Jabulani Jonny

So I've been out of touch again for the last week.  There's an explanation.  As you may or may not know, we're expecting our first child in August.  We're about 20 weeks along right now.  This pregnancy has not been easy.  It has been an emotional rollercoaster from day 1.  Without getting into it, it's taken us a long time to get to this point.  Sunette and I have been married for close to 7 years and our endeavor to have a child has taken the last 4 years.  So now we're here, but it hasn't been easy.

Sunette was on bed rest for three of the last 4 weeks and she's been on administrative duty only at work.  Even before bed rest there were some scary times.  

Fast forward to last Monday.  Our primary doctor had referred Sunette to a antepartum (pre-natal) specialist, for what we thought was just clearing her from bedrest.  Well, she was cleared from bedrest, but they discovered that there are some major issues with the baby's heart.  They couldn't really tell us anything other than that the baby's heart had two chambers instead of four, it could be related to Downs Syndrome and it might cause other complications.  That was all we got.  So needless to say, we were wiped out.  

They scheduled an appointment with a pediatric cardiologist, Dr. Borkat, which we met with last Thursday.  This guy was phenomenal.  They studied the ultrasound of the baby's heart for probably 10 minutes, looking at the structure and formation.  We could hear what our other specialist, Dr. Stauffer, was saying, but we couldn't hear what Dr. Borkat was saying.  Well, we were holding our breath when he came back in to tell us what he saw.  

The first words out of his mouth were, "It's fixable".  Wow.  I don't know that I've ever felt relief like that.  Once we heard that, he could've said anything and we would have handled it.  So what did he see?

It looks like the baby has what's called an Endocardial Cushion Defect with a small left ventricle.  What this means is that the wall between the left and right ventricle (the lower chambers) isn't formed.  This doesn't really affect the baby while it's in the womb, but it does cause complications after birth.  So that means the baby will need heart surgery right after birth and possible several surgeries depending on how extensive the issues are.  

So we've been a little tied up, a little preoccupied around the house lately.  We thank God for the wisdom of our doctors and the fact that it looks like everything can be repaired.  There are still very scary steps that have to take place and we have a long road in front of us.  However, we are confident that God will continue the good work He started and we will come through this with a beautiful child.  Your thoughts and prayers are appreciated.   

Wow, so I’ve been out of touch for a week.  I mean it was my birthday on March 1st and now it’s March 10th.  Where the heck did those 9 days go?  Oh I remember, when I wasn’t at work, I was at home attending to Sunette who’s been on bed-rest for 3 weeks.  Although it has allowed for a lot of time in front of the computer, it hasn’t prompted much exciting "post-worthy" happenings.  That’s cool though.  It’s really been a great time for us.  We basically camp out on the couch together.  She’s there all day of course and i join her when I come home from work. 

So here’s my random thought this week while watching the opening to "The Illusionist", which I thought was a great flick BTW.  Topic:  Movie Intros  Thought: There are some movies where the intro of the movie is actually the beginning of the action, literally the start of the movie.  Where other movies, ie. any James Bond flick, have an "intro" showing all the actor’s names over a mysterious background of some sort.  The movies of the first sort just kinda stick the actors names down in the corner while the action is going on so as not to detract too much from the start of the actual film.

This got me thinking…is the purpose of the latter sort; the ones with a true "intro", with actors names truly being focused on, either over some mysterious background or in some interesting sequence, solely a self-serving, Narcissistic purpose?  You follow?  What is the purpose behind the movie "intro" other than to tell you who did what?  So really, maybe the movie intros that focus solely on the names, forcing you to recognize who the executive producer was, are nothing more than Hollywood saying "Hey Look At Me!".  Wait…don’t they already do that?

to me.  I know that last post made it sound like I was bummed at my job.  I'm really not, it was just an interesting observation  I thought. 

Anyway, today's my B-day.  My wife has given me a wonderful gift.  Some of my favorite memories are the fly-fishing trips I get to take with my buddy Carl from Callaway Gardens.  If you didn't know, I'm a contract fly-fishing guide for Callaway.  I used to work there full time back in the day and Carl and I became fast friends.  He's an amazing guy and I really treasure the trips we get to take.  It only seems to happen once a year unfortunately.  

Well last year he and I took an amazing trip to Unicoi Outfitters in North Georgia for some trophy trout fishing.  Carl was going to be writing a magazine article specifically on Unicoi Outfitters and the fishing they provide.  I was the lucky guy that got to tag along and be photo fodder for print.  Needless to say, it was one of the best two days I've had in my life.  Amazing locations, amazing fish and amazing people.  

I was going to insert a pic here of a huge brown trout I caught last time, but alas, I'm posting from work and I'm behind a corporate firewall that won't let me upload the pic.  Doh. 

Well this morning I awoke to breakfast in bed and a card.  In the card was one of the best gifts I've ever gotten.  A voucher for 2 days of fishing with Carl on trophy trout waters guided by Unicoi Outfitters.  Holy mama-sita.  That is a phenomenal gift.  I'd take that anyday over some toy or gadget, and that's saying alot if you know me.  

So, thanks hon!  You're a wonderful bride and……..

mother-to-be.  You read that right folks.  We've got #1 on the way.  August is the time when life forever changes.  I hinted at some changes several weeks ago, so now full disclosure.  We're about 18 weeks along.  Your thoughts and prayers are coveted.  

So I guess that's two birthday presents.  I'm a lucky guy.