Thanksgiving Weekend

Maddie Girl is always smilingShe loves to carry things. Here she is carrying a bag of rolls.The next day she picked up my grandma's 5 pound purse and pulled it up as if she was doing a bicep curl. I tell ya, that right arm is VERY strong!Maddie got a lot of love from her uncles this weekend.
A little dazed after the turkey dinner...even though she didn't eat any:o)

Thanksgiving

I hope you all have a HAPPY THANKSGIVING! It was easy for me to think about what I was thankful for this year. Maddie is such a blessing to our lives. I am thankful to the Lord for working many miracles in her life, and creating such a beautiful little girl inside and out.

Psalm 100:1-5

"Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands.
Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing.
Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.
For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations."

Video Of Cutting Edge Prosthetic Arm

My Mom recently found this you tube video and had me watch it yesterday. The Rehabilitation Institute in Chicago is driving this, which is the place Maddie has been going for all her prosthetic fittings. Seeing this video encouraged us for the future, so Maddie has options if she would want a prosthesis or not. The link is below: You will have to copy and paste the link to watch.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6R5bm6qx2E

A Few Pictures of Maddie Girl
with the same toy, I can lye downPractice my Standing
And sit:o)Maddie is doing new things each day. She is actually starting to take steps. It is uncoordinated, but she wants to get going!

Second prosthetic Fitting/NICU follow-up appt

This morning we headed to the RIC for Maddie's second fitting. They had bits and pieces of the prosthetic done, so we could get an idea of how it will would fit and look like. We saw all the different positions the prosthetic could be placed in for Maddie to use it. Below is a "rough draft" of how the prosthetic will look. It's being held together by tape, which won't be the case when we take it home:o) The cable that you see sticking up will be much shorter, but that will allow us to lock her arm in many positions. Right now the arm is a clear material, but will either be made flesh colored or I could do some kind of a fun fabric. The arm will fit around her shoulder and will strap around her chest. You won't see all the metal, but most will be covered when the arm is finished. The hand right now looks a little bigger than her other hand, but they do that so there is room for her to grow. Mainly this will be a device used to help her with all the daily activities that babies do. Will help her balance, stand up on furniture, and scoot or crawl. I am not sure she will crawl, but I did have a dream 2 nights ago that she was crawling. That was pretty neat and feel so much peace that she will in some way figure out how to do everything! God has been right there through all of this giving me all these encouraging dreams about Madeline. We will take her arm home the monday after Thanksgiving!

So right after the fitting I walked across the street to the 680 building for Maddie's NICU follow up appointment. She was evaluated for her cognitive, motor, and verbal skills. I was thrilled to hear she was in the average range or ahead of average for all! She was able to see her P.T Elizabeth, from the NICU, who we just loved and she loved Maddie. She worked with Maddie twice a week in while in the hospital and was just thrilled with how well she was doing. So Thank you Lord. Just to hear that she is ahead and right where she should be was music to my ears. WAY TO GO MADDIE! Here is a picture with Maddie and Nurse Elnora. Elnora has been there for all our appointments, and it had been a LONG time since we had seen her, so good to see her again! I was glad we were there today for a follow up and not an eye exam. Thank goodness those kind are over! She will need a follow up eye exam when she is 12 months, but just praying they aren't like the ones she had before. Those gave me BIG anxiety. I don't have any right to complain though because those doctors are on top of everything. We couldn't have had a better experience those 3 months and everything to follow up until now. We are so thankful for Northwestern hospital, and all the WONDERFUL Doctors, nurses, neonatologists, O.T, P.T's, and Prosthetists! Thank you!
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 " Be Joyful always;pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, For this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." Amen.

A Year Ago Today

About this time last year we were headed in for our ultrasound to find out if we were having a boy or a girl. We were very excited to find out! We arrived into the room and they started to check all the measurements and make sure everything looked healthy. I remember feeling a pit in my stomach when the tech looked very concerned looking at the screen. I remember asking is something wrong? She said, "I can't seem to find part of her left arm?" I remember us thinking that can't be and it must just be hiding. At that point I just thought they had missed it. Then that tech went and got the head of the U/S dept and she said that our baby girl was missing part of her left arm. Something called amniotic band syndrome. I didn't even understand what she was saying and we were in total shock. I felt this is so unfair it was supposed to be a happy day finding out the gender of our baby and my joy was totally stolen from me. They left us alone for a bit to process what they had just told us. Bob began to pray as I was balling and so confused why this happened. I remember like it was yesterday.

They brought us in another room to meet with our OB and started explaining what they thought caused this. I don't even remember what she said, but I do remember her saying in the state of IL you are able to terminate up to 23 1/2 weeks if you don't want your baby. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. We said absolutely we would never do that, but in my head wishing my baby had all her limbs, and all these fears started floading my mind- How would she do things with one arm? Would I love her differently? how would people look at her? Will she date and one day get married? my mind was racing with fear wanting to already protect her. We were both so scared and fearful.

After 4-6 weeks of grieving I was coming to grips with the fact this was how God made her-Perfect. Maybe not our version of perfect, but God kept telling me I don't make mistakes just trust me. All we could do was wait and trust that God has a big plan for Madeline. 6 weeks after we found out about her arm I went into pre-term labor. In the hospital for 3 weeks, there was so much uncertainty and a chance of a possible still birth. Maddie came 3 months early at 2 pounds 1 oz, and amazed us from the moment she was born. Fighting her way through the NICU, working so hard to stay alive, she has amazed us ever since. We cannot imagine life without Madeline. All those fears I had a year ago have turned into joy and excitement for the things she will do and is already doing.

If you are grieving or going through something that seems difficult or impossible, God is there to help you every step of the way. His plan is WAY better than ours, and is perfect. God didn't promise an easy rode, but uses those hard times for us to draw near to him because he loves us that much. Luke 1:37 "For nothing is impossible with God."

Prosthetic Approved by our Insurance!

If anyone was praying for approval thank you so much! I received a call from the RIC last week and we were approved by our insurance company and are ready for the next steps. Maddie has an appointment on November 11th for another fitting. We won't get to take her arm home this day, but will have to go back then again for a discharge appointment. I think it has been interesting how she has started to use her left foot to bring things toward her. It's almost like she knows there is supposed to be something on her left side. She is already learning to compensate. It will be interesting to see how she reacts to the prosthetic once she gets it. I seriously am filled with excitement to see all the things she is going to do!

As someone recently told me, "Two arms are over-rated." Everyone has been so encouraging and so supportive! We are going to teach Maddie she can do absolutely do anything she puts her mind to. I trust the Lord is already using her life as a testimony.

Here is a picture of how strong Maddie is getting. She reached onto my parents kitchen island and grabbed this heavy pumkin right off. I think she was a little shocked herself:o)