About Me

United States
My fiance (Joe) and I (Caytie) just delivered our third child. We have a son named Dustin, age 4, a daughter named Aryanna, age 1, and our new little bundle's name is Mira, and she has been diagnosed with spina bifida. She has a myelomeningocele, a chiari malformation, hydrocephalus, and a club foot. She had surgery the day after she was born on her myelomeningocele, and surgery when she was 6 days old to place a shunt in her brain. She is facing more surgeries, a lifetime of recovery and monitoring, and we will all be facing the journey of spina bifida. Prayers and kind thoughts are always welcome, and if our story can help others, that would mean the world to us. Spina bifida is a fairly common birth defect, but there's nothing normal about facing potential danger with your child. So this is our story, the journey of spina bifida, as we live it.

Monday, June 3, 2013

Letting Loose

May 25th was the day some friends of mine and Joe got married. We had been planning on attending this wedding since before Mira was born, so we figured this would be a good time to let loose and spend a child-free weekend together. This would mean letting Mira be away from me for the first time. A very bitter-sweet concept.
While a child-free weekend sounds fantastic, don't get me wrong, it was very stressful thinking about being away from her. The idea of not being there to watch her constantly, or possibly throwing off my milk supply after working so hard to get it back where it needed to be, or what if something went wrong and I wasn't there? The idea was kind of terrifying. What helped? It helped knowing that I wasn't entrusting her to just anyone. I was entrusting her to my sister. Anyone who has followed our journey knows that my sister, Tammy, is not the ordinary family member. She's been with me since day one. She's my best friend. She loves my children like her own. And she trained with Joe and I in Pittsburgh to learn how to properly care for Mira. She is, without a doubt, the only person other than Joe and myself that I would trust to know how to correctly care for Mira.
The wedding was on a Saturday, so we dropped Mira off at my sister's house Friday night. We said goodbye a hundred times, but kept hovering anyways. It was hard to leave, but the break was also welcomed and relieving. Again, I couldn't have left her with anyone other than Tammy, and I was confident that my sister and Mira would be just fine. I was right.
I never text or called my sister once, and she never had to text or call me either (other than to send me adorable pictures of my little beauty hanging out with my wonderful nieces). The wedding was absolutely wonderful! I may have helped myself to a little too much wine, but the wedding was the most beautiful ceremony and reception I've ever attended! The bride and groom were perfect, and more importantly, perfect for each other; and Joe and I had a wonderful weekend together! 
As much fun as the weekend was, and it was lovely to relax while getting a break, I honestly couldn't wait to get the kids back! Reuniting was amazing! Even after only a couple days, I missed them so much, and it felt foreign to be without responsibility for a good 48 hours. 

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