thankful for my mom

As a teenager, my mom was not my favorite person.  We clashed - big time.  College and beyond I was still working on finding and embracing MY identity.  I was not often seeking her opinion or approval.  In the early years of my marriage, my husband often played the role of peacemaker.  He helped me try to see the situation through her eyes.

And then...I had kids.  And then and forever, my opinion of my mom changed.

My mom raised my brother and I across the world from her family.  Growing up with a military dad also meant she raised us as a single parent for a good portion of the time.  I can barely handle one dinner without my husband's presence.  I have so much more respect for how she handled six months without my dad.

Every day I am a mom, I grow to appreciate her more.  I am thankful for her love through the years.  I am so grateful for the gift of faith that she passed on to me (especially while the rest of her family had given up their faith).  I am thankful for her sacrifices, her devotion...the blood, sweat and tears she poured out for us.  Most of all, I am thankful to have her in my life today and for our now wonderful relationship.  She is a great mom and a great mimi. Thanks for everything...love you mom.

Tulips at the beautiful Longwood Gardens

My mama

Thank goodness for the children's gardens

the invites are waiting to go out

This weekend we took a photographer with us to the museum to get some family pictures and some Catie pictures.  I was so excited I ordered invitations the same night as well as two family canvas pictures (it was bogo at easycanvasprints). 

Augie & Catie were a bit miserable, so I am really blessed we got some good ones.  Our favorite one, we were tying to keep the babies from screaming and were just throwing sticks in the stream.  Our photographer got us from across the stream.  I wrote the post and am dying to share that one!  A few more weeks and you can see our full family picture.

Six weeks, to be exact.  Six weeks until the adoption, baptism, party and pictures!

Why We Need Kid's at Mass

I just read an excellent article in the latest National Catholic Register. Why We Need Kid's at Mass. I am going to ask my pastor to consider publishing it in our bulletin.

And, for a tear jerker, check out Priest Ordained Early to Fulfill Father's  Wish.  I still get choked up thinking about the extra-ordinary circumstances of that story.  

Infertility Support, free webinar

Ave Maria Press is hosting a free webinar for those who may be interested in helping their parish or Diocese offer support for couples struggling with infertility. 

today in pictures

Picking itty bitty flowers for mama

Doing whatever his big sister does...but he sure is cute

Sneak Peak

German Chocolate Cupcakes for our beloved uncle kiki

my new neice

Congratulations to my brother and his wife as they welcome their 2nd child and my first niece, baby Taylor June!  

Mom holding grandbaby #5!

Welcome baby Taylor!

we have a date!

God has sent his love to me in a big way today.  *tearing as I write*

In addition to the most.beautiful.day.ever...today I received an adoption date!!  April 25th Catie will become officially and forever ours!!  (and then I can share pictures :)

20/20 Williams Syndrome Special

part 1:
Where Everybody Wants to Be Your Friend | Video - ABC News

part 2:
Sunny Personalities, Serious Consequences | Video - ABC News

diagnosed

Today my son was clinically diagnosed with Williams Syndrome.

A few weeks ago my brother, a medical student, mentioned that Augie had textbook characteristics.  I looked it up and was surprised.  Not only by the facial features, but the personality traits.  Primarily speech delays and super friendly, even to strangers.

From early on there have been things going on.  A mother's instinct, you could say.  The first month he was in our care we were at his Pediatrician four separate times.  Dx: bronchiolitis and pre-asthmatic.  He had these mini, mild (never-quite-diagnosed-as) seizures. Even today, I am not sure they were seizures...possibly temperature sensitivity (he wakes up cold and it takes him longer than usual to warm up, he is usually shivering during this time).  His forehead also had an unusual attraction to concrete.

If you look closely at this picture, it has been Photoshopped...along with many others, to attempt to conceal the bruisey head in otherwise cute pictures.  

We first met with a pediatric neurologist around his first birthday.  One tight heel cord led to two MRIs which led to two diagnoses: 1. Possible Tethered Cord (this is a mild form of Spina Bifida....I think this was a 'CYA' dx on the part of the radiologist, I don't think he has this, but it will be monitored over time).  2. Chiari 1 Malformation (an incidental finding that we are blessed to know in the event of future problems). 

Oh yeah...and as I mentioned before, speech delays.  He was in weekly OT from 6-18 months old at which point he qualified out.

So, in a nutshell, we have been hot on the trail of whatever THIS was for a while now.  The conversation with my brother was not a shocker.  It will take about two weeks for a confirmation by way of the genetic test.  But, as soon as we stepped into the geneticist's office, he was throwing out all these words and quickly confirmed the clinical diagnosis.

So, tonight, I read.  I research.  And the reality starts to sink in.

In my reading words like "mental retardation" and "adult day homes" stand out.  As do "shorter life expectancy" and "lack of social boundaries".  I am encouraged that he is highly functioning.  As a whole, he is doing so well.  He is a beautiful, amazing, sweet little boy.  He is my heart.  Tonight my heart hurts a little as I attempt to process what this means for his future.  He has a 50% chance of passing this on to his children (though many WS adults don't have the ability for lasting relationships).  That is one of a long list of what may lay ahead for an adult with WS.

So many random things are running through my head.
- I am grateful for the show Parenthood and processing the idea of life with a a special needs child.
- God intended us to be parents to special needs kids, before we even met Catie.
- I am glad I enrolled Rosie in pre-K to have some time to focus on the needs (and OT appointments) for the babies this upcoming year.
- I am grateful for a Catholic special needs school very near by, and that adoption subsidies would likely cover any cost involved.   

I am sad.  I want to cry.  This will impact our future...and certainly, obviously his.  I know there is undiscovered joy and greater meaning that will be revealed over time.  For now...we are processing.

Women's Health Care?

I first visited a gynecologist when I was a teenager.  I was having severe menstrual cramps.  The kind of severe that made me spend my senior prom in the ER.  Consequently, that gynecologist "solved" all of "our" problems by placing me on the birth control pill.  This was my first encounter with women's health care.  It is pretty consistent with the quality of health care most woman receive today.

If you have a problem..."Have WE got a pill for YOU!"

The birth control pill...otherwise known as the biggest band-aid known to woman kind.  The only problem, this band-aid causes cancer, strokes, infertility, and spontaneous abortion.

As a teen, I was put on the pill and instructed to take it without the water pills, thereby eliminating my period for two years...until I encountered a woman, a mentor, who urged me to discontinue immediately.  Praise God for her.  According to a Mayo clinic study " any young girl or woman who is on hormonal birth control for 4 years prior to their first full term pregnancy increases their breast cancer risk by 52%."  See
Jenn Grioux, Deadly Risks of the Pill.  

Years later, when my husband and I were dealing with infertility, we knew enough to avoid the band-aid approach.  We didn't want to just get pregnant, we wanted to restore my health.  IVF is the big fat "band-aid" of reproductive medicine.  And it is just about as safe as the Pill (read: sarcasm).

We were so lucky to break free from the traditional course of ineffective woman's health care and discover True Woman's Health Care...also known as FertilityCare.   Suddenly, there was a wealth of information.  My charts were telling the doctors there was something wrong.  My blood work revealed the same.  Ironically, so many women are told they are fine, but if they can't conceive, try IVF.  #1. They are not fine.  #2. IVF does nothing to correct the problems doctors are too lazy to find.

NaPro Technology offered me a "Disease Based Approach to Infertility."  I was treated for my problems.  My endometriosis was removed properly and my hormones were regulated (not bypassed).  For the first time my doctors treated me as a person, a whole person.  They treated me with dignity and nothing I was asked to do was outside of my moral beliefs.

I was so impressed that I became a Fertility Care Practitioner to share the information with others.  I look at Dr Hilgers Medical Textbook frequently and am so tempted to bop Ob/Gyns on the head with it.  Until NaPro Technology is taught as a standard in Med Schools, I will continue to refer women to drive however far it takes for authentic women's health care. 

Consequently, my NaPro treatment led to the miracle conception of my daughter...though NaPro success goes so far beyond conception.  I have worked with woman who have resolved all sorts of medical issues their local doctors would not treat or acknowledge.

This is a Blog Hop!  To share how Fertility Care has impacted your life or marriage, go to Blessed and Broken and add your story to the Hop.