Awaiting our baby girls arrival

We are officially settled in up north. For those of you who were unaware, we will be delivering our baby girl at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford, in Palo Alto, CA. There were a few reasons as to why we chose the hospital. One big one is that we wanted to have Dr. Frank Hanley, a gifted heart surgeon, perform the surgery on our baby girl. Dr. Hanley specializes in the corrective surgery for the heart condition that she has and after meeting him a couple of times, we are extremely confident in his abilities and most importantly LOVE his sincere personality. He listens to all of our concerns and has taken all the time needed to make us feel comfortable and confident in what will need to be done with our precious baby girl.

We arrived here in Palo Alto over a week ago and last week we were at the hospital taking care of all our big appointments:

-We had an ultrasound and baby girl is growing and everything looks great.

-I’ve been contracting quite a bit, but she does not seem to be affected by them at this time.

-Scheduled my C-section for August 18th-Please pray we make it that far, we want her to be as big and strong as she can

-Met with Surgeon Dr. Hanley-As I mentioned before, we will not know until she is born if surgery will need to be done right away. He did mention there would be a very high possibility that we can stabilize her enough and take her home for 2-3 months before she needs her surgery. This will help in getting her a little stronger for what is to come.

-Met with Dr. Susan Hintz-Neonatology- she went over in full detail as to what the plan will be as soon as our baby girl arrives:

*She will be immediately taken into the NICU

*Within a few hours they will then do a Cardio echo

*Day 2 or 3 Dr. Perry will then perform a cardiac Catheterzation on her. Which means they will put her to sleep and then insert a long narrow tube into the blood vessels near the groin area. This procedure allows us to take pictures of the heart and how it functions. Which in return will give us the information we need to see when surgery will be needed.

*if the findings are favorable, they will then start feedings and we should be released within a few days. We will return home for the two months and then be back up for surgery.

After meeting with everyone we feel blessed to have such a great team in place. We have been so very pleased with every single person we have met. From the surgeon, many Doctors, nurses to the staff. Everyone has been so kind and very knowledgeable with our case. It seems as anyone who reads our file, gives their condolences about Gracie, then they ask how luke is and they follow up with assuring us we are in excellent hands and baby girl chez will be very well taken care of. Such a blessing!

We will miss the wonderful team at Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles as they too have become part of our family. We will look forward to going back to LA to continue our follow up care with our children's cardiologist Dr. Skalansky and all the other wonderful staff that we love so much.

As for our little man Luke. He will be getting an echo tomorrow to see how his heart has been reacting to the stent. Also, we have been dealing with many vomiting episodes and have been trying numerous medications. Dr. Cox up hear at LPCH ran some blood work on Luke and the tests came out good. He believes Luke could be suffering Abdominal migraines and has started him on an additional medication. We continue to pray for Luke’s GI issues to get better and for a good echo next Wednesday.

God has been very gracious in helping us stay strong. We have been brought to our knees and completely humbled by him. We are doing our very best to not be anxious about what is to come. We know trusting in God means to trust in him completely and at all times.

God is the one who gives us life and it is his plan that we continue to trust in.  Even though we are nervous for our baby girl we are so very excited to meet her and see her beautiful face and precious little body. We have been on many journeys and through them all, even the darkest moments we have witnessed Gods love. Although our time with Gracie was so short she truly was such a blessing and a great gift of love from God. We know our baby girl is just another addition to the love that God has provided us with.

While we have been awaiting her arrival we have really been enjoying our time here up north. It is absolutely beautiful up here. Being 25 min from San Fran., 15 min from Half moon Bay and 40 min. from Napa, how can you go wrong? Not to mention the beautiful tree lined streets, quaint downtown, being at an arms reach from Stanford University and the hospital, and mine and baby girls favorite “the food,” it’s so good! We have yet to have a bad meal.

Here are some photos we have taken in just the short time we have been here..

One of many tree lined streets..

We are renting an apartment for our stay and this is 

the path Luke rides down daily to his favorite park.

The first weekend we were out here we decided the boys would

pick what they would like to do on Saturday.   Daddy's choice was.....

And Luke's choice was....of course cars :)

And his favorite one was...

And mommy's choice was.....

Golden Gate bridge and of course.....

A Great Big Ghirardelli hot fudge sunday...yummmm!

We headed out to a great park to do what Luke loves best..

ride trains.  Grandma Laura was with us.  She has been amazing!

From driving us up..to getting us settled..to helping watch Luke..

to being out here when Daddy has to go to work. 

 Thanks mom for everything!  LOVE YOU!

We also had the chance to have a play date with Tyler and Riley Cox

Thanks Laura for meeting us at the park we had a great time!

Michelle (Danielle's sister) also lives up in the area and her and her

 beautiful sweet kids came over to visit us.  They brought Luke

 a fun bag of great activities to keep him busy while out here and for

 hospital visits.  The kids had a chance to play at the park and also

 went swimming in the pool. Thanks Michelle!

Here are the two Luke's, Lauren and Ella

The Ritz Carlton at Half moon bay.  Absouletely beautiful!  

We just went down for an hour to check out the

 view and  enjoy this amazing property!

Right down the street from us is Stanford University.  

Adam was so patient and took some great pics of mommy and baby girl Chez

One of my favorites... me and my guy...

Our next post will probably be after our baby girl arrives.  We thank everyone as always for all your prayers, love and  support.

All our love,

Adam, Terra, Luke, Angel Gracie and baby girl Chez

Sorrow, The Truth and Blessings..

As we near our sweet baby girls arrival, many emotions continue to fill our hearts. The joy and excitement of meeting her are also followed with the fear of what is to come.

The other evening before I fell asleep I was enjoying the movement of our new little baby girl. My thoughts then moved on to how badly I wish our sweet Gracie was here with us to meet her new little sister. I woke up with a heavy heart the next morning as my thoughts went right to when Gracie was in the hospital and we were having to say good bye to her. We have tried our best to rejoice about our new little one...and trust me we are so excited to meet her, but there is no way to get around the feelings of just having to let go of our other precious daughter only a year and a half ago and now having to face a similar path of having a baby girl with a heart condition.

The day Gracie went home to be with Jesus the doctors and nurses had been trying to save Gracie for over four hours and when we finally got to see her it was as if she was not the same little girl. Words will never be able to express that awful day and what it was like to have to be in that hospital room with our daughter. I don’t believe you could EVER be prepared for loosing a loved one, but we were so shocked. Even though Gracie had a heart condition we were no were near the point of concern for her life that day. We were thankful for the only comforting feeling that floated away with us as we walked out of the hospital without our baby girl....the Lord reminded me that it was just her flesh and her spirit is now with Jesus. It was helpful..but of course it does not change the fact that her flesh is what we held in our arms daily and so desperately ache to hold again. I’ve heard time helps heal the heart. I think for us it is not so much time, it is just the ability to fall completely on God and have him hold us up when we feel so deeply sad inside and when we fear the same thing can happen to our new little blessing. We do trust in God and his sovereignty, however we can’t help to feel nervous knowing how things can change so quickly. It is then when we just go right to God and pray and ask for him to please help us and remind us that regardless of time we will be blessed with our sweet baby girl.

Why would a good and loving God allow us to go through such things as the death of a child, other trials and tribulations?

The truth:Jesus said, “In this world you shall have tribulation” (John 16:33). Trials and distress are not something unusual in life; they are part of what it means to be human in a fallen world. In Christ we have an anchor that holds fast in all the storms of life, but if we never sail into those storms, how would we know that? It is in times of despair and sorrow that we reach out to Him, and, if we are His children, we always find Him there waiting to comfort and uphold us through it all. Even the sufferings we endure and which seem so terrible “are not worthy to be compared with the coming glory to be revealed in us” (Romans 8:18) Could God prevent all suffering? Of course. But He assures us that “all things work together for good to those who love God and are called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28). So even suffering is part of the “all things” that God is using to accomplish His good purposes. His plan is perfect, His character is flawless, and those who trust Him will not be disappointed.

Blessings:Although I have always been honest about our sadness about Gracie and the trials of caring for our special children I hope I have always shared how blessed we feel. We are always thankful for ALL the blessings we do receive and for all the special times God continues to make our hearts happy.

Gracie was and always will be our special Angel who brought us so much joy and taught us how to be courageous and love deeply. We know there was a complete divine purpose for Gracie’s life and we hold onto to God’s promises that we will one day be reunited with her again. WHAT A BLESSING!

Another big blessing... our precious sweet Luke. He has done amazing since his return from the hospital in May when he received his stent. He has had enjoyed time with his big family :) many play dates and fun activities. A week at Vacation Bible School was his favorite~followed by hanging out with everyone who he loves so much! I cannot tell you how happy our heart feels when we see him smiling and having fun. I believe trials make you appreciate life so much more and it makes us so happy to see our little guy having fun at whatever he is doing. We love our little guy so much and are so thankful we are blessed with him. Here are some pictures of Luke from the last 6 weeks.........

Swimming in the pool with friends Koral and Maddi.

Making some yummy cupcakes with cousin Kennedy

Having some fun with cousin Wyatt

Making smores with Cousins Victor Ryan and Marissa

Marissa, Miranda, Victor Ryan and Luke

Playing Ball with Daddy

Our dear friends the Gates family, put us in touch with their

aunt Marcia who was so generous to offer us the opportunity

to house her piano until she is able to sell it.

Luke loves playing us songs :)

Ryan Gates teaching Luke how to play the drums. For those

of you who attended our Hopeful Hearts event last year

you will definitely remember Ryan. He is the most amazing 13 year

old boy who also has a heart condition. He has taken his experience

and inspired many including our family. We love the Gates family

and feel so blessed to have been brought together.

As we prepare for our baby girls arrival sometime in August (more details by July 28th) we are going to be blessed once again. We are still unsure and will be until she is born as to when she will need surgery. It could be a day, a month or three months? At times when we are feeling overwhelmed and our hearts get anxious about what is to come...we then are blessed with the comforting feeling that we will get through this as we have before and we will just take in every blessed moment with our new little girl.

There are many blessings that are bestowed upon us, but the last one that I wanted to share was the blessing of all of you who continue to love and support us the way you do. “We have hurt like we never could of imagined but have been loved like we never knew we could.” THANK YOU!

We will have more information on the plan for our baby girl on July 28th. So I will send an update as soon as I can.

Thank you for loving us the way you do.

Love, the Chez Family

Adam, Terra, Luke, Angel Gracie, and baby girl Chez

HAPPY FATHERS DAY

To my husband,

I know God hand picked you to be the Father of our children because he knew of your dedication, compassion, love and concern for our children. From the moment they were born you have given every ounce of your being to protect them and love them unconditionally. You have played, prayed, guided, laughed and cried with them. You taught Luke and Gracie to be courageous when they needed to be and you provided them with strength whenever they needed it. Your countless hours spent with them rather at home or by their bedside while in the hospital never has been unoticed.

One of the hardest days of our lives was letting our sweet baby girl go. When I looked deep into your eyes I saw emptiness that filled my heart as well. Gracie was your little princess and I know your heart yearns for her daily. Please know...her time on earth was perfect with you as her father. You gave 100% and filled her with the perfect care and love. Thank you for loving our baby girl. I’ve witnessed God filling your emptiness with the reminder of Gracie being in Heaven with Jesus. I pray for him to continue to comfort you with the reminder that it was not goodbye for you and Gracie, it was just “I’ll be with you soon.”

Dear Daddy....
Although my home is now in Heaven, my heart will always remain with you. I pray that you will continue to follow Jesus along the path of coming home to me. Always your little princess. I love you Daddy!

Love you Gracie Girl...

Dear Daddy...

Thank you for always being the best Daddy ever. I always have so much fun when we play, swim, fight play, ride bikes, play ball and just hang out together. Thank you for always giving so much and for teaching me so well.

Love you Daddy! Your little man Luke....

Dear Daddy....

I cannot wait until you hold me in your arms. I love you Daddy.

Love your baby girl....

You are an amazing Husband and today we celebrate the amazing Father you are. I love you and thank God for blessing us with you in our lives.

Happy Father's Day!

All is well

It's been about three weeks since Luke's procedure and he is doing great. The week we came home Luke went to LA to visit his cardiologist, Dr. Skalansky and our favorite Echo technician Joseph. Luke was really nervous to go to his appointment, but came home with the biggest smile ever! Joseph surprised him with a set of cars. Joseph has been the one who has done most of Luke and Gracie's echo's, and has become a dear friend to our family.

After reviewing Luke's heart, Dr. Skalansky said the obstruction has been dramatically improved and Luke is doing well. We are continuing to pray that the stent holds up well and that his heart function stays strong with the new amount of regurgitation that is taking place from his pulmonary valve. As there is no function of the pulmonary valve at this time.

As for Luke's GI issues we have been working with Dr. Cox up at Lucielle Packards Children Hospital, in hopes to correct his reflux and esophagitis. We have seen only a very little improvement at this time. We feel fortunate to have found Dr. Cox and feel confident he is going to help guide us along the right path for Luke. We still have a long road ahead of us, but are praying for light at the end of the tunnel.

As for our baby girl Chez, she is growing and weighs in at 2lbs 3 oz. She is incredibly active and already proving she is going to be a little fighter. We are very excited to meet our baby girl.
As we anticipate our baby girls arrival, it comes with deep emotions of yearning for our Gracie. I've had many dreams of Gracie lately and our hearts as always are desperately missing her. It's been difficult to start planning for our little girl when our hearts are still grieving so very much for Gracie. We do not want to take anything away from our new little blessing we just need help from God to help our hearts during this time. Please pray for Adam, Luke and I that God gives us peace in our hearts and that he reminds us of his ultimate glory.

Luke talks about his Gracie so very much still. He told me that Gracie would love for her new little sister to have all her toys. :) He has such a sweet heart and I know he is just going to love on his little sister. He has also promised to tell his new sissy about Gracie and how special she is.

Luke has really enjoyed being back at home. He has had a great time with all his visits and play dates with friends and family.

We thank everyone for all your prayers, love and support.

All our love