Sad Day

Today has been a sad day. Sad because we went to our friends baby's funeral. Lillyana was born Friday, August 22. She was born with a condition called Trisomy 13. Babies that are born with this condition usually don't make it past the first 48 hours, and if they do most of them don't make it to their first birthday. Her parents and our friends Joe and Becca have had hope from the moment they found out. Hope that God would do a miracle in Lillyana's life. Becca, and I, along with another friend of ours became pregnant within weeks of each other, and have compared aches, pains, sickness, and all the other crazy things that happen to your body when you are pregnant. I remember when they found out about her condition, and all the sadness that came along with it. Due to the fact that Becca developed high blood pressure Lillyana was born in August instead of October. I can tell you that from the beginning she beat the odds. She was so much healthier than doctors expected her to be. They had said she would only live 2 hours after birth, but they were so wrong! Tests were run and it turned out that her brain, lungs, and kidneys were in full working order. She did have a heart condition, but it was minor. Since she was 6 weeks early she was in NICU and on a respirator. I remember going into the NICU the day after she was born to see her. Her eyes were covered because she was jaundiced and they had a light on her. My initial thought was that she looked big, she didn't look like a frail premie. She looked big for 4 pounds even though she was small. I remember Joe her dad was there with me, and while we were in there she started crying. I will never forget the picture of Joe taking her hand, her grabbing on to his finger, and him telling her "Don't cry baby, daddy is here." At that moment I had to walk away. The next day around noon she passed away. Today Pastor David reminded us that she is in a better place, that she is looking at her parents saying I'm well. I try to put myself in their shoes, and wonder if I would have been as strong as they've been. The thought of losing this child that I've carried in my belly, felt move, and have really bonded with makes just break down in tears. I can't imagine going through it knowing that my baby wasn't going to make it. I pray that in the time that now comes that we (my husband and I) can be there for them, just like the rest of our friends. We've rallied around them and shown them we are here for them. I pray that they not lose their faith, but that this makes them stronger. Even though Lillyana's life was short, she made a big impression, and she touched many people's lives. I hope that we never forget the value of life and how precious it truly is.

Green River

This past weekend my husband and I and several friends spent the weekend at Green River. I don't have any pictures because I thought I had forgotten my camera, it turns out it was in my purse the whole time. Now I have to ask my friends to email me some pics. It was actually one of the most relaxing things I've ever done in my life! It was great to be able to kickback and relax with good friends. The lake was awesome!!! It was green (hence the name Green River), but the water felt so good during those hot days. We did get sunburned, but I think it was definately worth it. Joe got to do some fishing. Thank God for that, because it turns out he had kept worms in my refrigerator for this trip! Jaelie had her first jet ski ride. Yup, I was finally able to convince my husband that I would be ok to ride the jet ski. It was quite a lot of fun. It was so fun to spend the weekend with other fellow pregnant friends and 2 babies, it made it a very interesting time. I'm so thankful that we have such generous friends, that would allow us to come and invade their space. When we left everyone was talking about making it a yearly trip. I'm totally up for that one.

Randomness

I realize that I haven't blogged in a long time. My sisters have been asking for some new blogs and finally I am sitting down to do just that. Actually it's because I remembered that they asked!

So far things are going well. I have 10 weeks left before Jaelie Anaya makes her appearance. As the my due date gets closer and closer the more excited and nervous I become. Not only do I ask myself what she's going to look like or who's personality is she going to have, I wonder what kind of parents we'll be. I guess we'll find out in 10 weeks.

On a different subject, I was very excited this morning because I found a good Latin music station on Itunes. Now I just have to figure out how I can listen to it all day without leaving the upstairs open to the cats. I know it sounds goofy, but now that I'm going to be have a child and she's not going to grow up in the most Hispanic of places I want her to show her everything I can. I know a Latin station sounds like a silly thing, but being that now in my belly she starts moving as soon as she hears any type of music I want her to be able to know and recognize the music that is a part of our culture. I told Joe we were going to need to move to a city with a decent Latin station and he told me we'd just get satellite radio, I think now he'll be happy we can find it online :-)