Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Anaïs' story

I have been wanting to start a blog after seeing how much it helped me to read blogs where parents were talking about raising a child with achondroplasia. So, this is it..I finally decided to just go ahead and do it.

I thought that for my first post it would be appropriate to tell Anais' story.

In May 2007, Jeff and I decided that it was time for us to have a second child. We were ready and felt that Sam was old enough to be a big sister. Four months later I was pregnant. This pregnancy was a tough one compared to my first one. Every screening test would come back abnormal but we never got a straight answer as to what was going on. Then, when I was about 30 weeks pregnant, I had an ultrasound and the doctors told me that the baby's arms and legs were measuring short. At first they didn't really think anything of it and told me the baby would probably just be short...kind of like me. They said that just to be safe, they would check again in 4 weeks to see how she was growing. Four weeks later, she was still measuring short and her head was now measuring big. The doctors then told us that they strongly suspected that it was achondroplasia but that we would have to wait until the birth to know for sure. These last weeks of my pregnancy were the longest and hardest weeks of our lives. We went through a roller coaster of emotions that I won't even go into.

On June 6th 2008, I had my C-section and Anais was born at 7:51AM. After a bunch of tests (CT scans, x-rays, genetic blood test) the diagnosis was confirmed.

We have been going through so many emotions and we are now determined to give this little girl the best life we can and to love her unconditionally. I can honnestly say that even though she is only 1 month old, she has already taught me so much more than I could ever think. I find myself being more accepting, which is quite frankly a quality I lacked.
My husband Jeff has been absolutely amazing, from the minute we learned about Anais' condition he was fine with it and was ready to give her everything. He truly is a role model for me and I am thankful to have him as my husband and as the father of my children. These kids have an amazing father...just ask Sam and she'll tell you! :)

Here are some pictures of Anais' birth:









Sam showing off her new little sister, she was so excited!
Sam, Anais my mom and me.


14 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Alex! Glad to see how well you guys are doing with this. My wife and I had a hard time dealing with the same thing at first when we found out about our Caitlin, who is now almost a year old, but she really is a wonderful baby and a joy to be with! Plus, lemme tell ya, achon babies have a smile that will stop strangers on a regular basis!

One of the best things that we've done was to attend the LPA regional and national conferences - having the opportunity to be a part of the larger community really gives you a sense of belonging to something bigger, and that's a really wonderful thing. Hopefully you guys will have the opportunity to do that as well!

I don't blog much, so I've never bothered to start one of these sites, but my wife posts loads of pictures to her Myspace page, and we're both on MySpace and Facebook - you're welcome to look us up on either one.

Welcome to the community!

Mike & Cherylle Mallinson

The Johnson Family 5 said...

Aww She is beautiful!! Congrats! I can't wait to read more about your adventures. Would it be ok if I add you to my blog??

Alex said...

of course Katie!

Alex said...

MIke, I am addicted to Facebook! I will look you up!

Caden and Mommy said...

Welcome to the blog world Alex! Blogging is so much fun! Thank you for sharing your pictures of your Anais with us! She is adorable!
Trisha

Tonya said...

Welcome!!! Your girls are beautiful! Looking forward to reading about Sam and Anais! Can I add you to my blogroll?

Jaime said...

Alex, welcome to the blogging world! Anais is beautiful as is Sam. I'm looking forward to following along, even though we've been in touch on MySpace. I just sent you a Facebook Friend Request. Thanks for sharing your story!

BRYAN'S YAYA said...

Welcome, welcome. What a beautiful family. And how lucky your family is..you have been blessed. This is such a special world that you have been introduced to - it will enrich your life in ways you never dreamed possible. We are so very lucky.

Candi
YaYa to Bryan

Alex said...

yes Tonya, you sure can! I already added your blog to my blog roll. :)

Sarah said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Kim said...

She is so beautiful Alex! I am so glad you have joined the blogging community. I've added you to my blogroll!

Patrick said...

HI Alexandra
Toutes mes félicitation
Tu as bien travaillé Tres bo bébé
Congratulation To you Miss

Patrick

Christelle H said...

Salut ma poule je viens juste de lire to blog que je trouve magnifique tu m'a fais pleure. Les pupuces sont trop belles et je pense a vous bisous toud pleins a toute la famille christelle, brianna et fletch

Alex said...

ohlala, Patrick et Christelle ca me fait super plaisir de lire vos commentaires, merci!!