baby sophia

Well life has drastically changed since our last blog, but i believe this site will now be best used to give everyone updates on our new life status.

As many of you know, we are pregnant with our first child, she is expected to arrive Feb 12th 2011. This past week we had an ultrasound to find out the sex of our child- and found out we are having a little girl! unfortunately we got some unimaginable news alongside this....

the ultrasound shows that the baby has very short arms and legs (5 weeks too small) which is very severe this early in the pregnancy ( I am 20 weeks). along with short limbs she has really small ribs as well, which they think may be what is causing the baby's heart to be pushed over to the side a bit. the chin of the baby is underdeveloped and there is a thickening of skin or something along the back of the neck. Then her feet are also clubbed.

with all these abnormalities, they are thinking it is some kind of genetic syndrome. At this point, we know that she will be a dwarf- there are over 150 types of dwarfism and it ranges from them being short but physically fine (like on TV) to a severe fatal kind where they die from it. Our doctor thinks we are somewhere in the middle of the two more towards the end of severe/fatal, since it is showing so early in pregnancy.

They did an amniocentesis (where they stick a needle in thru my belly to the amniotic sac and take out amniotic fluid) which was super scary and put me at a risk for miscarriage. this fluid will was sent for a few tests. the first tests came back on monday- which was negative for Trisomy 13,18 (fatal genetic disorders) and 21 (downs syndrome)

the major one we are waiting for is FGFR3- which will not be back for 2 weeks. This is for the diagnosis that they are leaning towards-Thanatophoric Dysplasia, which is fatal within 24 hours of birth if she survives the womb. The reason they are leaning towards this is because her ribs are so small, it limits the growth of the heart and most importantly the lungs. These babies pass shortly after birth due to not being able to breath. There are a few parts of this diagnosis that she does not have currently, so we are praying that those differences mean this might not be what she has.

we will have a lot of resources out here through the Little People of America association, no matter the type. After the tests comes back in 2 weeks, if it is positive we will figure out a plan from there, but will carry her as long as God blesses us to do so. If it is negative, Tristen will continue to get ultrasounds monthly and all we can do is watch and wait what condition she is in when born (we are due around Feb 12). Even if the test is negative, if her ribs don't grow- her life is at risk.

We also wanted to let you know her name is- Sophia Rose Dinkel, so that we are talking of a little girl and not a baby with a syndrome. The rose is based on aaron insisting that she have part of her name after the most beautiful flower there is- "so she knows that we think she is beautiful, no matter what".

we thank you for all your thoughts and prayers. We will keep this updated as we learn more.

prayer requests:

that Sophia's ribs will grow
that God will heal Sophia
that we can look past this all and love Sophia with all we have no matter what
strength for tristen as she grows this precious gift from God
strength for aaron/aj as he loves on both us girls
understanding of God's plan for us in this

we are still just going through the hearbreak of not having a healthy child, along with the idea of losing a child. we thank you for your support as we need it, more than you will ever know.

love- tristen and aj

HAPPY HOLIDAYS

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

This is AJ's favorite time of the year! Everytime I walk in the house he has Christmas music playing and he of course- know's the words to every single song. I don't understand it, but just enjoy listening to his singing ;o)

We have all our Christmas presents bought and mailed- which by the way is not the recommended thing to EVER have to do- post offices are crazy right now (besides the fact it cost a small fortune to mail them). We should consider that when weighing the costs of not flying home for next year. Plus with such cute neices and nephews... it is no fun not being able to see them open them... that's why they all got clothes this year! Then we don't feel like we are missing them get excited about our gifts as clothes aren't that much fun.... but parents like them (well not having to buy as much- i hope!)

As for us- we are doing great! AJ is currently finishing his rotation on night shift by the end of the month (hopefully). He hasn't had too many calls, which has been a little diappointing on his part- but being 911 we are hoping it starts to pick up. He is loving his job at REI, he comes home with free stuff and loves his discounts- tho I haven't let him spend nearly as much as he wants to. We are saving up for a big year of weddings this coming year... lots of flying!

As for me- my job is going well, I have found I really have a passion for Neurology and my hours got moved to 8-4:30pm... which is wonderful. I actually have time to work out AND make dinner/spend time with AJ.

Well, we wish you all a very wonderful CHRISTmas- full of love and laughter as well as a happy new year! We get to see AJ's sister Samantha and his best friend/best man at the wedding- the one you will never forget ;o) Kyle, for New Year's. We both are so excited- as we have missed both of them alot!

love- T and AJ

September-October

sooo. we are officially colorado residents... we have our licenses...woo hoo.. now for the cool mountain license plates!! its the little things we get excited about.. well tristen is all settled into her 3rd week of work... and absolutely loving it... most of the time i am on the phone, triaging neurology patients (deciding how important/urgent their needs are)... aka i am the gatekeeper to the doctors and quick appointments. i didn't think i would like having a cubicle and wearing a head set, but i really like problem solving for our patients, they call needing something and i make it happen. i guess going from inpatient, where you had no control over anything to help them or give them answers, its really nice to feel like i can help them, even if it is just to refill a med...

meanwhile aaron has been working it up at Eddie Bauer... the first day they made him a First Ascent (their mountaineering line) Expert... his time spent looking at outdoor gear is finally paying off.... literally.. ha. this week he is interviewing with 2 paramedic companies, which i am sure he impressed them lots- he has great interviewing skills! plus he is a super knowledgable paramedic!

Other than that.... we have found a really great church called Dear Creek Church here in Littleton and within weeks got plugged in to a small group. never have we both fit in and clicked so well with a group of people... we are so blessed to have found this group.... we have bible study once a week and then random other fun activites (like a corn maze event and line dancing for us gals) that are getting us plugged in and not feeling so lonely away from our friends and family. here is some pics... from our 1 year anniversary dinner and then some more hiking of course...

what kind of colorado-ins would we be if we didn't tempt you with mountain pics?

We have had lots of time to explore while we wait for jobs...

We have hiked, biked and camped lots so far...

Our new apartment....

We are mostly settled in... just need to decorate and get some more furniture...

ha. our place is pretty empty- it is fun to start over!

Tristen got a job with The Children's Hospital... in the Neurology Clinic...

and as of today- AJ scored a job with Eddie Bauer and is finding the perfect amblance company to work for until he can get hired as a firefighter.

we think we have found our church.... and hope to start getting involved... and making some friends!! we certainly are missing ours...

Hope this works!

Tristen and I are trying to create an interface for our friends and family to keep in touch. We made it to Colorado just fine. Hopefully we'll keep this updated.