Things are changing

It's no secret that our family has been dealing with a lot. Actually, a lot is just a tad of an understatement! Justin and I both have gotten new jobs in the past year, both of which are 30 minutes away from our current home. (We actually work at the same place) Last year when I took this job, I knew that we were probably going to need to relocate. However, this has not been a quick or easy process. The market in the town we're currently living is not moving much at all. You can't really go more than a block or two without seeing at least one or two houses on the market (sometimes more). I'm really not exaggerating. The city has been hit by flooding this summer as well, so I'm sure that might have something to do with it. At any rate, we finally received an offer after having our house on the market for almost a year. The offer was not ideal, but at this point we have decided that it is time to cut our losses and let it go. There is no guarantee that waiting longer would bring a better offer.

After accepting the offer, the buyers wanted a home inspection done. Yesterday we received news that the house passed inspection which is a huge relief to us. This means things can continue to move forward! Last Saturday we also began looking at some houses and on Tuesday night we made an offer on a house we really liked. We also received word yesterday that our offer was accepted! Tomorrow we are having this house inspected, and are hoping and praying things continue to move forward. We have been waiting for this for a very long time, and now that baby is just weeks away (maybe less), we are even more relieved to know we will be moving shortly after her arrival. Justin and I won't have to worry about commuting to work during these harsh Minnesota winters. The job Justin has requires him to be on call for snow removal, because we work at a long term care facility and as such, we don't close. So on days that he is on call he will have to be at the facility at 4 o'clock in the morning. We don't have to worry about having him stay overnight in town in case the interstate gets closed.

In other news, Tuesday marked 35 weeks of pregnancy for me. Yesterday I had my OB check and it seems like baby is getting ready to make her entrance into the world soon! There is still a lot that we don't know, like how much help she will need with breathing and eating, but we are still very excited to meet our newest little princess. I find myself wondering what she will look like, what her little personality will be and such. Of course, I am a little concerned as to how Lydia will do with having a little sister, but I think the fact that she is so young is a plus, because she won't know much of her life without a sibling. There is something very special about the bond between sisters, and I can't wait to see them grow together!

Lydia has been struggling lately with some gastrointestinal issues. This isn't something that is really new for her, but we have been in contact with her GI doctor and have made some adjustments to her medications. Hopefully by the time baby comes, Lydia will largely be doing better in this regard. She is of course learning all sorts of new words and discovering things about the world every single day. It is so much fun to watch the wheels turning when she is playing.

For the next few weeks, I will be working on decluttering, organizing and packing for our upcoming move. I have a feeling once the baby is here, I won't have much time to devote to that, but of course there is only so much time before her arrival.

We are so humbled by all of the love and support we have received along this journey. Nothing about the next few months is going to be easy, but we also know that it will all be worth it. Starting baby Nora on the Spinraza will be a lot of extra, and I'm sure a lot of stress, but also a lot of joy! Everyone on our team is very hopeful and optimistic that Nora will have a good outcome from the medication. Next week I have another appointment with my OB doctor, and we will have an ultrasound to check on Nora's growth. She is a bit on the small side, but Millie was as well so this does not come as much of surprise to us. We also will be getting a tour of the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) where Nora will likely be spending the first few days of her life. All of this is mostly a precaution, as babies with SMA can have issues with breathing or feeding immediately after birth. We are confident in this decision and are very pleased that our entire team communicates closely with each other and are aware of the plan as well as our wishes.

Please continue your prayers for our family. We do believe that prayer is a powerful thing, and we know that part of the reason things are moving along is because we have so many people diligently and faithfully offering prayers on our behalf.

To end the post I'll include some of the pictures a friend of mine took for maternity photos. A lot of them turned out really well.