the reward is in the journey: i look for redemption in everything

i figured it was probably time for an update. i have run into people over the past month who i don't frequently see in person, but who keep up with my blog and it seems the lingering question is "how's it going?".

so, to answer that....i will have to say that things are going well. i have switched to an OB in Myers Park who delivers at CMC Main (off East blvd.). he was very kind and as strange as it may sound....i think he might be gay. a gay OBGYN? i know, right? i quietly observed him throughout my entire exam, as much as he observed me. i just look at it as one more interesting character in this crazy story. never a dull moment, people. never. besides getting a new OB and going to a closer doctor's office, things pregnancy-wise are going as they should. i have been dubbed a "high-risk" pregnancy, even though Dr. Miller doesn't really consider ME to be high risk, but the baby is and we're better off monitoring her and me on that level. usually a high risk pregnancy categorizes those women with high blood pressure, diabetes, or other health conditions that are, well.....risky during pregnancy. after my first appointment Dr. Miller assessed "you know, jessie.....you're not techinically high risk, so i should send you to a regular OB within this practice. but.....i like you, so i think i'm gonna keep you!" i blushed.

so to sum all that up, i am doing fine. i suppose i'm just in the waiting period. i start my 3rd trimester next week and honestly am so glad it's officially here! like i said in my last post, i have chosen to stay positive this summer and not dwell on the difficult things which are to come. i'm glad i have taken that stance because i am realizing more and more everyday all that i have to celebrate and be thankful for right now. we have been blessed and then blessed again. let me share:

recently someone gave mark a van. our band van (some of you may remember the elk van: R.I.P.) broke down a few months ago and then mark had a fiasco with a craigslist vehicle purchase that almost took his life (a tire fell off while he was driving on Interstate 77 going 55 miles an hour!). after he gave that p.o.s. truck away he was just riding our little scooter. so we are very thankful for the gift of the van! blessing...

i have also been receiving giant boxes of hand-me-down baby girl's clothes in the mail! it's been so much fun to get these hand-me-downs and start visualizing my little baby girl in them. i for one LOVE hand-me-downs, and who doesn't love FREE? so thanks to my friends and family who took the time to send the boxes. major blessing....

mark has been working from home developing applications for iphone, ipad and android. he loves his new line of work and i love him being home everyday. he's so smart that it's sexy. plus he has a tan and is working on his figure. i love my husband. i realize that even if we lost everything we will always have our love. that's how it all started anyways.

another blessing is that we got a decent check back from our taxes - which we were planning on spending on a new car for mark; but now we don't have to. we also have received an unexpected financial blessing from some friends. i am amazed and blessed. there are no words. the Lord is good, all the time, you guys.

after stalking my Medicaid case worker by phone for about 3 weeks and her never returning my calls, i finally receive a Medicaid card in the mail - for NOAH! which is good.....i did apply for him as well and am super thankful that he is now medically covered for a year. we are still waiting for MY medicaid card to magically appear in the mail. my dad asked me last week what i would do if they denied me. and i sassily said "i'm gunna march my butt right back up those stairs, stand in line for 2 hours again, then wait for an appointment for 3 hours again and re-apply. that's what i'm gunna do. but this time i will pack my own lunch and bring a book." i won't take no for an answer, i'm an American!

i am also super excited to announce that more family is moving into town. mark's brother joseph and his wife caitlyn are planning on moving to charlotte at the end of the summer. mark and i are REALLY close to them and we can't even express how awesome it will be to have them nearby! they debated going elsewhere for a few years but when they heard about our baby's heart and all that we are in for over the next 3 years they decided to come here and support us. i am amazed at that sacrifice and love. yay!

as you can see, we are just as overwhelmed with good things as we are with, well....the hard things to come. i look for redemption in everything.

on another note, we have had an update on our baby's heart since my last post. we went in about a month ago to see the pediatric cardiologist at The Sanger Heart Institute. he did another echo cardiogram (i always think of dolphins when i say that word.....because don't dolphins communicate with echos?). anyways.....on our way to the appointment i said a little prayer and just asked the Lord that nothing would be worse. that's all i prayed. the dr. did the echo-thingy and we saw our little wonder dance and wiggle on the screen - how i love her more and more each day! then he took us into a debrief room and said that he saw something a little different. -my heart stopped-

he continued....

it's actually nothing worse....and if i can say it, surprisingly.....it's a little more positive than what we were suspecting.

i'm breathing again, i feel the blood pulse back through my body

originally her diagnosis was Tricuspid Atresia with Transposition of the Great Arteries. Tricuspid means that there are only 3 chambers, when there should be four - hence the "Tri" in Tricuspid. but what the doc told us was that they DID see all 4 chambers this time - which was the positive part, but 2 of them are very under-developed causing the 2 good chambers to be larger and work over-time. now her diagnosis is Double Inlet Left Ventricle with Transposition of the Great Arteries . which sounds just as complicated, but is a slightly better diagnosis than the Tricuspid Atresia.

so with all of those changes, our baby WILL still need all 3 surgeries and the first one will still need to be within her first week of life, it just may not be as complex as they originally thought. which is good.

so yea.....now all we do is wait. and i keep getting larger and larger as the summer progressively gets hotter and hotter. our 7 year Anniversary is this Monday (the 24th) and mark bought us tickets to see Wicked , which i am SUPER stoked about! i love musicals. don't judge me.....

we also have tickets to Chicago the first week of June to visit my Aunt Kathy. since mark can work from anywhere that has WIFI, we have a lot more freedom to travel. but my travel days are limited so we figured we should get out of town before July, so we're not cutting it too close to my due date. we also realize our life is only going to get more complex once this baby is born and travels will be few and far between. for 2 wanderlusts this is a bit disappointing, but to every thing there is a season, right? we'll get her heart fixed up and be sailing the sparkly caribbean as a family of four before we know it!

one thing you can be praying about - or keeping an eye out for us is that we have to move. our landlord informed us last week that he is moving back into his house at the end of June and we need to skidaddle. awesome.....7 months pregnant.....middle of the summer......moving. so we're busy looking for a new place to rent that will suit our growing family. my biggest stipulation is that we stay close to the hospital (CMC Main). where we live right now it takes about 10-15 minutes to get there. either we stay around here, in the SouthPark area, or we get closer to the hospital.....but i don't want to move further away. we have a few houses we've looked at but are still waiting to hear back from landlords and what-not. so....yea, it's crazy but to be honest i am a bit excited about it. i like change. our landlord here is a little flaky and hasn't fixed several things that needed fixing and it's been a year. so....we're ready to move on and hopefully find a nice place with plenty of room that's close to the hospital.

if you see anything or know anyone that needs tenants, let us know. send me an email and i'll tell you our price range and how many beds/baths we're needing, etc.... pilesofsmiles@gmail.com

i think that's about it. thanks for stopping by.

love,
jessie, mark, noah and baby girl mathis