Saturday, January 7, 2012

One Year Ago Today

One year ago, we got an ultrasound done to determine whether Tayler had down syndrome or not. It was something that they had been telling us for 9 weeks (ever since I had an ultrasound at 18 weeks.) After many calculations, they found that there was entirely too much fluid around her and that she had chloroplexus cysts on her brain. 

I was a wreck. Week after week, I just sat and rubbed my belly wondering if my baby would live to be an adult? Would she struggle with different things in life? Would she make it through the birth? I had no idea what to expect. I remember going through all of the ultrasound pictures and just looking at her, trying to figure out if she 'looked' like she had down syndrome. I would google ultrasound pictures of babies that were also diagnosed with this. It was a bit morbid, but as a mother, I wanted to just be prepared. I did not want to be caught off guard anymore.

On December 26th, 2010 they declared me 'high risk' and my doctor's office no longer took me in as their patient. The only way they would do it is if I got a clean bill of health on our appointment at the OSU Medical Center on January 7th, 2011. 

That morning came. We had to be there at 745AM, so we had to get moving rather early! I remember throwing up 3 times before we even left the house... not really out of morning sickness... out of nervousness and fear. We got there and I filled out all of my insurance information. They did a physical examination and then it was the moment of truth.

I remember walking into the ultrasound room. There was a nifty little chair for me to sit in and there were plenty of chairs around it for my mom, dad, and husband, Ethan. I know they were just as nervous as I was. The ultrasound technician squirted the gel onto my tummy.. and we were off. 

At first, she confirmed that Tayler was indeed a girl. We'd already known this since I was 16 weeks pregnant, but it was still good to hear :) She showed us Tayler's lungs, her heart, her kidneys, her feet, her legs, her face... everything. She wanted to check all parts of her body to determine that everything was as it should be and most importantly--- that they were all healthy. As she check-marked down her list, the very last one was THE BRAIN. This was the scariest part. She flipped to one side of my stomach and you could see the top of our sweet Tayler's head. She started showing the different ventricles and what made up her brain. And she said those words, "If she does have chlroplexus cysts, you will see black circles right in this area." I could have sworn I saw them and my stomach sank. I thought I was going to vomit. We were all on pins and needles just waiting for the word. And the technician then said:

"I don't see anything. She is perfectly healthy."

THANK YOU JESUS!

We had been praying for SOOO long about this situation. We were all worried, but we knew all that we could do was put it in God's hands. He designed Tayler and He could take care of her better than any of us could. 

It was such a relief. I remember hugging everyone and crying. After that, we met up with my brother who lives near there for breakfast to celebrate. We are SO blessed and SO thankful that God hears our prayers and takes care of our loved ones! I would have loved and taken care of Tayler regardless, but I am just so very thankful that she is as healthy as she can be!

Prayer is powerful and that proved it to me! 

The following are the ultrasound pictures from that day. Enjoy the miracle of God :)


We love you, our spunky Tayler! :)

Thursday, January 5, 2012

9 Months Old

My kid loves the snow.

True story.

It finally snowed here! (Well, enough to see it on the ground!) So, we took Tayler out for her FIRST adventure in it. I didn't know if she would like it or not because she HATES being cold, but she actually thoroughly enjoyed it! Since I'm trying my hand at this 'photography' thing (I'm still learning all of the neat things-- ISO, aperature, etc.) but I think this turned out rather nicely! I cannot wait to make a cute collage of them in our living room!


Isn't she the cutest?? 

All the others look something like that.. lots of crawling around and looking up at momma and daddy :) We had SUCH a good time... until she got cold LOL Then it was like immediate dislike. But it was fun while it lasted :)

Speaking of this 9 month old...

She just had her check-up this week. Well, I'm getting ahead of myself. Here's our 9 month old:



HIHUGYUFBKHLKIU

Adorable, right? :) I'm a little biased.. but she is tooo stinkin' cute! She is starting to learn how to stand up on her own.. without us holding her! Whoo-hoo! She already learned to pick stuff up and eat it (she LOVES pancakes!) She can pull herself up on things. She waves bye-bye now. She is just becoming such a big girl! As of today, she is 40 weeks old! 12 weeks until her first birthday!! :) 

I think we are doing a 'Yo Gabba Gabba' themed birthday! I will definitely share all of the pictures for you guys  to see :)

As for this 9 month old: she is 22.3 pounds (92nd percentile) and 30" long (97th percentile.) Yes, she's a big girl and we wouldn't want it any other way! He said she's very well proportioned.. whoohoo :) 

Mommy loves you Tayler!!

Monday, January 2, 2012

First Try at Christmas Lights :)

So.

I have a nice camera that my hubby got me forever ago and I'm just now trying to 'learn' how to use it. I've been reading a lot about ISO, Aperature, Shutter Speed, etc. I'm slowly learning what all of those mean and how to use them to 'perrr-fect' a picture. It'll take me awhile and I do not profess to be a 'photographer' by any means. I just want to learn how to take a great picture, you know? I really want to learn to take my children's picture and actually be able to utilize them in our home :) 

I tried my hand at taking a few pictures of my brother and his fiance's Christmas tree. I read a TON about how to make the lights look big and bright. These are not sell-able shots, but I think I'm slowly getting the hang of it....




I know I have a lot of improvements to make, but I was really proud of these two shots. :)

August 13th Journal Prompt: Anger.

 The journal prompt of the day is: How do you deal with your anger? I bottle a lot of my emotions up inside. If I feel anger- it may show on...