Reese LeeAnn

On Friday, November 19th I got a new niece. Her name is Reese LeeAnn and her parents are so proud of her! Her mommy lost her amniotic fluid early on in her prgnancy and so Reese was born at 28 1/2 weeks. This little girl was such a fighter! She had an extremely strong heart, but her lungs were just not developed enough to allow her to breathe on her own. Reese lived for about 5 1/2 hours as the doctors fought to save her. Her mommy and daddy got to hold her for the last 45 minutes of her life.
I am very proud to call Reese my niece and I love her so much! Please pray for her mommy and daddy as they will be grieving and experiencing the loss of all the firsts that Reese would be doing. The Lord is holding another angel!
Thanks,
Crystal

Answered Prayers

Hello,
I just want to let you all know that the D and C went extremely well today. I have hardly any bleeding and no cramping so far. I think the nurses were thinking that we weren't grieving because we seemed quite upbeat and composed. I guess we are just cried out for now and are trying to see the positive in all of this. I ask now that you continue to pray for Nathan and I, but please also pray for our parents and siblings as they are also really struggling with why this is all happening. All of your prayers were answered this morning and I thank you. I am not doubting God or his plans at all and know that none of this is our fault. We will try again and hope to see the "sun" again.
blessings,
-Crystal

What are His plans?

Today would have been Mason's first birthday. It is a tough day for us, but we are at peace with knowing that he is in a much better place. The song that keeps coming to mind is "Better is One Day" by Chris Tomlin. This afternoon we were supposed to hear our second child's heartbeat. I began lightly bleeding this morning and decided to head to the clinic early. When I got there my doctor could see me right away. She tried to find a heatbeat but failed at doing so. She immediately scheduled an ultrasound for this afternoon. At my ultrasound the tech found that there was just a blob of tissue (I don't know all the medical terms for this), and no heartbeat. It turns out that I have had a misscarriage and am scheduled for a D and C early tomorrow morning. Please pray that God will guide the doctor's hands as he is working in a very sensitive part of me. I also ask for your prayers in dealing with this emotionally. Nathan and I are having a really bad day and it just seems to get worse as the hours go on. We have gone to Mason's grave and have asked him to take good care of his little sister or brother since we are unable to do so once again. We are feeling so much pain and continue to wonder what God's plans are for us.

-Crystal

Another Struggle

Hello again,

I know it's been awhile since I have posted an entry, but life hasn't produced anything exciting. I hope that you are all doing well and I thank you once again for all of your continued prayers.
I do have a bit of news now that I would really appreciate your prayers for. Nathan and I have been trying to conceive another child since we lost Mason. It has been about eleven months since we lost him.
I had a blood test done at the beginning of July and the results showed that I wasn't ovulating, so I met with a fertility doctor in Winkler on July 29th. He perscribed me fertility pills but told me to wait until the beginning of my next cycle to take them. I began waiting impatiently for that to begin and by Monday, August 16 (day 41) I decided to take a pregnancy test just to prove to myself and Nathan that we were dreaming about something that wasn't there. To my complete surprise the dollarstore test showed two lines; positive. I thought the test must be wrong since it is a dollarstore test, so I took another more expensive test. I saw a plus sign on this test! I began crying and praising God!!! Then I thought maybe both of these tests were wrong so I went to the clinic to take another test. As I walked out of the bathroom the technician came up to me and said the result showed up immediately as positive! I almost couldn't believe it and kept whispering "THANK-YOU GOD" over and over again! He always seems to have perfect timing. I was ready to take the fertility pills with some apprehension about having twins and having other birth defects and here I am already nurturing a human being inside of me!!!
We are so incredibly excited that we can't find the words to describe it! We have decided to not worry about the what ifs because it is all in God's hands. As far as I know this baby is due on April 12th; 2 days before my birthday. This will be the best birthday present ever!!! I do have an ultrasound in Winnipeg at twelve weeks (September 30th) and then I will have another in eighteen to twenty weeks. These ultrasounds will show how the baby is developing. Please, please pray that we have a healthy child this time!
This is how we told our parents about our super exciting news:

Christmas and the New Year

Hello all!

Nathan and I had a fabulous Christmas! We had four solid days of family gatherings and were blessed with many gifts. I did however have moments where I felt that Mason would have added so much to this wonderful season. He must have had the greatest birthday party ever up in Heaven!

December 29th was our 3rd anniversary and it was also 3 months since Mason's birth. It was our first anniversary in Canada because we have always been on vacation that week. We didn't do much. We ordered pizza from DJs (My favourite!) and watched tv.

We spent New Year's Eve with great friends and played Super Mario all evening. We almost forget to count down to the new year!

On January 3rd we left for Jamaica. When we got there it was cloudy and rainy and this continued for the whole week with only a day and a half of sunshine. We were pretty disappointed about this, but made the best of it. Our resort was beautiful and the food was delicious! We hope to get more sun in the year to follow as well as other good things.

Many blessings to you all!
-Crystal