What a chunk!

We had our 28 week doctors visit this past Wednesday...and we found out that our little boy has been doing a lot of growing here recently! I measured about a week ahead at 29 weeks 4 days, and Asher has packed on the poundage! He weighs in now at around 3lbs 2 oz!! We are sooo excited! We could all tell by my appearance that he had grown, we were just hoping that he was close to 3lbs by now...and he is!! On the ultrasound, he was doing his usual tricks and kicks. He also was drinking fluid and we got to see his little lips moving and sucking. It was adorable! All of his organs are working wonderfully and his heartbeat sounds beautiful! Now, we are down to the last trimester and still praying for our little guy to keep growing (within reason) and for my health to continue to be great.

Welcome to Holland

I had a parent of a child with disabilities tell me about this poem a few months ago. It is an amazing poem that reminds me and others of how blessed we are. It also helps me to remember that I am not in control and can not plan every detail of my life...even if I would like too. God has a better plan and he choose me and Kenny to be the parents of a very beautiful and precious angel. We consider ourselves lucky and among the elite chosen ones to be blessed with our little angel. Even though we did not have the opportunity to raise our little girl, we can still very much so relate to this poem.

"I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability - to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It's like this......When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting.After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome to Holland.""Holland?!?" you say. "What do you mean Holland?? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy."But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay.The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place.So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.It’s just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around.... and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills....and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts.But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy... and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned." And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away... because the loss of that dream is a very very significant loss.But... if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things ... about Holland."

So as you have read, Holland is just as wonderful as Italy. Just because our trip was different, it doesn't make it wrong. We were blessed to have had the opportunity to take a trip to Holland. And now as the arrival date approaches quickly for Asher, we do still dream of taking the trip to Italy...but we will NEVER forget the amazing journey we took to Holland and cannot wait to see our little Rembrandt when we get to Heaven.

27 weeks! Our little Ash-man is growing!!

Here is a recent picture of me and Asher. He has really grown in the past couple of weeks...and it is showing in my belly!!

Deck the Halls....

We decided we better get started on decorating for Christmas a little early this year! We are glad we did too, we are enjoying having the tree up and playing the christmas music to welcome the holidays!

The first 3 reasons why we will not be co-sleeping with Asher!

ZAK...BOB...Cessa! Need I say any more??

Twenty Five Weeks and Counting!

We are so excited about our precious little boy that will be entering the world sometime before February 18th! He has already brought much joy to our lives as we are preparing for him, praying, and playing with him. He is a ball of energy and we are gearing ourselves up for quite the little rascal! We started working on his nursery and it is already looking like a little boys room. Here are a few pictures...

Kenny's 30th Suprise Party!!!!

Kenny turned the big 3-0 today! Saturday, I threw a suprise party for him...and it was a huge success! I was so proud of myself for not blowing the whole thing!

Here are a couple pics from the party!

It could always be worse...

Can this week please leave us alone! The past 2 days have been crazy crazy crazy! First, our adorable, cute, wouldn't hurt a fly little puppies got put in the slammer yesterday. I got home from work to find that they were no where to be found. They had dug out from under the fence and went on a joy tour of the park and neighborhood. I looked all over the neighborhood for like an hour. Even our neighbor drove around to help me. Around 4:45 I decided that I better call animal control to make sure that they were not picked up. Well...after 10 minutes of being connected and passed off to the next person, I finally was able to ask about our babies. The woman was not very nice and told me that the dogs were filthy and that they appeared to have been dumped. She also told me that they were found in a location that I have no idea where it is and when I map quested it, it was all the way across town! She told me that one of the puppies was very aggressive and was growling at everyone. This is soooo not their personality! after freaking out, she continued to tell me that I needed to calm down because they were safe and no one was being mean to them. YEAH RIGHT! What planet does she live on? I wasn't even sure that these were our puppies that they had. Well, we were also informed that we could not come pick them up until the next morning. So that made me even more upset.
This morning I got up to find it rather nasty outside. I got in the shower and mid way through, the power goes out. My shower time is approxiamately 5:45-6:00ish. It is dark outside at that time...so when the power goes out...it is very very dark inside. I could not see my fingers in front of me. Thank goodness I use Johnson's Baby Shampoo, because it was all up in my eyes! I had to yell for Kenny to come and find a flashlight so that I could finish my shower. Then, continue to get ready for work by flashlight. Kenny had to pull our garage up by hand...thank the Lord for husbands! I headed off to work expecting the day to improve.
Well...I tried to call Kenny, but Verizon had messed up our bill and suspended my calls. So Kenny had to fax his payment stub to show where we had already paid our bill, and actually have credit with them! He got that taken care of and then went to bail our delinquent puppies out of puppy jail. They were super excited to see him! He put them in the truck and Ellie decided that she needed to use the bathroom...so she did! So, Kenny had to clean that up before he could head to work where there was a monthly meeting he was late for. The day settled down for a couple hours until Kenny fell on slippery metal stairs. This placed him at quick care for most of the afternoon and now he is on crutches with a possible torn muniscus (sp?).
I arrive home to find our puppies in the garage since it is raining and they have a tendency to escape the confines of our fence. Over the course of a few hours, Ellie and Aubrey managed to chew a foam matress pad into thousands of pieces...all over the garage. Thank goodness it was going to the dump anyhow. Now it will just go to the dump in a thousand pieces...after we clean it up of course!
Soooo...this is the past few days for the Chastain household. I think we better lay low for a couple days. Isn't the saying, "When it rains, it pours."? Well, we have plenty of sunshine in our lives so we can't hardly complain...but seriously...rain rain go away!

Coming Soon to a family near you...

We are expecting again! Addi is going to be a big sister to a little boy!! We are so very thrilled and feel so very blessed to have now had two precious babies in our lives. This little boy is full of energy and bounces off the walls (literally in my belly). He is quite the little ham...already measuring a little big!! Please keep us in your prayers and pray that our little boy grows to be strong and healthy.

We have the most preciously adorable niece!!!! They don't get much cuter than this!!

Does your man have a crush?

Some of you may not be familiar with the term "man crush", and some of you might actually have a man crush or your boyfriend or husband has one. It is an interesting new term that has actually been around for a while...we just didn't know what to call it.

Matt Damon & Ben Affleck.....perfect example!

Personally I think of it as two men who have a ridiculous amount in common and could seriously be brothers! They think alike, act alike, have the same nastasciousness level!

The Urban Dictionary defines it like this:
1.
Man Crush
When a straight man has a "crush" on another man, not sexual but kind of idolizing him.

Some of you might be thinking this is not a good thing...but actually it is...well, it can be. My husband and his man crush are hilarious...making fun of them is the hilarious part. Jennifer and I enjoy harassing them about crushing on one another. If their picture was next to the definition, I think it would be this one!

Kenny and Scott enjoying some chocolate fondue at the Melting Pot! They both had the clever idea to put it all over their teeth...just one example of how much they are alike! Don't worry...Jennifer and I were there too! We just changed seats around to take pictures.

Splish Splash!!

Ellie and Aubrey are getting so big so quickly! It has been super hot, so we decided to give the girls a little swimming pool. They were too cute, so of course I had to grab the camera!!!

Drum Roll Please!!!!.......

Introducing.....................................................the newest members of the family.................................
Ellie & Aubrey! They are soooooooo cute and sweet! Our great friends Tina and Dan gave us first pick of the litter! They had 10 puppies, so we HAD to take 2! Presently, they are only 4 weeks old...but growing very rapidly. They already come when we call them...we think they are the smartest puppies ever! I would post pictures, but my camera is giving me fits....so maybe later!

Picking up the pieces...

Addi would be 2 months young now, and our life is unusually falling back into place. It is crazy and awkward how everyday life continues amongst your overwhelming pain and determination to avoid your "everyday life". It feels wrong and unmotherly to continue with our lives and mostly, to get back to enjoying our lives. Along with those feelings, we also feel that Addi was an enormous blessing and we should continue to celebrate her life and remember the joy that she gave us for 38 weeks. We know that God must have something special in store for us, but waiting is difficult. We trust in his word that he will give us our hearts desires and he has blessed us so greatly with one another, wonderful family, fabulous friends, an adorable place to live, wonderful jobs, and the love of Jesus Christ. So if waiting is what is in His plan for us, then waiting we will do.
There are several things stiring in the Chastain world here lately. Between moving, starting a new business, and all the other things we juggle....we have a lot on our plate. Thank goodness it is summer time! With it being summer time, I figured it was a good time to begin blogging again.

Pictures and Prayers

We have a zillion pictures of our beautiful baby girl...but for time and space sake, we can only post a few. She is an absolute angel and each time I look at her pictures I fall more and more in love with her.

We are so extremely blessed to have such wonderful support from all areas of our lives. We cannot possibly thank everyone who has prayed, supported, and/or helped us in some way. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Our angel is flying

Our precious Addi is now with our Father, flying with a brand new set of wings. God showed us just how Great He is throughout the pregnancy and birth of our little Addi. We are still so enormously heart broken and crushed, but we do have a better understanding now of the challenges that our precious angel would have faced if she had lived. The birth alone would have been too much for her little body. Addi's earthsuit was so fragile and delicately formed...she was beautiful. It is an absolute miracle that she lived for 38 weeks. God's guardian angel's had to be protecting her throughout my pregnancy. We were in awe of how tiny and precious she was.
We are comforted in knowing that her Papa was waiting on her at the gates of Heaven. I am sure that her Papa is flying her around Heaven and showing her all the glorious sights. We are so excited about preparing ourselves and our future children for the day that we will join Addi in Heaven.
We will post more pictures later...we had a photographer so graciously come and take pictures for us.
Thank you for all that have visited, called, and prayed for us. We love you all so much and cannot that you enough.
Love,
Kenny and Kathi

Update March 25

Our sweet Addi is still fighting...another week closer to holding her in our arms. Her heartbeat was still low this week around 120. We wish that it would pick up a little speed, but we are thrilled that it is still beating!
My blood pressure was really good today, and my blood work came back showing no signs of pre-eclampsia. This was very good news for both me and Addi! I am beginning to add a nap to my daily routine, and trying to take it easy.
A new prayer for Addi is for her to begin to turn her body into the correct positioning for birth. We are a few weeks away from her due date, and she will need to begin turning soon. If she does not turn on her own, then the doctors will have to manually move her or I would have to have a c-section. We prefer for neither of these two things to occur...so please add this to your prayer list!

Laminin...what holds us together

My mom told me about this tonight...Louie Giglio spoke during the Chris Tomlin "How Great is Our God" tour about Laminin. You must watch this youtube video!
Kenny and I may not know why our little Addi will be taken from us so soon...but He does. We are heart broken that our little girl will not be able to spend much time here on Earth, but we are excited to see God's plan unfold. We know He has a reason and a plan much greater than we can imagine.

Update March 18

We had a little bit of an unsettled week...but all is o.k. My blood pressure jumped up abnormally high for me this week and my hands have been swelling a little too much for comfort. Sunday morning I woke up to a hand that looked like it belonged to the Michellin Man! It took about 2 hours to return to a normal size and feeling. Monday is when we discovered that my blood pressure was rising. Pre-eclampsia is what the doctors have worried about since we discovered that Addi has triploidy. My blood pressure has always been so low that we didn't fear it...BUT we were wrong. Yesterday, we went to the doctor for my weekly appointment, and they ran some labs to check for pre-eclampsia. So far, they are not overly worried...but are keeping a close eye on me. We have strict instructions for what to look for and how to know when it is taking a turn for something more serious. As of right now, my doctor gave me permission to continue with work...but I am suppose to drink lots of water and get lots of rest. My on-the-go lifestyle will have to take a detour...at least until Addi arrives. We want to give her every fighting chance available, and that means me taking it easy.
Addi seems to be growing...or at least my belly still is! Her heartbeat was low this week at 127, but the doctor said not to be too concerned. We are here in the last couple weeks and I am sure that the anxiety we are feeling has something to do with my blood pressure rising. I am hoping that I can get some good rest over the next few days and get back to feeling a little better. Keep praying for Addi and her precious life!

Blessed

I feel so blessed to work in such a loving environment. I look forward to going to work everyday knowing that I am supported and loved. The love that the teachers and faculty at my school have bestowed upon me is tremendous. I will never be able to show the amount of gratitude and thanks I have for all they have done. Yesterday, I was completely taken by suprise when the school threw a celebration for Addi and me. I know that I am a little in my own world sometimes...but gosh, for that many people to know about it! How in the world did I not have a clue?!? Kenny and I requested that we did not want to have showers and we decided that if a miracle happens, then we will throw the biggest celebration that Gainesville has ever seen! My friends at school so tastefully planned a little celebration to let me know that they care. It was very touching and thoughtful. The pink cherry tree is beautiful and will constantly remind us of Addi and her beautiful spirit. All the gifts were wonderful and will be so useful in the months to come. Kenny and I have experienced a pain like we have never felt before...but amongst the pain and heartache, we have also learned and experienced much about love. Our hearts have grown bigger than we thought possible! We are constantly amazed and humbled by how many people have made great efforts to shower us with love and support. We thank each of you so very very much. We will never be able to thank everyone enough and we might not even know where some of the support comes from...please know that we appreciate everything. We will strive to be as giving as the people that have been so supportive of us.

Update March 11

Three or four weeks until Addi will make her grand debut! The doctors do not know exactly when she will come or exactly how many weeks I am...but we do know it will be soon. Her heartbeat was 137 today, and slightly softer sounding than it has been being. She must have changed her positioning. My uterus has begun to tighten periodically throughout the day. The doctors said that it is nothing to worry about, just one of those preparation things that happens to your body! We are beginning to become more anxious knowing that her arrival might mean saying goodbye to her earthly presense...but we are so excited to meet our beautiful baby and hold her in our arms.

Update March 3

We are sooooo proud of our little sweetheart! She gained approx. 9 oz. this past month! She now weighs approx. 1lb 14oz. Addi is almost at the 2lb. mark! We really wanted her to reach at least 2lbs. before she was born and it looks like she is going to make it! Our ultra-sound was also much better than the last one. We were able to see her face a little better and we saw one leg and one arm. Her heart was just beating away in the 130's. The technician held the wand still on my stomach and let us watch her move for a few minutes as well. That was precious time because we do not get to feel her very much. She is still very very low and still very small. She should weigh around 4 pounds at this gestation. Her abdomen is around 8-10 weeks behind in growth. She is just an amazingly precious baby, and we love her soooo much! Something must be going right in there, because she is still lighting up our lives daily!

Frantic Friday!

Friday was quite interesting...if you wanna call it that. It was a normal, uneventful, typical Friday, until around 10:00 am (recess time) at school. Kenny had just stopped by to get something from me and decided to hang around and visit with my students for a little while. We went outside for recess, and the kids were wild! The weather has kept us indoors for days now! Kids were running from one end of the playground to the next! I was enjoying my morning snack when a little girl walked up to tell me that one of my students needed help getting off one of the pieces of equipment. I walked over and guided her sefely down to the ground. When I turned away from her...BAM! Before I could even process what was happenening, a little boy bulldozed into my stomach. I did not have time to block him or move out of his way. He was running so fast that he could not stop as I turned. He hit so hard that he flew backwards and I doubled over in pain. The poor child jumped up and began apologizing as fast as he could. It was a complete accident...I knew he did not mean to run into me. Well, he ran off to get back to his playing as I am still doubled over. About 5 seconds after I was hit, tears began flowing because I realized where the impact had hit. I finally stood up and tried to dry my tears...luckily, it was time to go inside. I thought I had myself under control, but I was wrong. I went to the bathroom to gather myself and make sure I was ok....but I began to panic. All I could think about was how hard the hit was right to the spot that Addi lays her precious body. She has fought so hard for sooooo many weeks now, this could not be happening! Luckily, Kenny was there, and my para-pro and another para-pro immediately told me to leave. They began to take over my class so that I would leave. It did not take too much convincing though...I realized that I was not going to be able to gather myself. Kenny and I left and headed straight for the doctor. After waiting for what seemed like hours, we were called back and got to listen to Addi's heart. It was perfectly beating away. I felt my whole body relax and the knots in my stomach released. They said that as long as I didn't have any cramping or other noticable side effects, Addi and I should be fine. We were sooooo relieved! What a way to end a week!! For now on, I think I will be sitting on the bench during recess!

Update February 25

"Even though the journey's long, and I know the road is hard. Well, the One who's gone before me, He will help me carry on."
Our precious Addi is such a little fighter. How incredible God is! We are in awe of how He is choosing to show so many people that life is not something that we should have control over. I know that God is smiling down on us, knowing how many people He is proving wrong! Addi is still very much alive inside of me and we pray everyday that she will make her grand appearance with an enormous breath of life for all to see. Her beautiful heartbeat was 144 today. It was very loud and clear! As much as I want for her to stay inside of me and continue to grow, I can't wait to hold her in my arms and kiss her precious face, the very face that God so delicately formed. Next week, we will be able to have another ultra-sound. I am anxious to see if she has grown this month. We had two pretty sizable growth spurts recently...let's hope the growing has continued!

Update February 19

Another week has passed, and another successful trip to the doctor. Addi's heartbeat was 149 on Tuesday. The doctor said that he didn't think that she has grown much in the past couple weeks because my measurements have not changed. BUT, he also said that the tape measure is not always an accurate measurement of the baby. By the eighth month, my uterus should have raised but it is still very very low. My walk is more of a waddle...even though I do not look like I am in my eighth month, Addi's low positioning is forcing my waddle walk.
Our doctor also said that he had doubts earlier in the pregnancy for Addi's survival to term, but now he was expecting little Addi to carry to term and be born alive! We of course agreed with him and said that we have felt that all along. Her heartbeat is just so strong each time we go to the doctor. She has a stubborn streak in her...we don't know where she gets it from, but we are glad she has it!
I continue to be quite tired...Kenny has taken over pretty much all responsibility around the house and does a fabulous job taking care of me, Addi, and our collection of animals. We also have such wonderful support from everyone around us. Thank you, thank you, thank you to all who are so wonderful to us. As each day passes, we hear of another church or prayer list that we have been added too. To all the prayer warriors...we cannot thank you enough.

Update February 12

All seems to be well on this Valentine week. Addi's heart beat was strong once again. It has been a little weak the past few times, but Tuesday it was 159. I still do not feel her movements much, but she must be up to something in there, because she is wearing me out! My bedtime is now approximately 8:30...those who know me will get a laugh out of that. I use to be a night owl, but those days are gone.
She is still extremely low in my tummy, and it has begun to be uncomfortable at times. The little Kindergarten chairs in my classroom just don't cut it anymore. I have graduated to the adult chairs for the time being. Lacing shoes and helping to button my student's pants, has become an olympic event for me. Because of her low position, the bending and squating are a situation I have a hard time getting myself out of. I am so thankful for my little ones at school...they help to keep a smile on my face. They love on Addi and me daily. Kenny and I are so blessed to have such wonderful friends...both big and small!
The doctors are unsure as to when Addi will make her big debut. My due date was originally April 15th, then after the first ultra sound it was moved to April 28th. They are thinking that she was just small during that ultrasound because of the triploidy and that she might actually be due sometime closer to April 15th. She is just full of suprises. As the time approaches, we are trying to prepare ourselves for what might happen. We do continue to pray for a miracle and hope that God saves our little girl, but we do have to understand that he may have other plans for her.
We cannot thank each of you enough for praying, caring, and loving us. We will never be able to tell everyone thank you enough. Please know that we feel all the love and support and greatly appreciate it!

Update February 4

30 weeks and the count down begins. We do not have very much longer till it will be time to welcome Addi into the world. We pray that she comes with a heartbeat and that we get to experience her first breaths of life outside the womb. With everyday, we fall more in love with her (if that's even possible, we already love her so much).
We went for our weekly visit today and we got to have an ultra-sound. Addi still lays extremely low, so it is very difficult for us to see her. She likes to be all curled up and nestled down in my womb. My amniotic fluid is low, so this makes the ultra-sound pictures very difficult to see. It is difficult to identify the different parts of her body and today was more difficult to see her than usual. The technician was able to measure Addi and give us her weight. She has gained 8 oz. in a month. She now weighs in at a whooping 1lb 5 oz! An average baby of her gestation should be about 2 lb 5 oz. I could tell that she has grown...bending over and getting up off the floor have become things that I try to just avoid. I also believe that she uses my bladder as her pillow!
We love getting to see our precious angel on the ultra-sounds and we love to hear her heartbeat each week, but we long to hold Addi in our arms and feel her heartbeat against us. Each month I really think that we will come for an ultra-sound and they will tell us how everything appears to be normal and that she looks to be in great health. But each month we get the pictures and we get the news that we don't want to hear. Even though Addi has grown this month, she is still lagging way behind other babies of her gestation. Her overall size and head are a few weeks behind and her abdomen is 8 weeks behind. I do not even know how that is possible...but the doctor said that is just incredibly tiny. How can someone so small and defenseless have such a fight inside of her? We are in awe of her and wonder what God and His little angel Addi have in store for our lives.

Update January 29

We just returned from the doctor and all continues to be well! Addi's heartbeat had dropped to 134, but the doctors have reassured us that anything within 120-180 is within a normal range. The heartbeat all depends on their level of activity at the moment. Addi must have been snoozing this afternoon!

As we head into the 3rd trimester, I am beginning to feel more tired and just exhausted. I know that we are emotionally drained as well, but Kenny and I both feel strongly that we need to continue to live life as normal. We know that Addi can feel the love that we share for her and that Kenny and I share together. We also want Addi to feel joy and happiness through me and not sadness and worry. Please continue to pray for our strength, courage, and of course a miracle.

Update January 21

Addi's heartbeat was beautiful again today. I feel like we are going to the doctor ALL the time! Each week, as our appointment approaches, we begin to feel very anxious and scared. We know that we might be headed to the hospital to deliver our little angel. So far, each time that we go we are blessed with her strong heartbeat. It is the most beautiful sound to our ears.
Even though I am 26 weeks, I am still not able to feel Addi's movements very much. We are enjoying the times when we can see her moving though! We discovered that if I lay very still and hold my breath, we can see slight movement in my stomach...when she is moving of course. It's times like this when we forget what the doctors have told us and I catch myself imagining our family after she is born.
We are constantly reminded how precious and fragile life is. We are not gauranteed tomorrow, so we need to cherish today. If we lose Addison tomorrow, we know that we have been blessed beyond measure. Our short time with her has taught us so much about patience, love, faith, and courage. Through our pain and heartache, we still have joy and faith in our Father.

Update January 15

Another great visit to the doctor! Addi's heatbeat was 152 today. We were also able to hear her making some movements from the heartbeat sonar machine. I do not feel Addi moving very much so it was nice to be able to hear the movements. My doctor explained that Addi more than likely has very low muscle tone which would make her movements much slower and more gentle than an average baby. Because of this, I will not always feel her movements.
We continue to pray for a miracle. We also pray for strength and courage to accept God's will for Addi. We cannot express enough thanks to all that have been so supportive. It provides a great deal of comfort to know that so many people are praying for our family and so sincerely care.

update January 9

We went for our weekly check-up today. Addi's heart rate was still wonderful. It ranged in the 150's today. Last week we had another ultra-sound and we were able to see our sweet girl. She has almost doubled in size in one month! On Dec. 4, Addi weighed 7oz and now she weighs 13oz. We were pleased to see that she is continuing to grow and she always appears to be happy and content. My health has also remained in good standing.

The Diagnosis

Many of you know that we are expecting a baby girl, Addison Leigh. We lovingly refer to her as Addi. From the moment that we found out that I was pregnant, we were thrilled beyond words! We could not wait to begin planning and preparing for our baby. I had the picture perfect pregnancy with no morning sickness or crazy cravings. We went at 17 weeks to find out the gender of our baby. We quickly found out how stubborn our little one was...after 15 minutes of poking, prodding, and prayer...we found out that we were expecting a girl! We were so excited! The planning began for our sweet girl.
The joy we shared was short lived. Only 3 weeks later we were blindsided with terrible news that something was wrong. The doctors were concerned with her size and her head. My doctors sent me to a specialist the next morning for a level II ultra sound. It was there that we recieved the news that ripped our hearts out.
Our baby has triploidy. It is a chromosome disorder which we have learned is not compatible with life. A normal person has 46 chromosomes and our Addi has 69 chromosomes. Most babies with Triploidy are miscarried very early in the pregnancy. It is amazing that Addi is still with us at 23 weeks. Also, most Triploidy babies have numerous birth defects. So far, we know that our Addi has an abdomen that measure 4 weeks smaller than that of an average fetus and the rest of her body measures 2 weeks behind. Her brain has a lot of fluid and swelling. She also has a rocker bottom foot and an extremely small jaw.
One of the leading defects in a triploidy baby is a heart defect. We are pleased to say that the doctors found no evidence of any heart defect in our precious girl. The organs that they were able to see on the ultrasound appear to function normally as well.
The specialist suggested termination of the pregnancy. We replied with an absolutely not! Just moments before the ultrasound ended, our Addison reached out and was playing with her toes. Our little girl is a fighter and as her parents we will protect and provide for her until God decides to take her home.
Currently, we are visiting the doctor weekly to check Addi's heartbeat and to closely monitor my health. I hope to be able to post a weekly update on Addi.

Our precious baby

Most of you know the details of our pregnancy complications, but yet there are many who do not. We decided to create a blog so that we can post information regarding Addi and our journey through the pregnancy. We will do our best to post current information. We thank each of you that have showered us with love and prayers. Addi is a blessing and our little Angel. We love her more than we could have ever imagined and pray for God's will to be done. We are thankful for and appreciate any encouraging words or prayers that will be posted.