47

So it seemed only fitting that we were back together on a Tuesday, here in the house with the Japanese maple out front. As I readied to go, I mentioned this to Morrie.

"We're Tuesday people," he said.

Tuesday people, I repeated.

(an excerpt from Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom)

We're Thursday people.

It's been Thursdays for 8 years now that I have had company for supper, visiting and television.

It was on a Thursday when we discovered how well we worked together as a team. J-L wasn't even invited for the meal that day and yet he helped me clean and cook prior to my guests arriving and his slipping out.

It was a Thursday we cooked a large portion of our wedding meal.

It was the wee hours of a Thursday morning when I went into labour for my firstborn.

It was a Thursday when they discovered the growth.

It was a Thursday when he was pulled from my womb.

And, it was a Thursday when Jack's Children's Hospital medical file was closed.

"I don't need to see him anymore." A simple little statement but J-L and I both had tears in our eyes when Dr. Wiseman said it. You see, it's gone. There is still some loose skin there where it once was but nothing more - certainly not enough to make surgery worthwhile. Dr. Wiseman was stunned when he looked at Jack's back. He wasn't comfortable with J-L referring to it as a miracle but nonetheless he was shocked and amazed. That's fine, doctor, you can fall back on your science, we'll fall back on our God.

47 weeks. That’s how long that thing was a part of our lives. 47 weeks. I have a friend who gets rather introspective at the beginning of each year. She's made the comment to me more than once that you "just never know". You just don't know what lies ahead. You don't know what the next year will bring. We had no idea at the beginning of 2008 what would affect the majority of the year. And yet now here we are at the end of the year and the end of the growth.

We've been blessed.

For those of you who couldn't make it...

Here's a slideshow I did up for the baby dedication. (Hopefully at some point I'll get other parts of the service up on here.)

If you happen to be in the neighbourhood...

We are having a baby dedication for Jack (and us as parents) this Sunday, September 7th, at our church, 10:30 am. (It will happen during a regular Sunday service.)

The address:

891 St. Mary's Road

Winnipeg, MB

Canada

Come on down, you KNOW you want to see how cute he is.

Nearly 2 months!

It's hard to believe, how our lives have changed. How monumental that tumour was for 20 weeks and how minuscule it's been for the past 8 (literally and figuratively). Amazing. I nearly forget that there were times we weren't sure whether we'd get to hold our son. Nearly... probably never completely forget.

I don't have much time at the moment as we're heading out camping shortly. The 4 of us. 4! A few months ago we had no idea how our life would turn out and wondered if we'd be able to do regular summer activities or if we'd be spending most of it in NICU. And now we're going camping. We are blessed.

Thank you again for all your prayers and love and support. It looks as though Jack will have his growth removed close to his first birthday. The surgeon thinks that's the optimal time. I'll try to update the blog sporadically between now and then but if I fail PLEASE be sure to (a) check back in April of next year and (b) email me if you're wondering about That Boy You Prayed For.

2 weeks

It's been 2 weeks since our little baby boy charmed (or squawked, depending on the moment) his way into our lives. I keep wanting to come on here and post something about how lovely it is that he is home with us and that his tumor is not life-threatening. But, for the most part I am just recovering and learning how to be the mother of 2. Oh yeah, and sitting around with a silly grin on my face. So, this will be a quick one.

In a very short amount of time (I would imagine) the glow will come off the joy of having a baby brother but for these days I can't even tell you how much it pleases me that Abby has taken to having her naps in our bedroom so that she can sleep beside her brother. And, as always, it comes down to song lyrics for me. Cue Elton John's Greatest Discovery.

In those silent happy seconds
That surround the sound of this event
A parent smile is made in moments
They have made for you a friend

And all you ever learned from them
Until you grew much older
Did not compare with when they said
This is your brand new brother
This is your brand new brother
This is your brand new brother








Also, to those of you who have taken the time to send us a postcard, thank you. The pile is steadily growing and it's a thrill every time I see one of them in the mailbox. To the rest of you, please send one on our way. We'd so love to be able to show Jack one day how many people from around the world were praying.

Cynthia Plett or J-L Laurendeau
221-294 Beliveau Road
Winnipeg MB
R2M 1T4

It’s Sunday!

Some of you may remember this post. Sometimes we are called to Good Friday. And sometimes we are called to Easter Sunday. It’s Sunday here in the Plett Laurendeau residence. And the tulips are up!

On January 10th we felt as though our world shifted. We were told some shocking news about our unborn son and from that point until May 23rd we felt a heavy load that affected every aspect of our lives. Our son had a very large tumor on his back and we had no idea what our future would look like.

I was very guarded about showing a photo of the tumor on this blog as I felt rather protective of him. I didn’t want people to come on to gawk at my son. I showed close friends and family but that was it. That has changed a bit now and I’ll explain why later.* Below is what the tumor looked like in February. It might be tricky to understand the image completely but at the top is the back of his head and neck and then his shoulder comes off into his arm. As you can see, the tumor covers a large part of his back, basically from his neck down to his elbow. It also sticks out quite far. (If you click on the photo it opens up larger and the labels might help.)

The next photo is Jack directly out of my womb. Already not as dramatic.












And the third photo is Jack on Friday, May 23rd, a day after his birth – a completely different looking growth than what we saw in the womb.









We felt less worried the moment we saw it. And yet, we didn’t know. We waited. Yes, it seemed much less dramatic but perhaps it would still affect his heart a great deal. Or, perhaps he would still have to spend some time in NICU and be poked and prodded and tested. And perhaps he would still have to have surgery or not be able to go home with us as the growth would be too sensitive or tender.

But, just as our world changed dramatically on January 10th it did again on Friday, May 23rd at about 12:15. The pediatric surgeon made his way to our room to take a look at Jack. He removed his sleeper and turned him over. And basically the first words out of his mouth were "that’s it?" And we exhaled. He went on to tell us that he no longer thought it was an AVM at all (it was so hard to tell in ultrasound photos) but that it was an angioma and that it had shrunk dramatically since the first image. (Angiomas are a lot more common and a lot less frightening than AVMs.) In his opinion (and we’ll keep it since he’s one of the top pediatric surgeons in the city) Jack doesn’t even need to go for an MRI at this time and… HE CAN GO HOME WITH US. And there is a chance that he might never need surgery! (Or, if he does it will be more for cosmetic reasons.) Basically, right now we’re just to keep taking photos of the growth to see if it changes and then in a month we are to meet with the surgeon again to see where we go from there.

Life is just so very, very good. J-L and I had moments of dreaming of the best case scenario (maybe he can stay in the room with us! maybe he can go home with us! maybe the tumor won’t look all that bad after all!) but we rarely allowed ourselves to imagine it could be this good.

We’ll always remember Good Friday as we are called to do but for today we are putting on our Easter Sunday clothes and enjoying the tulips.

Thank you again for all of your prayers. We serve an amazing God. (One that shrinks tumors.)

* I felt it necessary to show the original tumor photo so that you could understand how frightening it looked and how banal it looks now.

A quick update

Just came home to water the flowers, grab a bite to eat, and drop a quick note. I'll keep it short:

Jack is great, Abby is great, Cynthia is great, the future for Jack...great.

I will post more (much much more, and photos too), but not for a couple of days as I help out at the hospital.

Thanks all of you. At the risk of sounding cheesy, we love you all.

Thank God.

J-L

May 22nd

So, here it is. Jack's birthday. I have to admit, back on January 10th I never thought we'd make it this far. But, in about 15 minutes we head off to drop our excited daughter (she's having a SLEEPOVER at Auntie Hedder and Uncle Cel's!) off and then we head off to the hospital. And we're equal parts excited and scared and deliriously happy.

And if I type more than that I'll likely start crying and these days it's hard for me to stop so I'd best keep this unemotional. There will be enough time for crying later.

Thank you so much for all your prayers. I have been completely overwhelmed by the amount of people who have taken the time out to visit this blog on a regular basis. We will definitely keep the blog updated as our adventure continues.

In the meantime, there's something I want to ask of you. (Besides continued prayer today.) I'm wondering if you wouldn't mind putting a postcard in the mail to us. I think it would be a very cool addition to Jack's memory box. I know there are a whole lot of you that have been reading this blog anonymously and that's fine, I read lots that way too. And frankly, if you don't know what to write that's fine too. Seriously, all you have to do is find a postcard from your city/state/province or whatever and put our names on it and send it off. You don't even need to sign it if you don't want to. Here's the address:

Cynthia Plett or J-L Laurendeau
221-294B BELIVEAU RD
WINNIPEG MB
R2M 1T4

For those of you who think I'm ridiculously unsafe for putting my address out on the internet, don't worry. That's not our address. Frankly, it's not even the address of anyone we know. Tricky, hey?

So, could you do that for us? Even if you live in the same city or we see you almost every week - I just think someday it would be nice to tell Jack about all the thoughts and prayers that people were sending our way from all over the world.

Thank you. And now, we're off. Hopefully the next time I do this it will be one-handed typing.

In thinking about tomorrow

Today might prove to be the very fastest day ever at the same time as being the very slowest.

Week 38 - The Last One, and a few random thoughts

Well, today was it. Our last ultrasound EVER. But before that, we had the PAC (pre-assessment clinic) with a nurse to fill us in on what to expect next week (next week, holy cow!). Where to check in, where the surgery will be, where the recovery room is, etc. All the fun stuff. For those of you that know me, I am a planner, so knowing more details about the c-section was very good.


The ultrasound. Nurse L was back, and it was very good to have her do the last ultrasound; it wouldn't feel right if someone else did it. Jack is really good, and quite big. Our boy hit the 8 lb. mark, and has these crazy big cheeks. His heart and blood flow are great. In fact, Doctor C even mentioned the chance that Jack may not need to go into either the NICU or T1 (intermediate care) after his birth, that he may actually be able to stay in Cynthia's room AND may be able to come home with us when Cynthia is released from the hospital. I have to say a tear rolled down my cheek as I thought of Jack being able to sleep with his Mommy his first night. But again, there are no guarantees, but it sure does seem promising.


It sunk in today as we were discussing the surgery with the nurse; we are having another baby. A boy. A son to carry on my family name. A boy named after his Pepere. You have no idea how proud that makes me. It never really mattered to me about having a boy until we found out that Jack was, well, Jack. Believe me, I would have been over the moon with another girl, but this is really cool on a whole other level.


I am so proud of Cynthia. This pregnancy has not been easy on her, for many reasons. But she has been so strong throughout it that I can't help but sing her praise. Moodge, once again, thank you for making me a father, and for enduring two very difficult pregnancies. You are the best.


We will talk again soon. Thanks for stopping by, we appreciate it.


J-L

We are down to single digits!

Yikes!

Random thought that occurred to me last night as I tossed and turned: You know that ad on tv where they show how the bed partner won't feel the other person's movements? And they prove it with the glass of wine and the person jumping? I'd like to see it redone with a 9-month pregnant woman trying to turn over in bed. I bet you they'd be cleaning up wine faster than you can say "bowling ball mattress".

Week 37 - And then there was one

We had the second to last ultrasound this afternoon, and all is well. Jack now weighs 7 lbs 8 oz., and is still breech, but moving like crazy and causing his Mommy to lose her breath more and more. In fact, Doctor C. didn't even talk about TH today, which is definitely a first for us. Our fantastic Nurse L. was away sick, and while her replacement was a nice enough lady, she was no L. We really missed her today. She has become an integral part of all this, and all for the right reasons. We hope she is back for next week.

Doctor K and Doctor C will be in and out of the hospital over the next 14 days. For a planner like me, this is a little disconcerting, because I need to know how things will unfold (will we make it to the 22nd, will both doctors be there, etc.). But alas, there is nothing I can do; no answers once again. It still bothers me to not have any answers to my 7 million questions, so we'll just have to wait and see, again.

Next Thursday is our PAC (pre-admission clinic) for the surgery and the aforementioned last ultrasound. I can't believe that 17+ weeks have passed since we found out about TH. And now, in 2 weeks we will get to meet our little boy. We. Can't. Wait.

I have to say it again; thanks so much for your prayers and positive thoughts. We are grateful for them and for you.

J-L

16 more days

Did you know that a hamster's gestation period is 16 days? I'm not saying I'd LIKE for ours to be that small (how would you possibly get mentally prepared?) but I'm not so sure that I'm crazy about 266 days either. (Although, I know, it could be worse: elephants? Around 645 days. Ugh.)

And thus concludes your science lesson for today.

There's an update, must be Thursday (Week 36)

3 weeks from today our son will be born. Wow. That's THIS month. Which, is good 'cause I'm pretty much ready to be able to see my feet again and to be able to breathe with some normality.

The appointment went well today. He's still doing well. Yes, TH is still there but outside of that everything is good and normal.

He's got quite the chubby cheeks, our boy. (Stay tuned for an updated ultrasound photo, hopefully tonight.) He's right around 7 pounds. Apparently that's fairly average but with 3 weeks still to grow I'd say there's a definite probability that he will be heavier at birth than his sister (7 lbs. 13 oz.)

Interesting to note: He is still breech. Most babies (to the tune of 94% according to our doctor) have turned by this point in the pregnancy. Only 3% more turn in the next 3 weeks. Apparently he's decided that he wants to be born by caesarean section even if TH weren't in the picture.

Week 35 update

Thursday Thirteen

1. TH continues to get flatter.

2. Which, is good for the c-section as it makes things a bit safer for delivery.

3. And, it's also good as there’s a chance that by the time Jack is born strangers that see him with clothes on will likely not even know what is beneath. (just being the protective mom)

4. It appears that Jack will be born on May 22nd. A Thursday. As it should be.

5. Which is sad in that initially they were toying with May 15th and now this means that I will have to be pregnant for one more week.

6. And I know it shouldn't be about me and I shouldn't be whining with all that's gone on but goodness does pregnancy seem never-ending some days.

7. It also terrifies me that (as the 22nd is only 3 days from his due date) I will go into labour beforehand. Yes, they will still do the c-section but um, I will also have contractions. Seems to me that that then becomes the worst of both worlds.

8. We met with the surgeon again.

9. He threw out a few more options and possibilities. But "we won’t know until he is born and tests have been run". And we're done with those. We're sick of them. Don't throw any more stuff at us unless it's something you know for sure.

10. He's a very smart man who is the top in his field for a reason. That being said, he does not spend a lot of time speaking in layman's terms and we mostly sit there stunned and confused. I could have kissed our nurse when at one point (and after the surgeon had been going into medical terms about the "fetus" for far too long) she piped up "His name is Jack".

11. Speaking of kissing near strangers: J-L has been having a rough week. Things have been hitting him hard about Jack and at one point he mentioned this to our doctor. In his words: "I just feel like I should be able to fix it. I'm the dad. That's my job." To which our doctor said: "You ARE fixing it. You are here week after week AND you are caring for your wife and daughter. Do you know how many men disappear or stop coming to appointments when things don't look good?"

12. J-L is able to take the Thursday (the 22nd) and Friday (the 23rd) off as personal days as well as the following week still leaving us 2 weeks for a trip this summer. As I said to him in the van leaving the hospital: "I NEED that trip. It's my light." We’re just so thankful with our understanding job situations.

13. We're a little down today. I don't know if either of us have figured out why as things aren't any better or worse this appointment than any other. But, he left there wanting some fried chicken and I've been wanting cheesecake all afternoon. Easy this ain't.

Week 34 update

This week J-L and I decided to place a bet as to Jack's weight. Whoever loses has to buy the other person a treat of his/her liking on Saturday.

J-L’s guess: 5 lbs. 4 oz.
Cynthia’s guess: 5 lbs. 6 oz.
Jack’s weight: 5 lbs. 11 oz.

Yes, that does mean I'll be enjoying some sort of treat. But, for those of you keeping track it also means that Jack has gained nearly a pound in a week! (No comments about the ice cream consumption helping that out, darien.) And for any of those who might be curious, the average weight of a baby in week 34? Um, according to 3 different websites: about 5 pounds. As our nurse said as she measured his head: "Whoa, good thing you’re not pushing THAT out."

Other tidbits:

- Next week the surgeon will be visiting again. He wants to see an updated ultrasound of Jack as he hasn't seen one in awhile.

- We signed a consent form this week. A consent form that says that they can take photos of our son to use in medical publications. To quote our doctor: "Because, when we discovered this about Jack, we couldn't track down any research about it and we'd like to help any doctors who may come across this in the future." And we understand. And we want to help too. But, goodness, does that bring about a mix of emotions: The scary reminder of how rare and unusual this is. But, also, the happiness that perhaps someday in the future we'll be able to offer some other desperate parents some hope. (And yes, I did make sure to ask if we could receive copies of any publications done.)

- Next week we will also likely learn what Jack's birthdate will be. It's ironic in a way, hey? For all the (and there are too many to count) unknowns of this pregnancy and the upcoming c-section and his life (and ours) post-delivery, there are several details (name, sex, birthdate, approximate size) things that we know that most expecting parents do not.

Week 33 update

And there it is, that word again:

Hope has a way of turning it's face to you
just when you least expect it
you walk in a room
you look out a window
and something there leaves you breathless

Hey, if this blog does nothing else it'll get you hooked on Sara Groves.

Our version for today:

Hope has a way of making you cry
just when you least expect it
you ask the question you're afraid to ask
for fear of the answer
and the answer lets you breathe

The question: Will we be able to hold Jack after he is born or will he be whisked away to NICU right away? Will Cynthia (it was J-L who asked the question) be able to nurse him?

The answer: Assuming his heart is doing well and he's breathing fine you'll be able to spend some time with him before he goes.

Thank you.

At one time, some 13 weeks ago we wondered if he'd make it to 40 weeks. We wondered if he'd live. And now it seems that we might even be able to HOLD him when he's born.

Exhale.

And other than that the appointment went well. He's now 4 lbs. 13 oz. He's still doing well our boy. Our beautiful boy.

Week 32 - Getting closer

Due to a much needed holiday that my girls are taking, we had to move up the ultrasound to this morning. We had a full room today at the WP; Nurse L, Doctor K, Grandma, H, N, J, M, Abby, Cynthia and me. Things are looking great for our little boy. The tumour is now 0.41, thanks to Jack growing and the growth flattening out . I don't care why the ratio is down, but it is. We got some really good 3D shots too, which is always a bonus. His little man-face and hairy noggin stole the show this morning. If I do say so myself, our son is a handsome little dude. Apparently our boy is not shy; he has no problem showing off his business, much to the chagrin of his female cousins in attendance. All in all today was, to quote a friend of mine, wicked awesome.

The news has been more encouraging as every week passes, and while I want to shout from the rooftops that it is only smooth sailing ahead (or at least it feels that way), I have to be careful to not get too confident or complacent, because that's the time when something silly will happen. I don't want silly, I don't need silly. Therefore, from here on in I shall remain cautiously optimistic.

In 7 weeks, we get to hold our son. Thank you God. You rock.

J-L

P.S. Thanks for stopping by to check us out, we really appreciate it.

A letter to my wife

* I had this post up briefly a couple of days ago, but took it down because I thought that this wasn't the place for it. But since you all know so much about us, this is the place for it. And besides that, I want it here. So there.

Cynthia,

I love you.

I know how difficult this pregnancy has been on you. With Abby, you suffered through prenatal depression, as you do now with Jack. Compounding that is The Himp on Jack's back, the growth that makes us mad, sad and frustrated. The mass that makes us tired, fearful, and anxious. I just wanted you to know that you have been handling it all so well, and that I am very proud of you. It would be so easy for you to just shut down and spend every evening in bed, but you don't do that. You still get on the floor to play with our beautful little girl, still entertain our friends on Thursday nights, and still give so much to Kidventure at church. I wish I knew how you did it, because I don't think I could.

You are strong, Moodge, much stronger than you give yourself credit for. I know sometimes you think that you are not handling it very well, but you are. Even when you are having trouble breathing because Jack is practicing his Riverdance routine on your lungs, or when the world seems to be coming down around you, you persevere. You do what you have to do. Not everyone could/would, but you do.

As I said before, I am very proud of you, and I am honoured to be your husband. Thanks just doesn't seem to be enough, but thank you so much for going through all this for our family. You are the best wife and Mommy a guy and a little girl and boy could ask for. We are lucky and blessed to have you.

I love you.

Your boy.

April

It is April 1st today. Know what THAT means? No, this wasn't some grand April Fool's Day scheme. Sigh. It means that I can now officially say that we're having a baby next month. NEXT MONTH! YAY!