SIX MONTHS OLD!

Wow! Looking back from the very beginning of our journey up to this point, has again, been nothing short of a miracle. On Heather’s sixth day of life, we received the devastating news that changed our lives forever. Our doctors sat us down to tell us her prognosis of Complete Trisomy 22......and the average life expectancy was four days of life......but again, she was SIX days old! 

Yesterday, July 1st, 2013, was our daughter’s six month birthday! What an amazing milestone for our perfect & precious daughter. I never knew this kind of love existed. Yes, I am madly, 100%, over the moon, head over heels, in love with the most amazing man in the entire world and seem to just fall more and more in love with him every single day. However, the love of being a parent, a mother, is a much different love. It is so unbelievably unconditional and is a bond that can never be broken. A mother! I was blessed by God to be Heather’s Mommy! It’s such a humbling feeling, and I still think, “Wow, God chose Thomas & me to be her parents”. How did we get so lucky, really how? She has been the most amazing gift we have ever received and has taught us more than we ever could have imagined. I feel like I’m learning all over again, only with a different set of eyes, and in the way I want to learn.  A way of learning that is so much more through the eyes of God. 

Our daughter at six days old was given an “end of life” expectation. Maybe days, maybe a week. That’s what the doctors gave to us. The first several weeks in the hospital were the most terrifying days I have ever lived. I was not capable of knowing anything else around me, could barely communicate properly or effectively, and cried non stop every day. Those days were rough. Hmmm....rough? No, those days were heart wrenching & I was terrified to walk out of her room thinking, “What if she’s not here when I get back.” Thomas and I were zombies. I didn’t care how anyone else felt, what people said, or anything about anyone. I only cared about my daughter and for her survival. 

We were beyond blessed to have so many amazing people in our life to truly be there for us. God had blessed us with true genuine God-sent people to be there for us emotionally, those who knew what was the perfect thing to say, those who took every life stress off our shoulders, and those who showered us with positive, uplifting, and encouraging prayers and words of affirmation. Those words, above everything else, were exactly what we needed. Although we said, “Please don’t contact us for the time being”, those who knew us well KNEW we needed to be contacted and loved through emails, texts, voicemails, and loving words to keep us uplifted! It’s amazing when you say “No, we don’t need this,” and all the right people come stampeding in so delicately to love us the way we needed to be loved. 

February 1st, 2013, Heather turned ONE MONTH OLD! Doctors were shocked! Jaws were dropped! They stood close to our sides and fought every moment of everyday for our girl. Do we love our hospital family? No, we are in love with our hospital family. God worked through their hands to save our daughter! Yes, SAVE!!!!

Heather’s two month birthday came.....than three month....than at three months and five days we went HOME for the very first time! Four months, five months, and now at half a year of life, here is our girl! On July 10th, we will have been home for the exact amount of time as we were in the hospital! Another amazing milestone! Heather is home, she’s happy, she’s GROWING, she’s THRIVING, she’s smiling, she’s cooing, she’s on all breast milk, and most of all, she’s ours! No, I take that back....she is God’s! I prayed and  prayed on my knees, that if God let us keep her we would be the very best parents. I prayed that He let us TRY! I prayed that God would instill in Thomas and me strength, wisdom, and encourage us. We need encouragement to know how to advocate and say “NO” when needed & “YES” for our daughter’s well being. I prayed that good people would come into our life to encourage us and teach us the best ways on how to care for our daughter. That’s when we met, Marlena, with March of Dimes. Marlena, had another miracle story with her daughter, and she gave us her play by play on their version of their “normal life”. Wow! It was some of the most helpful and useful advice we had been given. The prayers continued to be answered and God continued to bless our beautiful family of three! 

SIX MONTHS OLD! SIX MONTHS? My heart is overflowing with joy! There is no one anywhere that could steal that joy from me. But why would someone steal that joy? I don’t know, but people try. Our Heather is just utterly amazing to Thomas and me every single day. She can light up our faces at the drop of a hat, make you forget all that is wrong with the world, and she has helped us focus on God being #1, your spouse being #2, and your children being #3. Everything else comes after that. That is still so very hard sometimes, but again, she has taught us the bible’s version of priorities! Six months old.....how can someone so young teach us so much? How can someone who hasn’t began to talk, or may never be able to talk speak so clearly to us? How? I don’t know, but our daughter has been the strongest walking model of Christ I have ever witnessed. She is HIS miracle! I will say that now and forever! 

In six months, our daughter proved the world wrong and God right! In six months, our daughter taught the doctors that medicine can only go so far. In six months, Thomas and I have learned everything all over again. In six months, our daughter has made believers out of non believers. In six months, she has made us happier than we ever could have imagined. In six months, she has beaten all the odds and survived! She is HIS miracle and here is to the next SIX MONTHS!