Hope for Charlie

Week 24

We have passed several milestones... Week 21 is the official week a child can have a birth certificate.  Week 24 is the week that our son can be admitted into the NIC unit at our hospital if I go into labor early.

This week he continues to grow (it had better be him - since I gained another pound :)) and his heartbeat is at about 150 beats.  He is currently breech, so his dancing feet seem to be around my bladder - won't go into details about what that does to mommy :)!

So far our son, Charlie, has been able to visit and experience: El Paso, Milwaukee, Naples FL, NYC, Albany, San Antonio, Houston, LA, Raleigh, Oklahoma City, Phoenix, Indianapolis, Orlando, Tampa, Chicago, New Orleans, and Ft. Lauderdale... he seems to love the take-off and landings as he moves quite a bit.

Charlie (Dad), wanted to make sure his son was able to experience a food highlight... a "Lucky" (hot)dog from New Orleans - which of course Mommy had to eat first *ugh*! Little Charlie - just like his father loves the hot dog... and started a happy dance :).  This week I will make sure that he experiences the "Chicago " style hot dog (minus bun) while we are here in Chicago. 

Our Hope

Our story began in 1995, Charlie and I were married... we expanded our family in 1998 with the birth of our daughter Hannah.  The years that followed we tried to grow our family and the only other time we became pregnant we had a miscarriage.  Last December we decided we were meant to be a family of 3 (plus as many animals as Charlie would let Hannah and I rescue) and that we would stop trying to have another child as we celebrated my 40th birthday.

In May, imagine our shock and surprise when we found out we were expecting a child in January 2010.  There were nerves, smiles, tears, thankfullness, and much joy.  When we started all of the tests, we had passed our first trimester and we had no worries. The first set of screening tests came back fine and  when did the final quad screening, we did not expect the results we received from our doctor.

On August 4th we were given the news that our child screened positive for Trisomy 18 (a fatal chromosome disorder) that if our child was born would have a very short life.  Trisomy 18 or Edwards Syndrome is the third copy of chromosome 18 created in the cells and impacts organ and growth development.  During the following few weeks, we visited several doctors and had a Level 2 Ultrasound and an amniocentesis, we found out that we had been blessed with a son and that our time with him was not going to be what we dreamed.  Please know that we will never regret making the decision to make this journey... through all the tears we have laughter and peace, every day is tough - but "little" Charlie is a gift and worth every moment.  Our son kicks and moves all of the time and has already let everyone know around us that he is a fighter and he is in this with us.

Our blog is about our hope, our faith and our dreams for our son and our family and for any other family who faces this challenge... we thank everyone for their love, support, and prayers!

He said to them, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.  I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it."

Mark 10: 14-15