Happy New Year

We made it through the Christmas season. My parents and grandmother came to town through Christmas Eve, Lance, G and I had Christmas morning at home and then went to Lance's parents. Although it wasn't the Christmas that any of us would have envisioned a year ago, as a group I give us all gold stars in the "counting your blessings" department:) It was a very nice Christmas season.

I'm writing this with G on my lap as he is VERY excited about Baby Seren's Christmas present. As Lance's Christmas present we made a stepping stones- each from G and S. I thought this would be a great gift for the garden Lance made right after Seren was born. G's is more a free spirited interpretation, but, completely on his own, he told me Baby Seren's was going to be a butterfly. So-a butterfly it shall be. We are heading over to see Seren in a bit to get her footprints as the butterfly wings. Luckily Lance's parents are meeting us over there to give me some help with the whole "project." Should be an interesting morning!!!

Happy Holidays

We have survived Thanksgiving and the Drumstick Dash. Grayson even made the picture section of the race's homepage!! Depending on when I have seen any given person in the past month, I will have told you a different surgery date. Nothing is as easy as it seems. However, it appears that the surgery is now definitely set for January 12th. We can still get bumped the day of, but, unless that happens, the 12th should be the date. I think we have made all the necessary arrangements for Grayson etc. and I pray everything goes as planned.

Christmas is coming fast upon us, and we are hoping for a happy time as a family. This is G's first Christmas where he can really understand what is going on so we are having a good time introducing him to the Christmas story and starting ongoing family traditions with him.

This Christmas I know I have gifts that can't be put in packages and wrapped in bows. So does Lance, and so, hopefully, will Grayson. Many people have said how they enjoy holding Seren. I think I have figured out why-its because most of us never see another person who is utterly without guile. She is a true innocent. Maybe that's the lesson she was sent here to show all of us.

I'm not a crier. Never have been. However, as long as I can remember, I have cried at the sound of a children's choir singing. Those little hopeful voices always got me all choked up. The other Sunday at church when the Angel Choir sang I finally realized why--its the sound of all those miracles in one place. Every voice you hear is a multitude of miracles. Like Seren's, there are also voices that are silent. There are people who communiate in other ways. They might take more effort to understand, but, in the end the messages are worthwhile. I hope we all can stop and listen to the quiet this holiday season. Merry Christmas.

xo,

Jennifer

Its a go!

Seren has hit the seven month mark. I didn't mark the occasion because we had a very busy week last week. Most importantly, Seren had her appointment with the ped. surgeon and he's approved the G-tube surgery. This procedure places her feeding tube into her stomach instead of having to have it through her nose. It seems like the nose tube might irritate her a bit so inserting the tube directly into her stomach will be a more comfortable long-term solution. Yesterday she had an upper GI, and, while the initial report didn't seem to show anything we don't have the full report yet. However, as of right now it seems like the sugery will be a simple laproscopic G-tube insertion.

The sugery SHOULD be scheduled by now but I haven't received a call from UNC yet. Seren will be kept overnight at UNC for the procedure so we need to go ahead and get this scheduled in order to make any necessary arrangements.

We are registered for the 5k in Roanoke on Thanksgiving Day. Hope to see some people there! Happy Holidays.

Running and Running

Its the beginning of yet another month so I'll be collecting miles! One friend completed the NYC Marathon and one the Raleigh half marathon so that was a really big deal runningwise. I think I have suckered Lance and my nieces into running in the Roanoke Drumstick Dash with me on Thanksgiving morning. I've been getting lots of miles from friends from home so I thought I would tell anyone in Roanoke that would be interested in joining us that the signup info is here www.rescuemission.net//category/drumstick_dash/ (I can't get that be a live link so you'll have to cut and paste).

Seren's appointment for the G-tube consultation is next week. Other than that things remain the same. Her latest ear infection seems to be clearing up and we are getting close to a seven month birthday. More updates soon.

Catching Up

So I've done a terrible job keeping up with the blog. Life has been catching up with me and now I've gotten myself into a situation not unlike when you don't call your friend for a while and you know the call is going to last three hours so you keep putting it off. The pictures above are a few months old and long overdue. These are pictures of Seren in her class. She was pushing the easy button to make the machine react. She was also reaching out to touch a mylar pompom. (Thanks Diane for sending these to me!)

Seren hasn't really made any further progress in reacting to the world but she has definitely made a lot more progress in seeming more comfortable. Its seems she had the dreaded flux (my nickname for reflux) so some medicine and a formula change have really helped her out. Her seizures are much improved. We are starting to figure out what other things she needs to make her comfortable and I think progress has been great on that front. Its much easier to sleep at night knowing she is comfortable and content.

Since last month, Seren has, of course, turned six months old. A huge milestone. She is weighing in at 9 lbs, 13 ounces and is doing generally well. She is ready to be upgraded to the next size hair bows:) However, her big news is that she will likely be getting a feeding tube inserted in her abdomen soon! This will get that wretched tube out of her nose and hopefully make her more comfortable.

This morning we took her to a cardiologist who did another echo cardiogram- everything is still pretty much the same but right now her body is compensating for the defects in her heart. I think that is pretty amazing. SO-after getting general clearance to go under the anesthesia necessary for the surgery we now have a consult with the Dr. who will do the surgery. I anticipate that it will happen pretty quickly once the decision is made but then what do I know?

I've always been a date oriented person so the six month birthday hit me pretty hard. I don't have anything profound to say about it in our individual situation. It takes a while to adjust to what your life looks like and I think we might be getting there. We have realized with absolute wonder people's capacity to be greater than you could ever expect. In honor of Seren's six month birthday-to everyone who has touched us in such an amazing way-thank you is not enough but at the moment it is all I can offer. Thank you for truly caring about us and letting us know. On difficult days we remember our dear dear friends as well as the people who knew us only a little bit, or even not at all, who have prayed for us, brought us dinner, sent us notes, sent baby S gifts, let us stay at their house, watched G for us to go to doctors appointments or on a date, met, held, cried and prayed over Seren and cut us such slack for not being the people we used to be as we find our new footing-as well as the amazing wonderful special people who care for Seren so so so very well-- you are the people who remind us of what is good and worth trying for and what gets us through the day.

Somebody told me that Seren would bring out the best in us. It gave me something to strive for--at the moment though I do know that Seren has shown her parents the best in other people. Thank you.

Oh and I almost forgot the miles-We have gotten 612 more miles!!! One bible study group contributed over 100 and the lead up to the New York Marathon is also helping out in a major way (nooo its not me running in it)! She's had three people run in half marathons for her and lots and lots of other contributors-People from high school and college who have made the effort have really touched my heart. It makes my day to hear from someone from my past who thought of Seren that day. I'll be collecting again in a few weeks!

Five Months Old Today

Today is Seren's five month "birthday." The time has really gone by terribly fast. Five months is where I start to really remember G as a "person," when his personality really started to come out and I got to really know him. Its tough not getting to do that with Seren. Its tough to see that she isn't past a newborn stage of development to see a personality shine through. Its difficult to watch days pass and milestones pass her by.

I'm glad Seren is well-cared for and comfortable. I'm glad a place exists where she can receive the necessary medical care and where I can rest easy that Seren, as well as every other child, is loved, appreciated, and taught to thrive in their own individual capacity. Her community is larger than one I could give her, and I know she benefits from all that care. I love how each nurse has their own individual special interest-one delights when she turns her head, one when she pushes a button or reaches an arm, one when she takes a paci-its a special thing to see a group of people, who care so much for her, working with her in various ways. I know it will aid in her development to have so many people working with her in so many different areas. I am grateful to them beyond measure or words. It has taken a lot of people, a lot of work and a lot of love to get us all to this five months point. Even though its a very short period of time, five months is much longer than the doctors told us to expect and quite an achievement. So congratulations Little S! We love you. xoxo, mom

P.S. We have also hit the 500 mile mark just in time for Seren's five month birthday! We are at 513.3 miles-Thank you!!!

Five Days Until Five Months Old

In just five days Seren will hit the big five months-hard to believe it. Here's a current photo-taken this morning while G was in "school." The weather was humid so her hair wasn't cooperating with us but we tried to tame it a bit! S and I hung out and watched thirtysomething on my ipod...she thought the characters were too self involved so she went to sleep. :)

Her seizures are better. Her tummy is better. Nothing is perfect but both have improved. The antibiotics seem to have worked on the infection. She still has a bit of a cough (which is a difficult thing to do with a feeding tube in place). She's about 9 and a half pounds, so she's very tiny for a five month old.

Developmentally she is still just as she was as a newborn so I don't have much to report. I can't brag about her sitting up or rolling over or eating solid foods so instead I'll brag about how much everyone loves her, how well her nurses take care of her and how she is clearly one tough cookie. Seren's five months have been eventful. Her small victories are larger than our large ones. She puts the world in perspective for almost everyone who meets her. She can't see or smile or even drink out of a bottle, but she has a huge impact on everyone who knows her. Not bad work for a five month old.