Thank you

It has been nearly a week since we have shared Will's news, and the outpouring of love and support has been indescribable. I was hesitant to share our news for many reasons, but Mark was certain that it was the best way to inform our friends and family of what may lie ahead and help relieve some of the anxiety that we were all feeling each time we left the house. It was hard for us to verbalize much of anything in regard to Will without emotion taking over. We still feel so blessed that we received the news by reading it, instead of by phone, allowing us time to process, re-read, and formulate questions of what may lie ahead. Mark thought we owed the same courtesy to our friends and extended family.

As usual, he was right. Though I already knew we were blessed with amazing friends and a strong faith community, realizing that people now know Will the way we know him has helped ease the apprehension of what comments or questions people may ask. For the sweet ladies in the grocery store line, other expectant mothers at the library or pool, or our sweet dental hygienist today full of questions, we have equipped the girls with the line, "it will be an adventure" for each time someone asks if they are excited to have a new sibling. This way they don't feel like they have to pretend that they aren't confused, hurt, or upset about what we are experiencing, yet they don't have to explain it to unsuspecting by-passers either. The other day, Grace answered with, "he's a blessing" which melted my heart.

And he is just that...a blessing. Although he has yet to arrive, he has already strengthened our faith, enhanced our love, and increased our trust. For the past 6 weeks each appointment we have been to, we have entered holding our breath and praying that there will be good news, yet each appointment has been harder and harder for us to handle. We have been having a rough week this week and I tried to mentally prepare myself for another round of tough news today. On Monday, my 4am sessions with Will ended. For the past 6 weeks I have become accustomed to waking up anticipating his movements and felt nothing. All Monday, he was quiet. Tuesday, again nothing except for now there was a nagging back pain, and I was having trouble controlling my blood-sugar getting crazy sweats and faintness. Wednesday I was preparing myself for the possibility that at our ultrasound they would not find his heartbeat. However, wrapped in all the love and prayers of Will's prayer-warriors, the moment she placed the doppler, we saw his little heart flutter on the screen instantly flooding us with relief.

We cannot say thank you enough for all of the prayers and support that have been shared. Many people have questions about Will, how the girls are doing or how our appointments are going. Verbally, I will probably answer questions with a healthy dose of sarcasm as this is usually my go-to way of coping with things. I will tell you about our incompetent ultrasound tech and how she dribbled Will like a basketball, or how he put his foot over the needle during our amnio so that they couldn't take any more of his swimming pool. My real way of coping with things is to journal on the blog. Most of what I blog is left unpublished, so that we can privately look back at our thoughts and remember certain moments in time that we cherish. We have decided, in Will's case, that it may be beneficial to post his journals so that those who love him most, can understand him best. Hopefully, this weekend we can sort through what we feel should be shared and what we would like to keep private. In the meantime...continued thanks.