Gracie 9 Months Old, 9 Month Review

Gracie 9 months old with Callie jumping in the picture

Gracie, 9 months in review(From left to right, top to bottom, Birth through 8 months) These were pictures taken on the 20th of every month.

Gracie turned 9 months old on December 20th. I can't believe we have had her home now for 6 1/2 months! I am a little reflective on this her last 'birthday' of 2008. Last year on December 4th we found out the news that would change our lives forever. We went to the Maternal-Fetal Specialists and they confirmed a heart defect and told us our baby had Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome. With our first child, we were very worried about a heart defect because Tom's brother and sister (born about three years apart) died days after birth from a heart defect. After we had 3 healthy children, I really did not worry anymore about it. Little did we know that the fourth times the charm. And what a charmer she is. We are so grateful to have Gracie in our home this year for Christmas. I can't help but think back to the December we had last year.

I remember......

*lots of tears, lots of research on the Internet, finding other HLHS baby blogs and notating which ones LIVED and which ones DIED, with a few more tears.

*wondering and worrying about whether my baby would live, stressing over statistics of a 75% chance of living, contemplating feeding tubes, oxygen, medications, doctor appointments and how it would change our daily lives and the lives of my three other children.

*trying the best we could to explain to our kids what was happening with mommy and the baby and why they would see their parents crying once and a while (which we knew would scare them and make them sad)

*several of my sweet friends and family coming to the home and bringing little gifts to lift our spirits.

*a wonderful family in our ward who did a fun 12 days of Christmas to us to lighten our load.

*my girls night out group surprising me at our Christmas get together. Instead of exchanging our usual $20 gifts, they pooled their money together and gave it to me in a card along with several complete freezer meals. You guys are awesome!

*wondering if I should buy any clothes for my new baby. Being told by the hospital coordinator that I could put socks on her in the intensive care unit and that's about it.

*having the third cold of my pregnancy in three months and feeling completely drained and tired.

*starting this blog which has been a wonderful way to document our journey, connect with our family and friends (and new friends!) and the life of our sweet Gracie.

I had a lady come up to me the other day and ask if I was Gracie Gledhill's mom and that she recognized me from the blog and wanted to say what an inspiration Gracie had been to their family and how they prayed every night for her. She asked me how we got through it and I said 'you just mentioned it'. We got through this because of the prayers OF ALL OF YOU! We have felt that we have been carried through our hardest times and I know it is because of the hundreds of prayers offered in our behalf. Thanks to everyone for being there for us during this life changing year. We appreciate your friendship and prayers. Here's to another life changing year.....2009!