We are so fortunate

We have two wonderful amazing kids...at times they stress us out, but in the end of the day, we are so very blessed by them. Meghan and I can pretty much have a baby at will...or it feels that way. Sometimes we feel like its a curse, but really its a blessing. Today, I think of my friends who haven't been so fortunate. We have a few friends who try and try to have a baby and can't. Some of them finally did after a year of trying and others, well I guess it wasn't in God's plan for them right now. We've also had some friends who have gotten pregnant only to have soul crushing news delivered to them.

We are SO fortunate to not have had to go through these things. I never want to forget that or take it for granted.

Everyone has their trials and tribulations that they go through, they are necessary for growth and refinement of our character. Most recently a college friend of mine, Kris Heller, blogged about their latest trip to the OB, they were so excited to find out the sex of their new (first) baby. Here is an excerpt...

We told the ultrasound tech that we wanted to have the baby's health & measurements done first before finding out what the sex of the baby was. We wanted to save the best for last...

Within two minutes, our whole world crashed.

The ultrasound tech paused, saying that there was a problem. All I remember was my heart beating so fast & loud that I thought it was on the overhead sound system. I thought I was going to pass out as she focused on the baby's head. She measured the baby's head... there was more fluid than usual in her head. That wasn't the only thing. There was a small fluid cyst on the back of her head, too.

My husband was on the verge of passing out. He was seeing black spots, feeling dizzy.

I've gotten some bad news in my life (the call from Beth and Karl about our rental house being filled with sewer water would be right up there) but this would be at a whole new level. I imagine my life if either of our two amazing kids hadn't made it through to be with us. My life would be so different. My outlook on life might be so different. The doctor sent them to a specialist...40 minutes away. What an awful car ride that must have been.

We had to drive 40 mins to the specialist... so many tears. I think our hearts cracked right in half that day.

At the specialist, I don't remember walking up the stairs or if we took the elevator. We waited while the ultrasound tech there took a million ultrasound pictures and they were too hard to look at. I could see exactly what was wrong...  

The tech there asked if we wanted to know if it was a girl or boy.. I looked at my husband not knowing if I even wanted to know at this point. He said yes, and she said it was a little girl..

My little girl. The one I'd been hoping for... the one I dreamed about.. and she has unbelievable problems.

The Specialist came in and was very matter-of-fact. He spoke as he went over the pics and did an ultrasound at the same time, yet again, pointing out the horrific problems...  the problems didn't stop there. He highlighted her kidneys saying they were enlarged, not really functioning... barely any amniotic fluid being produced. The prognosis: lethal. "Not viable to sustain life."

Imagine hearing that..

I want to ask everyone that reads this...which might not be many since I don't blog anymore (I really enjoy it though and need to just remember to do it)...to say a prayer for Mike and Kris. Say a prayer for all your friends that are pregnant or who want to be pregnant. Lord willing I will never have to see another one of my friends have their dreams come crashing down on them like this again!

Hope for a new month

March was a horrible month in the Rasmussen home. It started out innocently enough. We celebrated Meghan's birthday...a few times. I had a trip to California for work which went smoothly.

But then mid-month came the news that my Grandma was in the hospital. Initially we weren't sure what was wrong but hospitals and my Grandma have been together for a while so nothing new. As the weekend approached it started to seem a little more serious though and we were concerned. We actually got to the point of packing to leave not knowing if it would be a quick two day trip or an extended trip so we packed for about 5+ days just in case. Then it seemed like things were going to be okay (it was Saturday we were going to head out on) so we stayed home.

On Tuesday night, we were out getting pizza while our Saturn was getting fixed and I got a troubling call from my older sister. Grandma wasn't doing well. The finally figured out what she had: Herpes Encephalitis. Basically its herpes inflammation in her brain...not a good thing to contract by any mean and very very rare (about 1 in 500,000 will contract it). Its caused by the same Herpes Simplex 1 that causes cold sores and fever blisters. I later found out that Grandma had herpes that had affected her eyes which gave her much grief.

So hearing that news changed our entire week. The outlook was grim and there was little they could do for her in her condition. Her time was going to be limited. We got home and planned to leave the next day after work, which we did. We got in late on Wednesday night and went to bed at my parents only to be awoken at 5 am with the awful news of her passing. I was so sad that we didn't make it over there to see her and say goodbye. The family spent the rest of the week and weekend grieving and remembering a great woman. I learned a lot about Grandma looking through old pictures and asking about stories. Stuff I wish I had done more with her...though she often didn't remember these details now because of the stroke she had suffered.

The funeral (on Monday) was very nice, sad but nice. I put together a video slide show that we had on display showing her happy times in life. She was a wonderful woman. The girls put together picture collages that were put up around the funeral home. My Aunt Debbie did an amazing tribute to her mom during the funeral that didn't leave a dry eye in the house...God must have been with her to allow her to get through it without breaking down. We miss a wonderful mom, grandma and great-gran, but she's living without pain now.

Here is her obituary:
http://www.postcrescent.com/article/20110320/APC010301/103200670/Rasmussen-Norma

The next week was sad but we were trying to move on when suddenly I had multiple missed calls from one of my closest friends Jason...odd I thought. Then Meghan called and told me to call Jason right away...something had happened. I called a crying Jason who informed me that his 12 year old nephew was killed in a car accident that morning on the way to school. Jason and I have been friends for 14+ years and were roommates for 7 of those years...to say we are close is an understatement. I know his family very well and this news hit me like a ton of bricks. I was there to rejoice with Jason when Micah was born...I never thought I'd have to see him mourn his death and especially not so soon.

Here is the story about the even from WCCO:
http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2011/03/24/12-year-old-dies-in-rollover-crash/

A sad event took a turn when his family chose to not just mourn in his death during the funeral but turn the focus to a God whom Micah loved dearly. It was a truly memorable service that was filled with sadness but also joy in knowing that they would see him once again in heaven. See Micah had a DEEP passion for God. He knew more scripture than most of us ever will and he's 12. He was a caring and compassionate young boy who reached out to those in need and always had a smile on his face. I think, honestly, that God missed him up there and wanted him back. He'll be missed here but he's in a better place now and there is peace in that.

After that funeral (the following Monday) came and went I was out of tears. Then while on another business trip I saw a very sad sounding post from a friend and former small group member from my church. I went to their blog to learn that one of their almost 8 month old twins had just lost her battle for life. These two girls were born at 26 weeks and had struggled through every month of their life just to breath and live.

Reagan and Eden and their parents Scott and Amanda have been an inspiration to Meghan and I. They have been through more in those 8 months than I hope to ever have to endure. We had been praying for them since we met them shortly after the girls were born. We rejoiced when Reagan came home to be with them and now we mourn that one of the girls has lost her battle. It makes me so sad to think that Reagan will never really know the girl that was her twin...but as her parents said in their blog, "Jesus welcomed her into heaven today where there are no ventilators, trachs or medications. Instead she is perfectly healthy with pink blankets, green rings and soft socks". I don't have many tears left in me, but my heart is filled with sorrow for so many people that I know and love.

Here is a link to their blog where you can learn about their journey:
http://hedingrowingfamily.blogspot.com/

They say that death comes in threes, I can only pray that this is the end of it for me for a long time. Please pray for my friends, The Roelofs' (Micah's family) and the Hedin's (Eden's family). Pray that April allows them a fresh start and God is there to comfort them in their sadness.

Remember to be thankful

Thanksgiving is always a great time to keep me focused on the important things. Its so easy to take things for granted. We are SO blessed. We've got an amazing family, two healthy kids (although one that doesn't know how to sleep at night), wonderful family and friends around us, two good jobs, cars that work, a nice house (alright three...but one we live in), etc. Its amazing how good we have it and how easily I forget that!

I am reminded when reading the blog of my friends, the Hedin's, about some of the trials you can go through. I can't imagine my little girl and boy stuck in the hospital 24 hours like that. Yet even the Hedin's have tons to be thankful for and I am sure they realize it. No matter how bleak things seem we still have an amazing amount of things to be thankful for. One of the lowest points of the past 5 years for me was when our Rochester house was destroyed by a sewer backup. It was devastating, not only for us, but for our friends who were renting the house from us. Yet even during all of that, God blessed us so much. He used that low point to show us that he always provides. He used it to show our friends that his community is amazing and that complete strangers will go out of their way to help people in need.

Don't waste this opportunity to remember all the things you can be thankful for!

Things are starting to slow down a little

Well with how infrequently we put stuff up here, I can't imagine we have a ton of people checking our blog...if you are still checking, leave us a comment so we know that its worth continuing to do these!

We've had a LOT going on lately.
The addition of AARON to the family has made us much busier than we ever thought we would be. You quickly forget how much work a newborn can be, but when you add a toddler into the equation, yikes...its tiring. Aaron has been teething lately (kinda early for that) so sleep has been at a premium in our house. Earlier in the week, Meg and I were basically sharing one person's night of sleep. Not going to complain though, he's an amazing gift. Some highlights of what Aaron is up to include being able to sit in a bumbo and play in his bouncy toy, he can smile and giggle, he rolls over from tummy to back and rolls onto his side. He's pretty cute and if I had some pictures on this computer I would post them!

ADDISON just turned two! I can't believe she's two already. We kept it low key this year though and just had family over and took them out for pizza to celebrate. Addison loves her new toys. The new kitchen is the one that stands out the most in basement but she loves her baby stroller and recycling truck, and everything else too! It was a good birthday for her, she needed some fresh new toys in her life! She never ceases to amaze me with how intelligent she is. She even knows that when we spell out b a t h that it means bath! haha She really thrives on playing with friends and has become quite the social girl. Her new sitter, Nicole, has a 2 year old (almost) daughter that she brings along and they play together all day.

We started leading a SMALL GROUP recently. Its gone really well, we really like everyone that joined the group and everyone is quickly becoming good friends. Everyone has such interesting and unique backgrounds and we love learning about what makes them all tick. Next week is our first social/volunteer activity. We are doing OCC boxes together and doing a potluck style dinner...using our friend Becky Cochran's potato soup recipe (YUM). Should be a memorable night. Every couple has kids and they really seem to get along well. There is one 3 year old, 2 two year olds, and one that is about 20 some months old. Great ages for playing together in the basement while their parents build friendships and learn about God! One of the couples has been struggling with having their two little newborn girls in the NICU at Children's. Its been a real trial for them, check out their situation in my last blog before this one. Feel free to check their blog to learn more about what they've been through and keep them in your prayers!

So that is what we've been up to lately. I'll try to get better with blogging now that Aaron is getting a little older. We are finally able to start having some free time at night again!

Please pray for our friends...

We just got an email from our friends, the Hedins, they have twin girls born at (I believe) 28 weeks. They were both VERY tiny and way behind in development. They've been at the NICU at Childrens since they were born and are now ALMOST full term (39 weeks). Amanda emailed me this morning with some sad news, the littlest one, Eden, was put back on a ventilator this morning. This is apparently a huge setback in her development.

Here is an exerpt from their blog:

"Today was the toughest day thus far, our hearts are aching with how difficult it has been. Eden was having trouble breathing all day, she was almost exclusively needing 100% oxygen when her MD decided that she needed to be reintubated (put back on the ventilator). He said she was so close to falling off the cliff, and he hated to have her struggling for every breath. Her reintubation was not easy because she has an anterior airway and her energy reserves were low to begin. She spent 4 weeks off the ventilator doing so well with her nasal cannula and her O2 needs were low, so we just don't know why this is happening. She is doing better now that she is on the ventilator. We however have been pushed to the breaking point. I seriously don't know how much more we can handle. I personally feel like my heart is crumbling into a thousand pieces, this setback is so huge we just don't know when she will be coming home"

I know I haven't updated in a while but I felt like this was very important and I wanted to make sure our new friends were doused in prayer during this tough time. I'll be posting on here more often again though...just stay tuned!