Personal Update: Ending of 2012 and Beginning of 2013

Hello All, I know that I have been missing in action for a few months.  Those of you who know me in the "real" world, know that I've had a very rough end to 2012 and a worse start to 2013.  As you may remember, my twin sister was gifted with a heart transplant two years ago (click the blue to read that post).  Things were very rocky the first week and the doctors did many things to save her life.  Well, one of the surgeries that was performed immediately after transplant actually caused the inferior vena cava (how the blood leaves the heart to be dispersed to the body) to become complete obstructed.  On December 14, 2012, the doctors had to completely replace that portion of the heart with a gortex tube.  The surgery took as long as the transplant, but I'm happy to say it was a complete success. Praise God!  I was also blessed with a new job (but with the same company I've been at for 14 years), and started that on December 11, 2012, so we ended the year with lots of excitement. 



Unfortunately, 2013 started out with a major event as well, but not a positive one.  With an extremely sad heart, I share with you that my husband and I had a beautiful baby girl, Constance Marie, stillborn on January, 4, 2013. She was approximately 30 weeks and was born into eternal life and is being well cared for by her grandparents and our Loving God.



My husband and I with Constance as our family priest blessed her.



The first time I held my precious daughter.



Many people have experienced the devastation of the loss of a child and I now have an understanding for their grief.  My husband and I were forever changed the day our daughter was born.  She made us mommy and daddy and will always be our first child.  We haven't decided yet if we will try to have more children, we are simply trying to heal emotionally, physically, and spiritually.  God has surrounded us with loving examples of His people.  They have been His hands and feet and have shown us many blessings through this loss.  We are keeping track of those blessings.  God is good, even when we don't understand His plan.  Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we heal.