Yes, I'm actually updating!

Believe it or not, I didn't forget about my blog!  Truth is I kept wanting to update, but there was always so much going on that I felt I kept getting farther and farther behind and I would have so much to make up for!   I finally realized that I needed to just do it now and start fresh.  Plus, there is SO MUCH to talk about.
I guess the last time I updated was in January...really, January?  Yikes!  They should have some blogging rule that if you don't update often enough they shut you down!  I signed into my account today and I wanted to change my background and stuff.  In the midst of that, somehow, I think I deleted my followers??  I don't know if I did, but I can't find who's following me....not that there was a lot, but I didn't want anyone thinking that I had done that on purpose!
Wow, let's try to go back to January...We celebrated Daniel's birthday on the 17 of January with a bowling party.  He'd been asking for a bowling birthday party for weeks, maybe months, so we were so thrilled to have that for him.  He had a blast, although I remember him having an aweful cough/cold.

He's about the cutest 4 year old bowler I've ever seen!

Here he is with his best buds Carson and Austin

Cake time! I don't mess around with trying to be creative with cakes...too much pressure, so I let the store do it for me :-)   This year it was a Madagascar theme.



The day after Daniel's birthday, Mitch and I took a trip to Reno to visit a fertility specialist.  We had been trying for 2.5 years to have our second child and thought that maybe it was time to go to the specialist.  Well, one month after going to the fertility specialist we found out WE ARE PREGNANT!!  It took a while for it all to sink in and accept that, yes, we were actually pregnant.  I had forgotten what it felt like to be pregnant.  It had been almost 5 years afterall!  Well, the beginning of the pregnancy was totally different than when I was pregnant with Daniel.  I was nauseaus all the time in the beginning.  I mean, I didn't want to eat anything!  Pancakes seemed to be my saving grace in the beginning.  We kept the pregnancy quiet for the first trimester because we just wanted to be safe and make sure this baby "sticks"!  Just today I was looking through my profile belly pictures and can't believe how much I have grown! 

 March 28, 2011 ---12 weeks

 April 17, 2011 --- 15 weeks

April 29, 2011 --- 17.5 weeks

 June 26, 2011 --- 25 weeks

Those are all of my belly pictures so far.  As you can tell, I forget to take them and before you know it, a good 10 weeks goes by and I haven't taken any!

Another reason that I wanted to get back to my blogging and making sure I update is because we've had life changing things happening in the last couple weeks. 

On June 29, Mitch and I went to Reno on what we thought was going to be a fun trip that included an appt. with a fetal imaging specialist to get "better measurements" on the baby's head...well, we were in for quite the shocker.   We got to the dr. and when the woman took us to the room we were having our ultrasound said, "ok, we're going to see what's wrong today"...um, excuse me?!  What's wrong?!  From that moment on we knew that this wasn't going to be a fun appt.  The specialist doing the ultrasound told us that women don't get referred to this clinic w/o there being some type of problem/concern.  We were scared.  We just couldn't believe that there could possibly be something wrong with our child that we've waited so long for.  They proceeded to tell us the life-changing news.  Our baby boy has Spina Bifida.  At the time, we of course had heard of that term before, but had NO CLUE what it was.  It's one of those things that you don't research for fun.  So, beyond being blindsided and overwhelmed, we were trying to think of any possible questions to ask.  The dr. took us to her office and sat us down and asked us "Do you prefer San Francisco or Salt Lake"...and in my mind I was thinking "this must be really serious, we can't even get care in our home state".  Not having a clue where to go, we just told the dr. that we didn't care, we just wanted the best care. So, here is the type of Spina Bifida that he has:  myelomeningocele.  Myelomeningocele is the most common type of spina bifida. It is a neural tube defect where the bones of the spine do not completely form, resulting in an incomplete spinal canal. This causes the spinal cord and meninges (the tissues covering the spinal cord) to stick out of the child's back.  So, basically he has a "sack" coming out of the bottom of his back with spinal cord/fluid that isn't covered by skin.  Also, this results in the circulation of the spinal fluid to be poor and often causes excess fluid on the brain.  The normal amount in the area we are concerned about is 0-10mm, and he has (as of 6/27) is 11-12.  So, he is right out of the normal range, but not in the normal range.   This form of spina bifida has many side affects also that we are concerned about.  His "lesion" or opening is around L4-L5, which is good from what we are told.  The lower down the spine the better and less chance for brain damage and more physical damage than there is now.  The dr. told us that his prognosis is good.  The nurse told me that he'll probably have to walk with braces or with a little walker when he first learns how to walk.  But, no one can be sure until little man gets here.

So, here's the plan.  We are being referred to University of California San Francisco Medical Center (UCSF).   We are actually going there this coming Sunday (July 17) for our appt on Monday (July 18).  We will meet with the prenatal neurosurgeon who will answer a lot of our unanswered questions.  We will also meet with the neotagolist.  We will be touring the NICU and meeting the staff there to get more comfortable.  So far we know that I will be delivering by c-section 2-3 weeks early than my original due date (Oct. 10), so that puts us in San Fran the last 2 weeks of September.  24-48 hours after delivery, little man will have his closure surgery.  From there, he will be monitered for hydrocephalus (excess fluid on the brain).  If that happens he will need to get a shunt put in to relieve that.  The dr. in Reno said to plan on being in San Fran for up to a month after delivery, all depending on how he does and how his recovery is going.

So, now we are in a stand still.  Trying to be patient.  Waiting on the Lord.  Trusting in His promises and trying to be faithful to Him.  Like Daniel told me the other day "Pappy told me that Jesus is better than doctors", trusting in God to get us through this time.  God has so many lessons to teach us through this.  So far I have learned that no matter what happens in my life, I have to be thankful, in every circumstance, praising God for His blessings and His love for us.  This baby is such a blessing to us and I feel like we know  him already.  Trust me, my optimism fades from time to time.  The first week after finding out, I couldn't sleep very well and would just wake up early, emotional, and feeling hopeless.  The more time that goes by, the more I seek God, I feel more at peace and more hopeful each day.  It's just such a shocker to hear news like that!  There are several scriptures that I have been leaning on and meditating on for comfort and strength:  Proverbs 3:5,6 ;  James 1:2-6 ; Psalm 18, 30-32; Matthew 6:25-35 

There are so many things to worry about right now, the health of the baby, my health, finances, Daniel, etc. etc.  But, I know that the Lord is in control and that His ways are perfect.  Why worry?   (easier said than done!).   Please keep us in your prayers during the next couple months and then after delivery for the baby.  We need all the prayers we can get!  I'll be sure to update the blog as I know I wouldn't want to be left hanging either!

I thought before I sign off, I'd post some pics of the last few months highlights....enjoy!

 My Nana, Mom and Me - 3 generations

 Daniel on Easter, can you say handsome?!

 He gives the best looks.  He's proud of his Easter egg.

 AWANA awards ceremony - Daniel's first year of Cubbies completed!  God is good!

 Daniel's preschool graduation - with his teachers

This is what happens when you let Daniel pick out his jammies!

That's what's been going on in our life in the past few months.  Like I said, I will be updating this a lot more frequently, hopefully weekly.  Hopefully you were able to read all of this, I just realized how long this got!!