What A Week!

What a week it has been.  Born on Monday, brain surgery on Wednesday and discharged on Friday!! That's right.....Christi and Aly are out of the hospital! I cannot imagine having a fuller week than this past week.  So glad to have my whole family home in West Monroe.

Breakin' my girls out of the hospital!

Doing Great...

She is out of surgery and doing great.  Dr. Whitehead said she did great, responded well to anesthesia and the surgery.  They did a CT scan immediately following surgery and everything was clear and looked normal.

We could not have asked for better results. Christi was actually able to nurse her soon after recovery! 

Both Christi and I had so much peace throughout the day today. God is good!  He has been our comfort in our time of need and has made a way when there was no way.  

Many times people have chosen to abort and end the life of a child who gets a diagnosis like our little girl did.  It was never an option for us.  This is God's child and not ours. He has sovereign control over all things. 

More posts to come on the progress and the details.  

Here is a detail you may not know: Christi Michelle is one tough lady. 

my sweet girls

Our little "texan"

She Is Here! Now to the Surgery...

She is here! Born on 10/13/2014 and weighed 7lbs. 1oz.

Christi is doing absolutely incredible recuperating from having the c-section and has been able to nurse and get plenty (but not near enough :)) of loving on Aly.  She was even able to nurse her and hold her on the OR table while they were finishing up the c-section......very cool and unexpected. Many other details and things that we could say that were big blessings for us.

Aly is doing great.  She is just sitting in her little bed in the NICU awaiting surgery.

She will have surgery tomorrow 10/15 @ 8:00am to remove the meningocele. Will update more after the surgery.  Apologize for the briefness and lack of details.....hopefully more next time.

Thank you for the continued prayers and encouragement. 

-Michael

Moving the Moving Date

You read the title correctly, the moving date has moved.  

Christi had regular contractions all morning and called the doctor's office around 10:30 in the a.m. Wednesday, the 17th.  The contractions continued in regular 5-10 min intervals. Dr. Lebleu wanted her to take some benedryl, rest and if they did not slow down then to call back.

At 4:30  she was still having contractions and at that time Dr. Lebleu wanted her to come to the hospital. So they gave Christi what I call a "knock out concoction" of stadol and phenergan; she was slurring words and slurring texts (so if you got a random text Wednesday evening.....it should all be making sense to you now).

They kept her overnight to watch the contractions and make sure that she did not progress into labor.  On Thursday morning Dr. Lebleu came and advised us to get on down to Houston......so that's what we are doing.

Christi has been in packing mode getting everything together for her and the boys to go down.  Nothing like packing in 3 days to be gone for the next month to two months.  On a positive note, it's like ripping off a band-aid, the quicker you snatch it off, the quicker you can just move on.

The contractions have slowed down and Christi is on "take it easy" orders.  A whole lot of water and couch sitting.

We are leaving for Houston this Sunday, September 21st.  Christi, the boys and my sister will stay in Houston. 

Waiting, waiting, waiting...

That’s what we are doing. This is Jennifer, Michael’s sister, Christi’s sister-in-love, and aunt to their three boys and soon to be baby girl. They have asked me to write a post for the blog and the word “Wait” has been a reoccurring theme for me since I first heard of Aly’s diagnosis. In this experience each member of our family has all been called to wait. As extended family members we wait for news, we wait for answers, we wait for plans, schedules, potential outcomes, prayer needs, something, anything that we can DO or HELP with. Oh my goodness what a job to ask someone to do! It’s so simple really, but our humanness just can’t fathom not being able to DO something about what is wrong in our lives. I know that as we go through this process that we as a family will be the front lines of support for Christi and Michael as Aly is born and the process that will follow. But for now God has told us to simply rest in Him and wait.

Why is waiting so hard for humans? A definition of the word wait is “to remain stationary in readiness or expectation.” The Bible says those that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint. (Isaiah 40:31) It’s not easy to see how the Lord is preparing us and resting us during this time of waiting. We have struggled with feelings of helplessness and simply not knowing what to do. The story of Naaman in 2 Kings 5:10-13 has really struck home with me as I have struggled with this idea of waiting.

¹⁰ Elisha sent a messenger out to him with this message: “Go and wash yourself seven times in the Jordan River. Then your skin will be restored, and you will be healed of your leprosy.” ¹¹ But Naaman became angry and stalked away. “I thought he would certainly come out to meet me!” he said. “I expected him to wave his hand over the leprosy and call on the name of the Lord his God and heal me! ¹² Aren’t the rivers of Damascus, the Abana and the Pharpar, better than any of the rivers of Israel? Why shouldn’t I wash in them and be healed?” So Naaman turned and went away in a rage.¹³ But his officers tried to reason with him and said, “Sir, if the prophet had told you to do something very difficult, wouldn’t you have done it? So you should certainly obey him when he says simply, ‘Go and wash and be cured!’”

We haven’t been told to do anything very difficult, just to wait on God’s plan. But just like Naaman how much more willing we would be if it was something very difficult or supernatural that God wanted us to do. Something so simple like waiting on God can frustrate us. We have all been on our knees over and over before God and will continue to do so, but is that ALL? And for right now the answer is yes. Wait on God. 

What blessings have come to our family when we have simply stepped back and let God do His work in us and in Aly. The blessings and the healing that Aly has already received have been amazing. God has great plans for Aly. Wonderful friends, family and even complete strangers have stepped up to help Christi and Michael through this time of need. I am so overwhelmed by the generosity I have seen. People wearing the Strong Like Aly t-shirts, donating money, and even providing a home so that Christi, the boys and my mom can live while in Houston. These actions have touched our hearts and mean so much, but may not have come to be if we had rushed forward without thought to God’s plan for Aly and her family.

So for now thank you for supporting us as we wait. Thank you for encouraging and loving Christi, Michael and the boys as they walk this road. It means so much as those of you who have been called to act have done so. We happily anticipate the day of Aly’s arrival and will be ready and rested to face this battle with our sweet Aly because of our willingness to do what God has called us to do right now. WAIT.

If you would like to help Michael and Christi financially, an account has been set up at Community Trust Bank for medical expenses. You can go to any branch and make a deposit into the account under the name “Strong Like Aly.” And if you want a t-shirt, those are still available so feel free to contact Jennifer Socha Lowery on Facebook to order yours.

What makes the wait sweeter is getting to see precious baby Aly’s pictures from time to time. So I leave you with this sweet smile.

 

Save the Date

Everybody has a Plan until they get Punched in the Face

Life has a way of punching you in the face at times and this previous trip to Texas Children's proved to be one of those times.

We had three appointments and a tour setup for August 26th: First we saw Dr. Ivey, the OB who will be delivering Aly. Second we had a genetics consultation, where we learned about genetics testing. Third we had a growth ultrasound.  Lastly we had a tour of Texas Children's to get a feel for where the NICU was located and where Christi would be after the c-section.

During the genetics consultation, Samantha, the genetics counselor, asked if we had any relatives that are Jewish.....without missing a beat, Christi said, "Jesus!".  Some good stuff right there.

The growth ultrasound was where we received our less than great news.  Aly has either some mild hemorrhaging or some "twisting" on one of her ovaries.  The radiologist seemed like this was not a big deal and that they would be able to evaluate this after birth.

Then the radiologist checked the meningocele on the back of Aly's head and noticed some tissue inside of the sac.  We were concerned because from our previous appointments the MRI concluded that there was no brain tissue in the sac.  We were not really prepared for news like this.  Needless to say, it made for a gloomy rest of the day and drive home.

 The staff is so awesome down there.  We told the nurse who was giving us our tour about the news we received and that we were unsure of the plans we made with the neurosurgeon.  She was able to get our concerns and the details from the ultrasound over to the neurosurgeon so he could review and give us some feedback.  He looked at the ultrasound results and said the tissue seen on the ultrasound was a small amount that was not significant and that we would stick to the original plan.

It was very encouraging news to receive the next day.  The title of this post is from the ever famous boxer Mike Tyson.  It is true in boxing and true in life, we all have a plan until something hits us square in the face.  What we do after we take that hit, determines if we come out of the fight for the better or for the worse. 

When I take the hits, I remember God's faithfulness, His unfailing love, His plan for me and Christi and Aly and our boys.
I hope you know this fact of life: God is sovereign over ALL and He loves you and me and us........and more than knowing just the facts, I hope you know him.  With God on our side.....who's ready to fight?

Aly Mae @ 32weeks
Weighs roughly 4 lbs 1 oz, which puts her in the 35th percentile, unlike her brothers, Samuel and Daniel who at this time were in the 80th-88th percentile. Looks like she is gonna be a petite one, with lots of hair and cheeks.

another 32wk pic

and another 32wk pic

Strong Like Aly T-shirts! HURRY!

T-shirts are on sale now!  HURRY to get your order in by this Monday the 11th for the first batch. They are $20 each and the sizes are Youth XS - Adult 3X.  Some good friends have jumped in and designed some Strong Like Aly t-shirts to help raise money.  I can't say thank you enough to Jennifer Lowery and Dawn Bailey and any others who I am not aware of that have helped -- Thank You!!
You can contact Jennifer Lowery or Dawn Bailey with your order via facebook, call or text the phone number below, or leave a comment on this post to order your shirt. You can also mail a check to 1207 Cypress St., West Monroe, LA 71291 with the sizes that you need.

Phone: 318.732.6722

Facebook Contact:
https://www.facebook.com/jennifer.s.lowery.3
https://www.facebook.com/Dawn.Bailey2010

It's a boy.......NO! It's A Girl!!!!!

My beautiful wife does not like secrets and when it comes to presents or finding out if she is pregnant or some other possibly good news......she CANNOT wait.  If she ever thought she was pregnant, we would have prego tests laying around like peanuts at a Logan's restaurant.  So she goes to the doctor and has an ultrasound at 10 weeks and the nurse and the doctor think that it is a boy. Well, since we have been 3 for 3 on the boys, we are feeling pretty confident it's a boy as well.  We picked out a name, I'm thinking.... "man, do I know how to make men or what?" (only kidding).  Then she goes back for another follow up appointment 4 weeks later and then the doctor says "uh-oh, I think we might have a girl here". Christi calls me in great excitement/shock and then calls Jennifer Lowery at Sneak A Peak to get another look.  It is confirmed......It's a Girl!!!  I knew only one thing, Christi caught me on a weak day if its a girl (emphasis on spelling and again, I'm kidding...a little). Then on May 19th, at 18 weeks pregnant, Christi has her appointment that morning with the OB and after that an ultrasound.  Normally you have the ultrasound first but with scheduling conflicts the order was reversed.  The family showed up to confirm yet again.....no surprise, its a girl.  The ultrasound took longer than normal and although neither of us mentioned anything until later, we could tell that something was off, something different.  I was concerned but not trying to read into something that was not there and I distinctively remember Christi saying that she was ready to get a call back from the nurse ensuring everything looked great.  She had the same feeling I had. The next day at lunch, I remember Christi listening to the voice mail from Dr. Lebleu to give her a call back.  We both knew that the news could not be good.  It was May 20th when we received the news that Aly had a rare birth defect called an occipital encephalocele.  We were given the diagnosis and were so thankful to get an appointment with a parenatologist the next day at St. Francis Hospital.  Encephaloceles are very rare neural cranium defects with an occurrence rate of 1 to 4 in 10,000 births.  Encephaloceles have roughly a 55% survive-ability rate when at the back of the head (which is what an occipital encephalocele is).  It is a bad bad prognosis to receive.  Since it involves the brain, the bad possible side effects of this defect are seemingly endless: paralysis, mental retardation, learning disabilities, and on and on. Unfortunately, the defect is so rare, we did not get much more information from the parenatologist other than what it basically is and that it will need to be monitored through regular ultrasounds and that our little girl will need surgery soon after birth.  Her long term prognosis is uncertain and there is no way of telling if she will be on the positive end or the negative end with regard to her brain function.  We had known the prognosis before but now it was confirmed.  It was devastating news.  As we drove back from the hospital we both cried.  So much excitement, so much hope, so many dreams, so much bad news.  We both knew deep down in both of our souls this little girl is not ours. She has a Father, who has and is forming her in Christi's womb.  He knows every part of who she is, knows exactly how she is put together and knows exactly what this defect is.  We have been given the blessing to know, to teach, to love this little girl and to be parents here on earth but she is not ours ultimately....she belongs to her Maker.  We both realized that He controls ALL things, that He is Lord over ALL and that He can be trusted with our lives and certainly with our precious little girl that He gave! We cried some more and prayed and told God how thankful we were for giving us this little blessing, Aly, and for giving us our three boys.  We knew that although we were taken by surprise, the One who keeps us was not.  Looking back, even now, how amazing and humbling it is to see how God has orchestrated and brought things and people together and into our lives before we even knew what was going to happen.  People who have brought life to us, people who have encouraged us and stood by us.  He hears our cry, He knows our struggles, He knows our yesterday, He knows our today and He knows our tomorrow.  You sovereign God are the rock that we can stand on....this thought played over and over and over and yes, over again in my mind and heart that day and it still does. 

First Post...

Aly @ 26 weeks

I will start this blog about midway through the process.  At some point we may give some more details leading up to our first appointment and more details related to the appointment itself but I wanted to get the first post up. On 07.18.2014, Christi was 26 weeks, and we took our first trip to Texas Children's Hospital in Houston, TX to have an ultrasound, MRI and to see a neurologists and a neurosurgeon.  We received some great news and some possible bad news at the end of all our appointments.  The great news is that Aly has a occipital meningocele instead of an occipital encephalocele like they originally thought. Definitions below. 

• Encephalocele - sometimes known by the Latin name cranium bifidum, is a neural tube defect characterized by sac-like protrusions of the brain and membranes that cover it through openings in the skull. These defects are caused by failure of the neural tube to close completely during development.
• Meningocele - is essentially the same thing as the encephalocele except it only has the CSF - cerebral spinal fluid and meninges.  

Aly's being a meningocele and not having any portion of the brain protruding from the skull is a HUGE answer to much prayer.  We were originally informed in earlier appointments at the 18 & 22 week ultrasounds that the cele or protrusion did contain brain matter.  

The possible bad is something that is not worth mentioning.  So much of this process is a waiting game at this point until Aly comes.  They will then be able to examine her more closely and run tests.  Christi and I (and this applies to you as well) have a choice to make, do we worry about things yet to come?  Do we allow the bad things that may come, to consume our thoughts and feelings?  I'm not saying run from reality or deny facts as they are but I will say that worrying about those future possible bad things will not add to our lives. Philippians 4:4-9. Instead of worrying, we are thankful.  Thankful to God for our three boys, thankful for Aly's life in the here and now, thankful for family and friends.......find those things that really matter and be thankful. It is not easy for me but HE is faithful and HIS peace......there ain't nothin' like it.

I will update again in the next few days and let you know more information about the "Strong Like Aly" shirts for sale, pictures from our Houston trip, and specific prayer requests.