5K

So this is Andy posting...

After making my way back to earth from the hardest few days of my entire life, I realized i had a 5K Race for the Cure Saturday, Sept 27. I was very undertrained both physically and mentally, but there was NO WAY i wasn't going to run that morning. So i met my team runners (the ladies from Designvox) and put up my best time ever! Honestly with all the craziness going on in my head it was a very emotional and meaningful run. But no joke, I was physically done 3 minutes in, but kept going though. Seems like a timely metaphor for whats to come. :)

THE PRAYERS ARE WORKING!

Andy and I found out yesterday, through a friend of his mom's, that there is another couple in our EXACT situation. They are around our age, pregnant with their first baby (a boy), and they were just recently told that their son has spina bifida. The real kicker is that they live on the street directly behind us and just a few houses down! If I were to go in my backyard right now, I could probably see their house! They will be coming over sometime this week so we can all get a chance to know each other and support each other with all of these tough decisions that are needing to be made (ex. finding the right surgeons and doctors to take care of our little ones once they are here.) OH, and I forgot to mention that they are due 2 weeks before us!! I am not in any way happy that they are going through the same thing that we are, but I can honestly say that I feel God at work, bringing the 4 (ok, 6) of us together in this way. :) We just wanted to let you all know that your prayers are greatly appreciated and definatley being felt. We love you all.

IT'S A NEW DAY!

I have to say that today was 100% beter than the last 2! I have started doing some research and have decided that instead of looking at all of the things that "might" be wrong with our little guy, I'm going to focus on researching other parents whose children have SB and how adults cope with it. So far everything I have found is amazing! Every single parent that i have "met" online has said the same thing...that their child is a blessing. This makes me even more eager to meet our little blessing. :) We know that there will be challenges along the way, but we also know that whatever comes up, we can handle it. I have met one women in paticular who has a three year old daughter with SB and she has been such an encouragement. She has answered so many of my questions, and knows exactly where we are. It also helps that my mom, sister, and I all went shopping and picked out some pretty adorable stuff for the little man, funny how shopping can do that! :) I hope that this post finds you all well, and we will continue to update you all. Thanks so much for all of your prayers, they mean the world to us!

IT'S A BOY!

So we went for an ultrasound on Wed. and got the best news of our lives...WE'RE HAVING A SON!!! Followed somewhat quickly with the worst news of our lives...out little boy has spina bifida. Even writing it now it is somewhat hard to believe. So many questions that have no answers. The one thing that we do know is that THIS is our son. The baby that God intended for us to have. No matter what obsticles come up, we will love him always. We saw a maternal fetal medicine specialist this morning and learned a little more about what exactly it is that our little guy has. He has an opening in his spine at the L2 vertebrae. I still don't even know how to say that. This means that the nerves are growing on the outside of his spine and will need to be surgically put back into place within 24 hours of being born. He will most likely be able to walk with the aide of tall leg braces and crutches but may choose to use a wheelchair, I hear that little boys like to go fast! :) His feet and legs are straight which is a great sign. He has excess fluid on the brain, which all babies of spina bifida have, and may or may not need a shunt put in once his is born. As for now, that is all we know. We will be meeting with a pediatric neurosurgeon next Friday to find out exactly what will happen once he is born and to find out what other physical limitations he may have. We know that together, with God, our families, and our friends we WILL get through this. We are still so excited to be having a little baby boy and cannot wait to meet him and hold him in our arms.