Prayers for a Friend

My Twin Momma friend, Kelly is 34 weeks pregnant today and, apparently, her baby is very excited to meet it's Mommy. Kelly has been hosptialized for a few days to try to keep her baby cooking a little while longer and has been given steroids to help develop the baby's lungs. That's all I know.

Two years ago, Kelly found herself in the hospital with Twinsies attempting to be born early. We bonded over our shared worry about our unborn babies and she let me throw baby names at her because she wasn't ready to name her boy/girl twins. There's something about shared worry and pregnancy that work like Krazy Glue between people.

And so my prayers begin...

So, God, I know You are listening. Please help Kelly cook her baby just a little longer and keep them both safe.

God's newest angel, Abigail

Baby Abigail Marie went to Heaven a few hours shy of being one month old.

God, I don't know why You took Baby Abigail. Maybe I won't ever understand. I just have to pray that You have some sort of amazing plan for her in Heaven.

Please, please hold her Mommy and Daddy close to You. Please help all of us be the support that they need even though we don't understand why you took Abigail from them.

For my friend Caryn and her family, all I can say is that I am so very sorry and I wish that Abigail had won her fight. With every fiber of my being, I wish she had. My thoughts are with you.

Fly high, Abigail! We love you.

Update on Abigail

Abigail is currently resting comfortably after 2 very serious surgeries. She is not out of the woods yet, but her prognosis is better.

You can read the full story of her birth and journey to Cedars Sinai at my friend Caryn's blog.

Huge Prayers are Needed

I wish these posts were not necessary. I wish that God did not bring heartache to families or illness to children.

Tonight, my friend, Caryn, called me to say that her brother's baby girl was born this morning at 8 am. This should be a joyous time for Brian and his wife, Jennifer, but Abigail Marie, their baby girl, was born with spina bifida, a cleft palette, and a bump on her head that contains cerebral fluid. Within minutes of being born, the doctor informed Caryn's brother that his new baby girl would never walk and that she needed to be flown to Cedars Sinai in Los Angeles for emergency surgery to close the lesion in her back.

I cannot imagine the pain and terror that Brian and Jennifer are feeling right now. They had no indication that Abigail had any of these conditions prior to her birth this morning. Abigail will be undergoing surgery tomorrow morning at 8 am. She will be only 24 hours old.

PLEASE, PLEASE keep her in your thoughts and prayers tomorrow and say a special prayer for Abigail's mommy who is still in Lompoc and cannot travel because she had a c-section this morning. Again, I cannot imagine being so far away from my brand new baby and feeling so very helpless when all I would want to do is hold her and love her.

Please pray for Abigail Marie and her family.

Now I get the Twitter thing...

I won't be starting a Twitter account. I don't need anything else to obsess over and I don't have that much to say every 29 minutes.

It is, however, a good thing when you are waiting with bated breath for an update:

Please Pray for Stellan

Asking for prayers for my family is something I've had to do a lot lately. It isn't easy, but I've done it because I believe in the power of prayer and positive thinking. Several months ago, I asked every one to pray for little Tuesday. Today, I come to ask you to pray for baby Stellan. While I do not know Stellan personally, I have followed his mom's blog for quite some time. I so admire her strength and determination. Today, she really needs our help.

Stellan isn't even a year old and he is in the fight of his life. Diagnosed with SVT while still tucked safely in his mommy's tummy, Stellan battles with a heart that keeps trying to beat too much and too often. Stellan was not expected to live very long after birth. He was a miracle the day he was born and is still a miracle today.

Tomorrow, or even tonight, Stellan will be having major surgery for doctors to try to map the electrical charges in his heart. Their goal is to find the nerves causing the extra electrical signals and stop them from causing the extra beats. The problem? The surgery is crazily dangerous for infants his size and age. There are so many complications that might arise. However, this is the only choice his family has to attempt to save his life.




Please keep Baby Stellan in your hearts and prayers for the next few hours and for the rest of the week. He needs all of the help we can give him!

Update: People are truly amazing! They are sending in their pictures wearing orange for Stellan. http://www.mycharmingkids.net/2009/04/orange-for-stellan.html

Tuesday

My twin mom friends and I have a special talk where we post our prayer requests. Eddie is on there as is Tia Tere who is fighting cancer. One of the moms posted a link to a blog about a little girl named Tuesday. Tuesday is 2 years old. She has cancer, a very aggressive cancer. Her mom blogs about round after round of chemotherapy, the surgeries Tuesday endures, the anxiety that accompanies the results of each scan.

Reading her mom's blog, all I could think about was how I would feel if it were Gracie or Luke in Tuesday's place. See, I'm crying again just thinking about it! On her blog, Tuesday's mom has a picture posted to remind people to pray for Tuesday every Tuesday.

I'm adding it to my blog. I hope you will say a little prayer for this courageous little girl.

But for the grace of God...