by I’ve come to the realization that my Facebook memories are going to get more emotional over the coming weeks. And that means my posts probably will too.
A year ago, I was surrounded by friends and family. Some from across the country, celebrating the soon to be birth of our little guy. Surrounded by people who would ask, “what’s AJ stand for” and ask what they could do to help.
A year ago, I was blissfully unaware of any of how much help we would truly need.
A year ago I didn’t know a single thing about his heart defects or trisomy 21.
A year ago if you asked me to change out a trach or start a gtube feeding I’d have looked at you like you were crazy.
A year ago my biggest worry was if we had enough refills for the diaper genie to get us by until I could escape to Target.
A year ago we all still loved this little boy so, so much even before we laid eyes on him.
A year ago I had no idea just how much our lives were going to change.
A lot of people have asked if we knew before he was born. The answer was a definite no. What would have been different if we had? Maybe we’d have started at a different hospital. Maybe we’d have skipped decorating his room. Maybe we’d have asked for only buttons and snaps and no zippers on the baby clothes… (If you see any 18 month snap PJs, let me know!)
Ultimately though, it wouldn’t have changed anything. We would have fought just as hard for him then as we do now.
As hard as the pregnancy was (and it was a mess, I had to get IV rehydrated multiple times and spent most of it puking or sick), I wouldn’t change who this little boy is. I’d take away the suffering and pain for him if I could, but not him.
Not his half a heart.
Nor his post-stroke half a smile.
Not his extra chromosome.
Not his trach…. (Ok, wait. Maybe id rather that one go away, but only after surgery when it’s safe)
Not the mini medical degree we’ve all gained over the past year.
Nor any of those things that help make AJ who he is.
He’s a pretty amazing kid. And we have some pretty amazing friends and family who have supported us along the way.
To all of you who were there that day and brought gifts — I found my list of gifts for writing thank you’s a couple of weeks back. Sorry I never got around to writing out cards, it’s almost like we got busy or something. 😉. But thank you. Thank you for standing by our side and lifting us up, before we knew what was going on and after.
Without you all I truly have no idea how we would have done it. From helping with Averie to fundraising to sitting with us at the hospital to explaining medical things to us to traveling across country by cars and planes and sending us text or Facebook messages to Check in when we most needed it to running errands, making sure we ate and even helping to clean our house… That doesn’t even begin to cover everything folks have done to support us over the past year, but you get the point.
I honestly don’t know how we would have done all of this without our amazing network of friends and family. And I know you aren’t all pictured here, but I sure hope you all know who you are and just how appreciated you are.
