10 Months Old

As we near the holiday season we wanted to take some time to reflect over the last 10 months and the appreciation we feel for all our family and friends.

Ten months ago yesterday the Lord blessed us with a beautiful baby girl. When she arrived we had no idea the things we would face and the decisions we would have to make. Trinity has been such a "Joy" not only to our lives, but to many others!

When I think of the frustration I feel when we have to face yet another surgery I think of our friends the Timmerman's. As they celebrate Christmas this year they are also suffering the loss of their little boy Luke, that was stillborn a couple days before Trinity was born. My heart goes out to them during these holidays. God brought Liz and I together during our NST and I thank God for that. She has shown me so much strength and courage and I hope I can be half the woman she is. Even though Luke and Trinity never met, I know that he is looking down on her and is watching over her everyday and every trial that she faces. There is nothing harder then losing a child, and even though I can't relate with this term, I can only sympathize with the mothers and fathers that have. So to all of you that are celebrating Christmas this year and missing your loved ones, my heart goes out to you and your family. I pray that you feel a sense of "Peace" from the Lord and know that the ones that have passed on are celebrating with our Lord and Savior.

This year as I was doing my shopping for gifts an overwhelming feeling of hurt and pain came over me. I was struggling with what to buy Trinity for Christmas. What do you buy for a child that can't move her legs, can't crawl, and can't sit on her own? Well let me tell you there is not much out there. But God spoke to me in that moment and showed me that Trinity's gift has already been given to her, she has a great family and wonderful friends. Some of you she has never met, but God has connected us through all your prayers. When you see the smile on her face you realize there is nothing in this world that could break her spirit. She has shown me so much strength, patience, and love. So our worldly gift to her this year may have been small but our spiritual gift to her is what really matters. As we look into 2009 Shannon and I want to make a difference in Trinity's life and others in need. Making our relationship with God our number one priority and showing our children that God is what is most important in our lives. I know there are going to be days of anger and frustration, but who understands more then our Lord, who gave his only son so we could have eternal life with him.

So our gift to you, our friends and family, is that as we near another year we pray that you would make God your Lord and Savior. No matter what you are facing today He will carry you through it.

Thank you for helping us through this challenging year. We could not have done it without the support of all our family and friends. Your generosity and support will never be forgotten. All of you hold a special place in our hearts!!

Merry Christmas,
The Arthur's

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!

From our Family to Yours,
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!
Love, Shannon, Miranda, Aubree, and Trinity

MRI Results

Yesterday Trinity had her MRI done and today we seen Dr. Haines, the Neurosurgeon, to get the results. Unfortunately it was not the news we were looking for. The piece of skull that they removed the last decompression has grown back and is blocking the spinal fluid from getting to a portion of her brain. This can cause problems with choking, breathing, speech, facial expressions, and eating. There was a chance this could have happened, but we were hoping it didn't. He would like to get this done sooner then later, but is willing to wait until after the first of the year. Shannon and I are going to talk this over and pray about what we should do. It is very difficult with the holidays only 2 weeks away. We are thinking that we will probably wait until after the first of the year so we can enjoy our holidays with family and friends, but we also have to consider our insurance (don't you love insurance!!). Please pray that we make the right decision, not for our sake, but for Trinity's. He just don't want any of her current symptoms to get any worse.

Yesterday we also seen the Urologist for the first time. They are going to do some testing on Trinity after the first of the year (dates still to be determined). This will involve some ultrasounds of the bladder and kidneys and some other testing that will determine if Trinity is voiding completely and not causing any damage to her bladder and kidneys. They will also be checking her bowels to see how that looks. She deals with constipation and we have to help her with suppositories of which they informed us that will never change and she will deal with this for the rest of her life. He wanted to make sure I understood that doing a catheter is never out of the question and that it will probably be likely in Trinity's future. He did a good job of informing me of the things that Trinity will deal with as she gets older and I appreciate his honesty.

The past two days have been emotionally draining. Just when things start looking good for Trinity we get the news of yet another surgery. Discouraged is my word for the day. I am using this blog to be honest with everyone so I hope you don't mind. Do you ever wonder how much a little body like Trinity's can go through? It don't seem fair that someone as small as her should have to go through yet another surgery.

On a lighter note, we took Aubree and Trinity to the Mall of America this past weekend. We found it odd that everytime we would walk into a store and out of the store the alarm would go off. After awhile we figured out that Trinity's shunt is magnetic and the alarms pick up on magnets. So Trinity will never be able to be a very good thief because she will always get caught!!

MRI

I know we haven't blogged in awhile, but things have been busy traveling to Iowa and trying to get settled into our new home. Trinity had her first Neurosurgeon appointment on the 19th. It went okay. We didn't learn a lot at this appointment. They are going to do an MRI on the 9th of December to check the Chiari and make sure that it is not causing the choking and gagging. They will have to put her under for this which is never fun, but it has to be done.

We also seen her pediatrician for the first time and we really like her. She is from Michigan which for some reason made me feel good!?! Trinity has been fighting a really bad cold and it makes it very difficult for her to breath so we are trying to get her over that.

Aubree started dance class and really enjoys it. She is turning 3 on Friday. She loves her birthday, what am I saying everday is Aubree's birthday!!!

Don't forget to send us your Christmas cards!! We love getting good mail instead of hospital bills all the time! I know some of you have been asking for our new address so I am going to put it on here so you have it:
3521 Maplewood Circle, Excelsior, MN 55331

We hope you all had a great Thanksgiving! We were very blessed to have been back in Iowa and spend it with our family and friends.