Reflections...

Happy New Year everyone! I hope this New Year is full of great moments for all of you. We are hoping this new year brings many good things for Caden and our family. It will probably be one of the busiest years in our lives.

Things have already started to get quite crazy with Caden's medical care. We have seen the GI doctor, pediatrician, and have appointments this week with the pediatrician again and the plastic surgeon. We are also going to see an ENT in two weeks. We have been given some pretty hard news that Caden most likely has profound hearing loss or could even be deaf. This has been difficult to process as I wonder how communication will go with him at a very young age. As a mother you always want the best for your children and want them to have every opportunity to succeed in this world. I worry how Caden will do in a hearing "world" if he cannot hear. We have been told that there are a lot of successes with cochlear implants, so I am sure that is another impending surgery for him.

All of this information in a short period of time can be so overwhelming. I have learned that I can only take things one day at a time and literally one moment at a time. So far that has been another one of Caden's gifts to us; learning how to be completely in the moment. We have slowed down our normally fast pace life to just enjoy the little sweet things that Caden brings to our lives. His adorable smiles, cute little noises, and just being a cuddly little guy. We appreciate so much more the gift of our children as we have seen the reality of living in the NICU and the fear of possibly losing a child. I am also so grateful to have a partner through all of this that is strong as a rock. I am truly grateful for how amazing Chad has been through all of this. It is another gift that Caden has brought; showing me just how blessed I am to have married my best friend, someone deeply rooted in faith, and a father that loves his children beyond description.

As we enter into this new year as a family of six I am filled with much hope for what the future may bring, and some anxiety too. 2009 showed me that life is so completely unpredictable. I never in my entire life could have imagined having to face the situations that we have faced with Caden. I became part of a world I never really knew much about. A world where parents are faced with life-threatening struggles for there children, and the simple things we take for granted, like hearing, are a miraculous gift that not everyone is blessed with. I have learned that nothing is a given in this life. It is not a given to want another child and be given a perfectly healthy baby. I have also learned what to put value on in this life. The things that seemed so important before really do not even hold a candle to the gifts that I am surrounded by daily; 4 amazing children, a loving husband, wonderful parents and in-laws, and supportive friends. We have been shown how people really come together in time of crisis, and I am still in awe of how many people truly stepped in to help make our lives better in time of great need.

Happy 2010! I am really ready to start a new year with a brand new perspective.....

Mary