Christmas 2007 was spent at Chris' brother's house in WV. We left Sunday after morning church and arrived just in time for some ham and meatball leftovers. The next 2 days were days filled with relaxing wherever, playing Uno and eating. Christmas is very different at Mark and Rhonda's house. We open our presents at night after dinner which in turn causes me to go INSANE!!! When you're used to opening gifts in your sleeping clothes Christmas morning, after Christmas dinner is TORTURE! Needless to say, I made it through - whew! Mark and Rhonda gave Chris some coffee he so loves and me a Southern Living cookbook (yum - what should I make first??). Chris's mom had already given us a camcorder so, of course, all of our pictures are now in moving form and I never thought to take "regular" pictures. We do have some pictures of when Chris and I opened our "other" gifts over the course of the week before. As soon as I figure out where the camera is (again), some Christmas pictures will be posted.
Our next doctor's appointment is January 4 so please be praying for us. Until then, we hope you all had a wonderful Christmas.
Looking forward to another day with Chris at home for New Years!
Chris, Lisa and Victoria
Thursday, December 27, 2007
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Victoria Michelle
There hasn't been much to blog about lately. Most of you receive our email updates but wanted to sort of have our memories "on file." Here is the latest update about our Victoria.
Lisa and I want to begin by thanking all those who are receiving this directly and indirectly for their prayers. It is extremely comforting to know that we all believe that God is able to heal. I pray that we would all be as prayerful when everything seems "hunky dory" in our lives as well. These times, when we learn to trust God and see His hand, mean little if we forget them and the lessons learned when the storm clouds are gone.
We had an appointment this morning with Dr. Fischer our high risk perinatologist. He gave us the same prognosis, that Victoria will die. He was not willing to go with the within 2 weeks range that Dr. Johnson at Children's Hospital gave us, but nonetheless he concurred. Thankfully and prayerfully Victoria Michelle had a normal heart rate. He indicated that the fluid is everywhere (stomach, lungs,extremities) except there is no fluid around theheart. That doesn't mean much because of the amount of fluid everywhere else (especially the lungs).
God has been more than gracious. Lisa and I have decided that even having Victoria for 23 weeks (tomorrow) is a gift from God. We may never know why He has brought us through this storm in our lives (we may see things that figure into the whole work of God), but Victoria is a real baby that Lisa and I have bonded with; we love her and will continue to love her. Certainly and understandably so, there is much pain and grief. There are times of hurt and there are times of joy. We would never have imagined feeling so weak, however, I would never wish to go through a situation like this without being able to be weak and let God, not just be strong, but be God. It is more than trusting God, but it is LEARNING to trust God. We can't trust Him in newer and deeper situations than we've ever been in. Our prayer is that in the midstof tears and weaknesses you might find HOPE as we are continually learning to, where Jeremiah found hope: "This I recall to my mind, Therefore I have hope. Through the Lord's mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. 'The Lord is my portion,' says my soul, 'Therefore I hope in Him!' The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him. It is good that one should hope and wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord." Lamentations 3:21-26
Trust in Jesus to make it through any and all storms of life, He was on the boat with the disciples and He is still in the boat with you.
Victoria Michelle Promersberger
Ours, but for a Moment,
God's Forever
Lisa and I want to begin by thanking all those who are receiving this directly and indirectly for their prayers. It is extremely comforting to know that we all believe that God is able to heal. I pray that we would all be as prayerful when everything seems "hunky dory" in our lives as well. These times, when we learn to trust God and see His hand, mean little if we forget them and the lessons learned when the storm clouds are gone.
We had an appointment this morning with Dr. Fischer our high risk perinatologist. He gave us the same prognosis, that Victoria will die. He was not willing to go with the within 2 weeks range that Dr. Johnson at Children's Hospital gave us, but nonetheless he concurred. Thankfully and prayerfully Victoria Michelle had a normal heart rate. He indicated that the fluid is everywhere (stomach, lungs,extremities) except there is no fluid around theheart. That doesn't mean much because of the amount of fluid everywhere else (especially the lungs).
God has been more than gracious. Lisa and I have decided that even having Victoria for 23 weeks (tomorrow) is a gift from God. We may never know why He has brought us through this storm in our lives (we may see things that figure into the whole work of God), but Victoria is a real baby that Lisa and I have bonded with; we love her and will continue to love her. Certainly and understandably so, there is much pain and grief. There are times of hurt and there are times of joy. We would never have imagined feeling so weak, however, I would never wish to go through a situation like this without being able to be weak and let God, not just be strong, but be God. It is more than trusting God, but it is LEARNING to trust God. We can't trust Him in newer and deeper situations than we've ever been in. Our prayer is that in the midstof tears and weaknesses you might find HOPE as we are continually learning to, where Jeremiah found hope: "This I recall to my mind, Therefore I have hope. Through the Lord's mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. 'The Lord is my portion,' says my soul, 'Therefore I hope in Him!' The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him. It is good that one should hope and wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord." Lamentations 3:21-26
Trust in Jesus to make it through any and all storms of life, He was on the boat with the disciples and He is still in the boat with you.
Victoria Michelle Promersberger
Ours, but for a Moment,
God's Forever
Friday, December 7, 2007
New York City
Last evening we met Dave and Melissa in NYC to visit with them before they possibly leave for France the beginning of the new year. We had an enjoyable time with them! We ate dinner at TGI Friday's in Times Square (never ate a more expensive burger!), walked around the M&M store (anyone want a leather jacket with M&M imprinted on it????) and ate delicious cheesecake at Maxi's (who has the best cheesecake in NYC!!!). Here are a few pictures of Dave and Chris being, well, themselves. :)
We also had the BEST bathroom experience while in NYC. I know, I know that sounds like an oxymoron, but it is so true! We visited the free Charmin bathrooms which advertised themselves to be the cleanest in NYC. It is definately an experience when you go (no pun intended) there. It is a big, clean place all decorated with the Charmin bears and many employees to welcome you there. There are individual stalls which are cleaned after each use. We now have a great landmark in NYC to take those who come to visit us! Enjoy some pictures!
Flush-0-Meter (picture above)
This morning we had a doctor's appointment with our regular "baby doctor." He was very kind and expressed the fact that he is 1,000% behind us as we seek to get into Children's Hospital. What a relief! He also listened to Victoria's heartbeat which was between 150 and 152 (140-160 is normal). Praise the Lord for another week with our little Toree! We will hopefully be getting into Children's Hospital next week. While we are there they will do another ultrasound, a fetal echocardiogram, a MRI and any other tests that may deem important to the situation at hand. We will let you all know when exactly the appointment is and how it went. Thank you all for praying!
Chris, Lisa and Victoria
Monday, December 3, 2007
Thanksgiving and Victoria Michelle
For thanksgiving this year, we were blessed to have Dad, Mom and Grandmother join Chris and I. Grandmother came on Tuesday while Mom and Dad drove up and got here Wednesday evening. Thursday for Thanksgiving, we had a ton to eat (and are still eating some): turkey, dressing, gravy, cranberry salad, sweet potatoes, chive and cheese potatoes, Sister Schubert rolls, broccoli casserole, pumpkin pie, pecan pie and apple pie. Yummy! It was a very good Thanksgiving dinner! Here we are right before we dove into the food.
This Sunday morning we woke up to snow however, I didn't get outside to take a picture before church and it had all melted by the time we got home. Oh well. Next time.
Saturday morning Chris had the "Turkey Bowl" (teens come out the Saturday after Thanksgiving and play football) while the rest of us went to Walmart. That evening we went to Peddlers Village over in PA. It is mostly "snooty" shops but is fun to walk around and look at the beautiful Christmas decorations they have.
Monday through Wednesday, while the rest of us went out and about shopping and stuff, my poor Chris had to work. The evenings were intersting though as we introduced Mom, Dad and Grandmother to ear candles. (Plug for ear candles: they are great for cleaning out the wax from your ears - better for you than Q-tips. They are hollow candles that you put in your ear and light. The heat draws the wax out of your ear and into the candle with a result of unclogged ears.) Here is Dad as he is having his ears done while the picture below that is for those of you who desperately want to know what comes out of your ears when this procedure is done (just for clarification all that wax is not from Dad). You're welcome!
Thursday after our doctor's appointment, we opened some Christmas presents and then had dinner at P.F. Changs. For Christmas Chris got a charging station where you plug all your electronics (cell phones, iPod, etc) and it keeps them all nice and neat. He also got a Starbucks card which, by the way Dad and Mom, he took with him to work this morning. :) I got a maternity outfit from Dad and Mom. Chris and I also got a diaper bag. Toree got her Nutbrown Hares from Daddy and Mommy and pink shoes from Grammy and Papa John.
Victoria Michelle
On Thursday, November 29 Chris and I found out we are having a baby girl whom we named Victoria Michelle. Most of you know Victoria's story, but for those who do not, here it is. Victoria has septated cystic hygroma which essentially means that her lymph nodes did not develop and she now has fluid (up to 1.5cm) between her skeletal system and her skin as well as a sack of fluid at the base of her skull. Because of the fluid in her and around her heart, the prognosis is that the fluid will put so much pressure on her heart that she will go into paracardiac arrest (have a heart attack) and die. With her condition they give her a 6% chance to make it to term.
Through all of this we know several things: 1) God is good and already knows what is going to happen to Toree. 2) He is compassionate and may be compassionate and take Toree home to be with Him while He may show His compassion on us and let her be born. Chris and I thank each one of you for your prayers. Our prayer is that God's will be done and that He get all the glory no matter the outcome. While we have Victoria, we will love her and thank God for each day He gives us with her.
Some of our favorite things to do are: pray for her, read and sing to her. My Chris reads "Guess How Much I Love You" to her every night before bed. For those of you not familiar with the story it tells of Little Nutbrown Hare and Big Nutbrown Hare who go back and forth with "I love you right up to my toes" (Little Nutbrown Hare is standing on his head) and Big Nutbrown Hare answers back "I love you right up to your toes (swinging Little Nutbrown Hare way up in the sky). The book ends with Little Nutbrown Hare telling Big Nutbrown Hare "I love you to the moon" (because that is very far) and, after Little Nutbrown Hare falls asleep, Big Nutbrown Hare tells him "I love you to the moon and back." :) Toree also has stuffed animals of Little and Big Nutbrown Hare.
We also sing to her "Jesus Loves Me" except that we change some of the words around. "Jesus loves you this I know for the Bible tells me so. Little ones to Him belong, you are weak but He is strong. Yes, Jesus love you. Yes, Jesus loves you. Yes, Jesus loves you for the Bible tells me so."
Here are pictures of Victoria. The first one of is her waving her arms. The second is a picture of her waving at us. The red marks show how much fluid is between her skeletal system and skin.
We know many people are praying for us and we sincerely appreciate them! Below are flowers sent to us by our dear friends David & Melissa. They are beautiful and smell awesome!
Because we don't know how long we will have Toree with us, we are taking weekly pictures of her (actually my belly but you know). Here is this weeks picture:
This Sunday morning we woke up to snow however, I didn't get outside to take a picture before church and it had all melted by the time we got home. Oh well. Next time.
We love you all! Chris, Lisa and Victoria
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