Nothing...

Chase's follow up meeting for the 48hour EEG was this morning...

As I settled in with my mom and the kids to hear the news, our doctor started off saying that he was surprised by the findings.

I thought to myself 'oh no, he is having hundreds of seizures a day, and I don't even know it.' But that was not the case. In the span of those 48 hours, there were

absolutely.

no.

seizures.

(WHAT!?! Really?)

The doctor said that he had never seen someone that has had a Grand Mal seizure, then have a few small seizures on the first EEG, that did not have some type of Epileptic condition. And that Chase still has a 50/50 chance of having something later on.

He said that because of the results, Chase looks completely normal, and that he is not going to give him medicine for something he does not have.

Thank you Jesus.

We still need to have keep watch for any other seizure symptoms, call if there is ever anything 'strange' going on that we might think would be a seizure. And we need to take precaution and not allow him to do anything alone or take baths alone in case a seizure would ever happen at that time.

The doctor said that if Chase reaches the end of high school and has never experienced another episode that it would be the first time ever that a child, with Chases seizure history so far, would just stop having the condition. But he gave room to say that it is not out of the realm of possibility, he just has never seen it.

The over all impression that I had was that this doctor, who is probably in his 60's and very experienced in his profession, has never seen a case like this.

Thank you God.

And thank you to all the family and friends out there that have been praying for us during this time of stress and a world of unknowns. Prayers, above and beyond hope, have been answered.

I went into the appointment ready to cry at the news, and take home a hefty medical prescription that I would somehow have to force down my little guys throat probably every day (I don't know that for sure, this is only what was in my head). And I walked out with the sense of a huge burden being lifted (my worry and stress) and being in almost shock and outright awe at the results. I can only think that this is a small miracle God has done with Chase. I was so worried about the medications, the long term and short term effects of that medication, the long and short term effects of what having seizures would do to his self image and confidence. And then to sit there and be told that NOTHING would be done, because there was no evidence that anything was really wrong with Chase...

I walked in there with little hope and a lot of worry, and praise my God who takes each sorrow and worry to heart, walked out of there with a renewed sense of awe at what a wonderful, amazing, God we have. I wasn't even asking for a miracle, just a comfort for the things we would likely endure... and God answered us with something better than we even dared to hope.

Thank you Lord.

Yes, my boy is completely normal :)

One Year Ago Today...

(it was a Saturday) I started feeling contractions that started to become fairly consistent by late afternoon.

I was calm though, because Jeff had just gotten home from his internship in Chicago on Friday (leaving early) night after a first scare of very consistent contractions Thursday night till Friday afternoon. As soon as he was on the plane, my contractions slowed :).

My mom was still in town, so she watched Chase while we went out that morning to spend a little more time together before the baby came. That afternoon I continued working on a nursing cover for a friend's baby shower that was happening on Sunday that I had put off until the last minute... I had been thinking, if I am not TOTALLY prepared, the baby will just not be able to come!... flawed thinking, I must say, oh well, I was pregnant, and I really wanted to go to that baby shower.

Throughout that afternoon and evening my contractions went from inconsistent to VERY consistent and I started timing them.... in the first hour they were already 3 minutes apart and about 45sec in duration... SERIOUSLY!?! But they were not very strong so I kept track of them for another few hours, they stayed pretty consistent. At about 9pm I told Jeff what was going on, and we decided to call the Midwife Center just to make sure things were going alright since we had a very different experience with Chase's labor (my water spontaneously broke before any contractions were felt). So I really didn't know what to expect from a 'normal' labor.

We called our midwife Anne and she had us come in to get checked out. Anne told us that she thought I would have the baby by Sunday, and that I shouldn't call back until I couldn't talk through the contractions. The first contraction I had while in the car was much more significant than all the previous... figures. We got home at 10:30pm and I tried to go to bed.

After a fitful time sleeping, I finally started to time the contractions again at about 2:30am when the became stronger. We called the midwife asap because Chase's labor was so quick, and were asked to meet at the Birthing Center in 45 min... I wondered to myself, 'so long?' But after packing up the car, and getting ready to go between contractions, it took us that long to get the the Center that was only 9 blocks away. The nurse met us at the door, and the midwife was only minutes behind us.

We got there at 3:15...

Ami was born at 4:25am.

Happy Birthday Baby Girl!

We celebrate you today, the wonderful girl you are. Smiles, deep giggle, 4 teeth, playful nature and dancing queen! We have had a special year getting to know the little person you are and are looking forward to the next seeing the little girl you are becoming.

We love you Ami Michele.

You fill our hearts with joy.

Love,

Your Mama