Monday, April 27, 2009

Thank You!!



The most memorable moment of this week was all of the wonderful ladies, gentlemen, and dogs who came out to support us at the walk in honor of Megan Grace.
It was a beautiful day for a wonderful cause and Steve, Tonka, Megan Grace, and I would like to thank all of your for your support both in person and through the donations you have made to her memorials.
All of it really does mean a lot and is much appreciated. At last count we had already surpassed the amount needed to purchase the Junior League paver in honor of Megan Grace. Any additional money is in her account and will go towards the scholarship fund we are setting up at ECU.
Hopefully, through all of this we can keep her memory alive even once she is gone but it is not without the help of many others that all of this is being done.
Thank you so much for everything from the cards, phone calls, emails, donations, showing up at events, gifts, food, etc. it really has been overwhelming. I've tried to keep track and make sure I thanked everyone personally in some way, shape, or form. If I have not please know we greatly appreciate everything down to the smallest gesture. It means a lot to us and Megan Grace. Have a great week!

Thursday, April 16, 2009

As Megan Grows

20 Weeks. This was about 48 hours after we found out. The clouds in the sky pretty much sum up the mood of the weekend.




21 Weeks

23 Weeks


Easter Sunday. The morning after we got home from Baltimore where she was diagnosed with OI Type 2. It was a beautiful Easter Sunday and we cherish every day we get to spend with her.




Friday, April 10, 2009

The Outcome

I've been pondering a title for this blog post however the above is really the best I could come up with at this time.The good news is the we do have a very definitive diagnosis. The bad news is the outcome will be exactly the same.

Megan Grace has been diagnosed with Osteogenesis Imperfecta Type II. The entire team of doctors which included a genetic counselor, a neonatologist, the ultrasound technician, and another two specialists in skeletal dysplasias were all in agreement. In fact, they met on Wednesday before we arrived as a group and were able to diagnose it from the CD of prior ultrasound images that was sent here prior to our arrival.

We are very at peace with this outcome other than the obvious fact that we are still going to be giving our little girl back to God.

The entire morning went very well as far as getting the clarity we needed.They spent over an hour doing all of the ultrasound scans again just to be very sure of what they were going to tell us. All total they were looking for five very specific markers and were able to find not one but all of them.

We have images of many of them and sat down with the group and went over each and every one. It is so clear that I could explain it to anyone who wanted to see if for themselves.As of right now, Megan has many, many fractures in her little bones. Some of her bones are measuring very small because they are literally piles of crumpled up bones. It does make me sad to think she could be in pain however we have elected to continue the pregnancy despite this concern.

My blog post today is not being written as I sit here and cry. We said we wanted to come here to get answers even if the outcome was the same and the doctors here were able to not only answer every.single.question we had they we able to show us their basis for the answer. It was simply amazing.

Another reason I seem to be better today is because as I watched the ultrasound at first I was a little upset but never cried but then a peace took over. As I watched the screen I could see things were still very wrong and that it just isn't in God's plan to heal Megan Grace here on Earth. At one point they gave us a break and asked me to walk around to see if she would change positions. During that time I just prayed a lot and told myself and God that we are fine if this is his plan and we would do the best we could to take care of Megan Grace while she is here.

All in all, we are fine right now. There will be days ahead where we are not fine but we will make it through.

Thanks for all the support from all of you and we love you all!

Amber, Steve, and Megan Grace

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

48 Hours

In 48 hours we will be at JH for our appointment. The appointment is at 8:30 and it should last quite a few hours. I'll try to update as soon as I'm able to do so.

Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we prepare for what is ahead. We have no idea what God's plan is but we just pray for the strength we need to get through whatever He has in store for us.

This week I've done pretty well but this morning things have fallen apart. I'm broken today and simply am unable to do anything more than what I have to do to get through this week. It is hard.

Others need us to be there for them too but it just is not possible right now. I'm holding myself up and hopefully everyone else can find the strength to do the same until we can get to a better place.

This is not to say I am not doing exceptionally well most days because I am. It is just the days I feel pushed beyond what I am able to provide that day when things begin to unravel.

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

PayPal is Up!

We are working on getting a link directly from the blog to the PayPal account Amber set up for donations. Until we get this figured out here is how you can donate using paypal.

go to www.paypal.com
log in
select send money
type formegangrace@live.com
make your donation

If your donation is for the paver please make a note in the comments area. This way we can keep up with how much we have collected.

Don't forget the paver deadline is MAY 25th!

Thank you all so very much.

PS If anyone knows how to get a link from here directly to PayPal could you please let me know so I can link it. Thanks again.

Friday, April 3, 2009

The story behind the paver

Amber joined the Junior League of Greensboro in September 2007. Since then she has been a very active member of the organization. The organization recently restored a historical home called The Albright House for their new headquarters.

As part of the completion of the project the league has offered pavers for sale to members which can be engraved however they would like. These pavers will from a path leading up to the headquarters.

By raising this money we will allow Amber and Steve to purchase a paver in honor of Megan Grace.

The link below outlines some of the information regarding this wonderful project:

http://preservationgreensboro.typepad.com/weblog/2008/09/junior-league-has-red-ribbon-day.html

Also, if you would like to learn more about Junior League you can visit the website of the Greensboro chapter at www.jlgso.org.

Paver Deadline

Hello Everyone,
I wanted to let everyone know the deadline to get your money in for the paver is May 25th.

I am hoping Amber will have the PayPal acct. set up soon and we can put the info. on here. If not we will have to think of another way to get the $$ collected.

Again it's $250. So far we have $64. Anything we collect above the $250 will go to Amber and Steve for the scholarship or whatever they need it for.

Have a great day. Let us know if you have any questions.

Annabugg and Mikey