the month I fell off the face of the earth and my niece was born.

I kinda fell off the face of the planet this month.  I stayed home sick for three and a half? days (I’m really hoping I entered all this into my timecard before I left for vacation because it’s all a blur now… I’m like 90% sure that I did) within the two weeks before I went on my required 40 hour vacation (which, myself and my parents flew to Colorado to meet my new niece, who I talk about later on in this post). And the days that I didn’t stay home, I was miserable and grumpy and had no voice. I’m currently in the middle of a second round of antibiotics because I had a sinus infection (round one) that morphed into an ear infection (round two). So, it’s been kind of a weird few weeks.

In the middle all the sickness hullabaloo, my sweet little niece, Hailey, was born. Instant obsession (I mean, who isn’t instantly obsessed with their nieces and nephews?). She was just a tiny little gummy bear, weighing 4lbs 11oz and measuring 17 inches when she was born. She came via an emergency c-section because she was in distress. Which is huge a blessing because she had the umbilical cord wrapped around her neck, wrist, and legs. So, had she been born vaginally, she probably wouldn’t have survived birth. They did discover after she was born, that she was missing her right tibia (the big weight bearing bone in the lower leg) which makes her foot turn in as well. I know, you didn’t even know that was a thing, right? Neither did we. From what the internet has told us (because Google has been my family’s best friend for the past week), there’s a one in a million chance to be born without a tibia. More often a child is born without the fibula, which is the smaller, side bone in the lower leg. So, there’s not a TON of information about it, but there is enough that we’ve found some resources. There are a few options with these kinds of conditions, ranging from reconstruction to amputation. Depending on what kind of joints and other bones they have to work with. My sister and brother-in-law have only gotten one opinion so far, and there is still a lot of time before any decisions have to be made, so no definitive plans moving forward yet. Other than missing a bone, she is perfectly healthy.

So many people have been instantly supportive and it always has and always will amaze me how people can and will come together when something kind of big and scary is happening to someone they know. If you have been part of that, or become part of that in the future, thank you. Every text, Facebook comment, Instagram like, email, prayer – they mean so much. All in all, I think I can speak for the whole fam in saying that we just feel tremendously privileged to have the opportunity to be part of raising this sweet little babe. Her parents are AMAZING (I’m totally not biased) and have been being prepared for this wonderful little soul for a long time. She is so strong and just filled with light. It’s definitely not going to be easy, and this is just the beginning, but it will be so worth it. I can feel how amazing Hailey is already, and I think she is going to touch a lot of lives. The future is a little scary, but, I also feel a lot of comfort in knowing that Heavenly Father has put her in the hands of my sister and brother-in-law. And all of her aunts and uncles and grandparents… we will all be there to support her, and learn from her, and love her. It will all be okay in the end, and it will all go exactly as Heavenly Father has planned it. I just know it.

Not a fan of being unwrapped and cold