Thomas and the Windows of Heaven

I would feel ungrateful if I didn't write a blog post about how the windows of heaven have been opened for us.  Our family has truly seen blessings poured out upon on family in abundance.  Through our experiences with Thomas and all of his health problems we have had angels around us helping to bear us up. Jared and I have been deeply touched by the countless people (both friends and strangers) who have reached out to us during this difficult time.  I have heard of many people who have a baby with Down Syndrome having a lot of negative experiences with people saying rude things and such.  Our experience has been the opposite.  We have only felt love and support from the people around us.  In this post I wanted to write about examples of this love that we have felt.

OUR FAMILY

When I met with the perinatologist about Thomas' heart, my sister and brother-in-law were visiting.  They put off their trip home to help watch my kids and then stayed later to help give me a blessing even though they had to miss their parent night at school.  Our families joined us in fasting and prayer in Thomas' behalf and they showed complete acceptance of Thomas and his condition.  Jared's father gave him a beautiful blessing which brought us much comfort.  My mom flew out the day after she heard of Thomas' birth and helped us out in so many ways.  She cooked for us, helped watch the kids, and worked with Abby and Maddy on their reading and homeschool, and she even filled our freezer full of easy meals for us to eat after she went home.  When we went to pay our hotel bill for our first week in Seattle, we found that Jared's brother had already paid it for us.  We also appreciate all our families members who made a special effort to come up for Thomas' baby blessing.  It was wonderful to have them here, especially since we were going to miss seeing family over the holidays.  Jared's family came bringing gifts and helping with all the food while they were here.  My dad came and spoiled the kids and gave Nathan lots of attention (which he was missing now that he isn't the baby of the family any more).  My dad took us out to eat and was kind enough to watch Thomas so Jared and I could go to the temple and then go to dinner and a movie.

CHURCH MEMBERS 

Our good friends the Stevens, the Higbees, the Johnsons, the Mitchels, and the Migels all helped us by watching our kids for the numerous prenatal doctor appointments here and in Yakima and Seattle, and while I was in the hospital having Thomas.  It felt good to know that my children were being well cared for through all of this.  The other moms from my old ward that I do Nathan's pre-school Co-op with helped pick up the slack and gave me an extra long break from teaching after Thomas was born.

Throughout all of this I received weekly phone calls from the Relief Society presidents in both my old and new ward who called to see if we needed anything.  As we learned the news of his Down Syndrome and heart problems, we had many friends from our old Badger Mountain ward who decided to anonymously give us money and gift cards to help with the expenses of medical bills, travel to Seattle, hotel stays, and eating out.   We both started to cry when we received these gifts.  Many of them offered many prayers in our behalf as well.  We felt overwhelmed by the love and support of so many people.  

While at the hospital my friend Terra Dabling, who is a nurse at Kadlec, visited me several times as well as the Relief Society presidency from my new ward.  I also was visited by several other ward members, and our Home Teacher and his wife came to visit and he helped Jared give Thomas a blessing.  After I got home a sister whom I visit teach came by with a gift for Thomas.

We were also blessed by the members of the Ravenna Park Ward in Seattle who reached out to us as well.  We were welcomed in the ward at church.  A sister in the ward, Ann Romish, has a calling to help with LDS families who are at Seattle Children's, and she visited and called several times.  We were given a nice care package put together by some Relief Society sisters from the Bellevue Ward.  Jared was fed by ward members several nights.  One medical school student even offered to let Jared sleep on his couch so that Jared could actually get some sleep (the hospital rooms were very noisy at night).  One family came and brought us cookies that they had made for us for FHE.  The members of the church truly exhibited Christian charity and love during this time.

DOCTORS AND NURSES

Throughout my pregnancy I have had a wonderful OB, Doctor Smith, who cared for me and Thomas with skill and compassion.  In addition to him we met with several specialists who were also kind and helpful in clearly explaining Thomas' condition and helping me prepare for what sort of challenges he would have in life.  We are also grateful for Dr. Turner who recognized the problem with Thomas' heart decelerating and who acted quickly to perform the emergency C-section and get Thomas out of me as safely and quickly as possible.  Thomas was treated by wonderful doctors and nurses both at Kadlec and Seattle Children's.

BLOOD DONORS

Thomas had to get 2 platelet transfusions in his first week of life.  This was especially difficult because he has B- blood which isn't very common.  I gained a new appreciation for people who donate blood which helped save our baby's life.

OUR NEIGHBORS

Our next door neighbors, the Mullers, were very kind to us during this experience.  They gave us boy baby clothes.  They took us out to dinner in Seattle.  They helped mow our lawn and lent Jared a big air compressor for blowing out our sprinklers.  They brought us dinner, as well as giving me nutritional supplements and supplies for breastfeed and pumping.   We feel blessed to have such kind and giving neighbors.

OTHER PARENTS OF CHILDREN WITH DOWN SYNDROME

After hearing that I was going to have a child with Down Syndrome, Sister Edvalson from my old ward came by with a some bread and garden produce and talked with me about her daughter.  She expressed what a blessing she was in her life.  After Thomas' birth a parent from the local Down Syndrome association dropped by the hospital and gave us a bag full of books and literature about Down Syndrome.  Another mom of a 2 year old boy with Down Syndrome dropped by with cookies and a note and has called several times offering her support.  I received a phone call the other day inviting us to the Down Syndrome Association's Christmas party.  I've also received empathy and support from the 2 other moms in the ward who have children with Down Syndrome.

THE RONALD MCDONALD HOUSE

Staying in a hotel long term can be very expensive.  We are very grateful for the Ronald McDonald house and all its volunteers and donors.  It was a great blessing to be able to stay there.  It was nice to be all together as a family and to be so close to the hospital that we could walk.  We only had to pay $25 a night verses $100+ a night in a hotel.  We helped keep the place clean, but there were also many volunteers who came in and helped with cleaning.  There were also many organizations that donated food and sponsored dinners at least 3 nights a week so we didn't have to worry about cooking or providing dinner.  

SEATTLE CHILDREN'S
Almost everything about our experience at Seattle Children's was positive.  The doctors and nurses were extremely kind.  We loved how they encouraged us to be there with Thomas rather than making us feel like we were in the way.  The volunteers at the patient and sibling playroom made sure our kids had lots of crafts and fun toys to keep them busy.  The family resource center helped us figure out transportation, lodging, and other logistics.  The finace department assured us that we wouldn't have to worry about any hospital bills from them since they had enough donations to cover any expenses that our insurance wouldn't cover.

JARED'S CO-WORKERS
This picture is of Thomas laying on a beautiful quilt that one of the OR  nurses that Jared works with made for him.  All of Jared's co-workers were extremely kind about all of the time that Jared had to take off work and offered to help us in any way.  One of the doctors Jared works with brought us dinner too.

THOMAS' DOCTORS,  THERAPISTS, AND OTHERS
Now that Thomas is home he has had numerous visits with doctors, therapists, nutritionists, and others.  They have all done a wonderful job caring for Thomas and teaching us how to best meet his needs.

There are probably many others that I have forgotten to mention who have been angels to us during this time.  We feel that having Thomas has already taught a beautiful lesson on the importance of expressions of love and compassion.  We hope that we can mimic these beautiful acts of service for others through their trials of life.