winter flu season. 🙂 Blessings!

    1. Well truthfully I came home and cried. I am trying soooo hard and felt such "ugh" that *now* she is "too" big. ugh. ugh. ugh. She is very tiny in length…in fact she takes a shoe that is 6 – 12 month size. Her feet just won't grow!

    2. Big hugs to you my friend. I so understand. My Antonio just recently lost his ability to eat by mouth very much anymore. He was aspirating to much and causing a lot of breathing issues and congestion. We can not risk pneumonia. He has had a G-tube for many years as after one of his shunt failures he lost his ability to protect his airway when swallowing liquids. He used to only aspirate on liquid so got all his daily fluids by g-tube all these years. But ate most of his meals by mouth unless to tired to eat. When he was to tired I would blend up his meal in my power blender and put it in his g-tube. Well, now he cant eat much by mouth except for an occasional cookie or a few chips so I started to blend all his food and put it in his G-tube. I used to do this if he got to tired to finish a meal but now for the last three weeks it has been an every meal thing to protect his airway. I didnt have a base line on calories for him so just blended the amount I thought he usually ate. Well he has gained at least 15 pounds I am sure in the last few weeks. Maybe more. .I have been scolded by everyone from his massage therapist to his physical therapist. He has CP and has always been wheel chair bound so we have no way for him to work it off now. AND he is 18 with his back fully rodded so no growth spurt to count on! sigh. I am going to have to start counting calories for him or just feeding him fewer tubes of food per meal and try to watch him closely I guess. Our God is a big and awesome God. He will show us what to do and how to do it. He always does. Blessings! And I still think she looks just amazing!

  3. Yay Ruby! Can't tell you how much Ruby's story has blessed me!! Seven years ago we took in our own little Ruby (although not nearly as extreme) Part deaf and on the brink of starvation. She is now our precious daughter. More recently we have said yes to an additional foster placement, an infant with a fractured skull, seizures, and blindness. Amazing how God changes our hearts from "have to"…to "can't wait to!" What an honor and joy it is to serve God through the care of these little ones! Continuing to share Ruby's story & your blog with those that I meet…that they too might see the gift in serving God in whatever way He leads. ~ Jen

    1. I love your heart Jen. And truly, there is such joy in these medically fragile treasures, isn't there? I couldn't imagine my life without Ruby. She's fill my heart to overflowing!

  4. I was just thinking how wonderfully round her limbs look these days! I bet when she actually gets that crawl she will fine down a little – watch out, world!

    1. I know!! We keep praying that she will crawl – but she is slow in wanting to these days. Pray with us that she will have the "want to"…she did, but for the moment, she's holding out…maybe she wants a larger allowance? haha.

    1. I know!! I love her sweet legs. When I show people my thumb against her thighs, and say, "My husband's thumb was the same size as her thigh when Emma found her…" people gasp. Yes, those legs are amazing!

  5. She's TOO chunky?!?! Can we rejoice at that? What a difference! Thanks for sharing your family life with us. I can't wait to see how God continues to show His miracles through Miss Ruby! (And tell Ruby it's still ok to eat icecream for breakfast every once in a while!)

    1. Truthfully I came home and cried. I was feeling so "work so hard to get her to gain and now it's too much?" ugh. Dw reassured me that it will all be okay…but it was hard to hear that now she's "too" big and she was concerned. ugh.

  6. I've been reading your blog for over a year and finally stopped being a lurker on your cinnamon rolls post, and just wanted to say I think you have a WONDERFUL family an you seem like such a sweet mom and I so enjoy reading about your family. I am around the same age as your Emma and my heart is also drawn to the orphan, especially in Africa, so it is great to learn about what your family does there and about Emma's move there. ! And I love love love reading the Ruby updates, so keep those coming! What great news about not needing the GI tube… She sure is a miracle girl!!

    1. Well R, so glad you popped out of lurkdom. Welcome to our Place Called Simplicity family…where we really do care about each other! Maybe one day you can go to Africa with us and serve the orphans….

  7. Hi Linny,

    You don't know me, but I have followed your blog for years now (since about the time of your house fire). I love your family and your blog! I am a single mama to two beautiful treasures home from Thailand and China. Both of my girls have cerebral palsy. They are my world!

    Anyway, this has nothing to do with your post today, but I was just on the web and came across some (dated) photos of a beautiful little girl in China who I am certain is your precious Jubilee! You may already know about the website and have the photos, but, knowing how I treasure EVERY photo I have of my girls from before they came home, I thought I would pass along the address just in case you were not aware of it.

    http://chinaorphans.org/childrenstories/teresaonline.jpg

    Thanks for all of your wonderful posts!

    Best wishes always,
    Mindi

  8. Hi Linny,

    You don't know me, but I have followed your blog for years now (since about the time of your house fire). I love your family and your blog!

    I am a single mama to two beautiful treasures home from Thailand and China. Both of my girls have cerebral palsy. They are my world!

    This has nothing to do with your current post, but I was just on the web and came across some (dated) photos of a beautiful little girl in China who I am certain is your precious Jubilee! You may already know about the site and have the photos, but, knowing how much I treasure EVERY photo of my girls from before they came home, I wanted to pass along the web address just in case you were unaware of it.

    http://chinaorphans.org/childrenstories/teresaonline.jpg

    Thanks so much for your wonderful posts!

    Best wishes always,
    Mindi

  9. We went through that with Madi too… she didn't gain weight for over a year, and then bam, about 10 pounds in a year! So glad she is gaining well!

  10. Linny-
    Do you mind sharing what Emma suggested for helping with Ruby's weight gain? Our little one is quite underweight and even though she eats very well, she just doesn't gain weight.

    1. Of course I don't mind sharing, especially in the comments. Sometimes when I share in the body of the post, it opens up to "you should do this and you should do that"…because some feel a need to pick apart each aspect of my life [haha] Anyway, Emma suggested stirring almond butter into her night feeding….

      We are really trying to stay away from chemicals and regular peanut butter has a boatload…so we mostly eat almond butter…which is just natural and just ground almonds.

      So Ruby's night feeding, as we {usually Liberty} combines: baby oatmeal cereal, dab of steel cut oats {that have soaked in the almond milk} ,ground flax seed which is so good for her brain, has great nutritional value and good for colon function =) , almond butter and almond milk to liquify it. She loves it. I am certain it is the most favorite meal of her day.

      Try it!!

  11. After seeing her before pics I just don't know how anyone can say she's too chunky for her height! She's just perfect!! I bet she's about to have a big ole growth spurt. That's how my kids do it. Eat me out of house and home, put on a little extra, and then stretch out! Sheri

    1. My heart smiled when I read your comment. Thank you for encouraging me. I came home and cried. I know she's made milestones…but some days I just feel so inadequate to know what she needs…

  12. That was the press down overflow. haha. She is a light wherever she goes. So happy she gets so many opportunities to glorify her Daddy.

    1. The Lord definitely sent you to say that. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I was feeling rather inadequate and came home and cried my eyes out. My day revolves around every need Ruby has {there are many}…and I was so excited that she had gained…and then to hear, "Well she's gained TOO much"…I'm like, "oh, my, gracious. seriously?" So thank you for affirming it from afar. She's beautiful and we definitely get an A+ for trying our best…xo

    2. Linny, I totally get the pressure a mother feels to do things exactly right, especially when one has kids with special needs or kids that have dealt with a lot of deprivation in their early years. Sometimes I feel like I need to be perfect to make up for my children's very difficult beginnings. I have one child who has to eat gluten free and one who can't have dairy. My kids have been both overweight and underweight when we adopted them. You have obviously done a fabulous job fattening Miss Ruby up and that was just what she needed. I read what you feed her for breakfast and it is fabulous! My kids eat oatmeal with almond milk for breakfast most mornings. The nutritionist obviously didn't know what a wonderful mother you are if she had any concern about Ruby. All your kids look the picture of good health. All you have to do is cut back a little bit on the things you were adding in to help Ruby gain weight. Healthy weight is a balancing act for everyone including kids with special needs and at times they are going to go over or under the recommended weight. The most important thing is not the exact numbers but a balance over time and what foods the child is being fed. A slightly underweight or overweight child will not have a problem if they are eating a healthy diet. I have also gotten lectures on good nutrition from a dentist who treated my child who had many severe cavities in China from getting candy for four years with no teeth brushing. He was a very kind dentist and was so used to giving out the healthy diet spiel that I just listened even though I had told him before he started his spiel that I had a degree in nutrition and wasn't giving my kids soda or other sugary drinks. I think you get an A+++ for Ruby!

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