Thankful for that little hand!

Dillon Jeremiah Mezey is here! He came into the world on Monday, May 14th, at around 6:15pm weighing 5lb and 13.5 oz (our wonderful doc rounded up to 14 oz, since his birthday was 5/14 and we thought it would be pretty darn fun to weigh 5 lbs 14 oz on 5/14!). He's beautiful, and wonderful, and perfect the way God made him, and we are so blessed. We are also thankful for his little hand (pictures below). His hand has three fingers, one being a thumb, and he has a great grasp. He'll be able to hold a pencil and do millions of things with that hand, and we are thrilled. Here are some photos from this last week...thanks for looking through our brag blog today!

 So excited to meet baby brother in the hospital!

 Brinley checking out brother's hand

 What everyone does when they get home from the hospital!

 Hayden adores his little brother.

 Thankful for that little hand w/three fingers!

The Mezey boys!

3D shot!

Yep, here's our boy that will be coming into the world in about two weeks! Can't believe it - this pregnancy has honestly flown by. What a blessing he will be to our family, our friends, our community, and, one day, the world. Can't wait to meet you, little Dillon!

Double Take (A Book Review)

We've read a bunch of books by people that have numerous limb differences lately, and we came across one we both really enjoyed and thought was the easiest to read. It's called Double Take: A Memoir by Kevin Michael Connolly. Kevin was born with two full arms and hands but no legs, and his memoir is about being an "object of curiosity." It's an excellent story of his upbringing, how his parents raised him, and what he has accomplished in his young adult life (he's 26 years old). Kevin traveled around the world on his skateboard, and ended up taking pictures of 'staring people.' He got tired of being stared at, and pointed his camera out from his hip and took a picture of someone staring. He then proceeded to take thousands of pictures of people staring at him all over the world - Asia, the Middle East, Europe, the US, etc. He's created a photography expedition called The Rolling Exhibition, which you can check out at www.therollingexhibition.com. We loved his memoir because its so real - full of stories and true life for him. We wanted to share a bit from the book, found on page 171:

"...I don't think of myself as 'disabled.' As I interpret the word, you are only disabled if you are incapable of overcoming the challenges presented in any given situation. I might be disabled when trying to haul a hundred pounds of concrete up a flight of stairs, but to my mind, I'm perfectly able-bodied when I am skating around New York City. Being disabled is also a matter of choice. Anything that you try to hide from the world also imposes a limit on you. If you don't want to risk showing off your wobbly knees or clumsiness on the dance floor and decide to sit on the sidelines, then you are unable to dance, thus, disabled."

Oh yea, and not only is Kevin a photographer, but he's also a professional skier - won silver in the X-games a few years back. Crazy! Check him out.

A Day with the Brains

by kristin

Last Friday we had a good "day with the brains" at Children's Hospital Colorado. My mom came over in the wee hours of the morning so we could get on the road as my MRI check-in was at 8:15am in Denver. MRIs are crazy things! I've never really had any medical things wrong/surgeries/etc, so the whole thing pretty much freaked me out. That...and the fact that I'm pregnant and concerned about possible effects on the baby long-term. I gave those concerns to the Lord and trusted that all of the Children's doctors know their stuff. They wanted to do a fetal MRI because they wanted to see the baby more clearly and make sure that they didn't see anything internally 'wrong', confirming that they wouldn't need to do any sort of emergency surgery right after birth.

You have to lay on your side when you're pregnant, because it's bad for you to lay on your back for so long. I was pretty much squished and then crammed up inside the machine on my side, with these huge brackets (no clue what they were called) embracing my belly on all sides. I made Jason sit in the room with me (yep...wanted him close-by)! It was loud...and hot...really hot! Wow, was I sweating! Baby boy kept moving around too, so picture 're-takes' were frequent. The machine gathered images for a little over an hour (yes, one hour without movement crammed into a machine!), and then I was done. I was famished, and couldn't get out of there fast enough to get food! Making a prego person wait to eat since 9pm the night before with an MRI that isn't finished until 11am is down right wrong. Fortunately, we had a few hours to ourselves after that. We went out to eat, did a little Easter basket shopping for the kids, and cruised the old neighborHOODs (Northern Aurora for those that didn't already know). That afternoon we headed back for the family meeting at Children's with the 'brains'.

Back at Children's, our escort met us at the door. We headed up to a conference room where we were greeted by eight doctors sitting around a table - all heads of departments, programs, and this and that. It was amazing to witness such an impressive group of medical professionals. They had already been together for a while going over our test results, previous ultrasounds, etc. This was our chance to hear their take on things, and ask whatever questions we had. To our absolute relief, it was confirmed that everything internal with our little guy is fine! Praise the Lord! Many of the things they presented were much of what we had already come to know. What they offered in addition, had a lot to do with exploring how to adapt this baby's environment down the road. This was very good to at least start to hear and think about on a deeper level. They also confirmed that we should be able to deliver in Colorado Springs instead of at Children's Hospital, which was also a blessing. We absolutely loved these doctors in the room, and were so encouraged by them. Their hearts seemed almost bigger than their brains. One of the most impressive statements by any of the doctors was, "It is not a disability for this child, it's the way he's born!" It was good to hear what we had already been telling ourselves, that this baby is incredibly perfect in every way. We are overjoyed at the opportunity to be his parents.

In the end, we're quite unsure about what our future looks like with Children's Hospital Colorado, but it's fairly certain that we'll cross paths with these doctors again sometime. They all said we could contact them whenever we needed and were glad to help in any way. Most importantly, they seemed to care deeply for this baby and his welfare. We loved and appreciated them so much and will most assuredly be in touch with them again. In the meantime, they are linking us up with a family who is in a similar situation as ours - a family that has lived with congenital amputation for quite some time - that can potentially help answer some of the day to day questions we have. We're very thankful for this opportunity and look forward to learning from them and their journey so far.

  

p.s. Jason will be riding in the Courage Classic this year to support The Children's Hospital...more to come.

Waiting

Waiting has been such a huge theme in our lives lately. Waiting for appointments, waiting to see if there is anything different that shows up in ultrasounds, waiting for delivery, waiting to see what steps we should take to help our little boy as he grows. Waiting is so hard, as it's much easier to have all the details of the future figured out today. It is amazing though, how God encourages us where we are, reminding us to focus on the time at hand.

I (K) am in a Bible study right now called Discerning the Voice of God by Priscilla Shirer. I love Priscilla Shirer, and think she has an amazing ministry! This study has been a blessing to me, as most of what God has been presenting to me through the study has been that God is a God of "right now." We are not supposed to constantly (worriedly) look forward to what is ahead, but rather focus on who God is and who we are in God right now.

I've also been incredibly blessed and challenged by Sarah Young's devotional, Jesus Calling. Wow, have you read this devotional? Many days I'm struck at how God wrote these words, through Sarah, just for ME! Today's devotional (March 29) was particularly special on this waiting theme, and I wanted to share it with you:


"Stop trying to work things out before their times have come. Accept the limitations of living one day at a time. When something comes to your attention, ask Me whether it is part of today's agenda. If it isn't, release it to My care and go on about today's duties. When you follow this practice, there will be a beautiful simplicity about your life: a time for everything, and everything in its time. A life lived close to me is not complicated or cluttered. When your focus is on My presence, many things that once troubled you lose their power over you. Though the world around you is messy and confusing, remember that I  have overcome the world. I have told you these things so that in Me you may have peace."
     - Sarah Young, Jesus Calling, March 29, p92


I'm all for planning, but need to stop worrying about those things in the future that God will reveal to us in time. All the questions can't be answered today, and I need to focus on God today.

Swim meet!

We went to the Jimi Flowers Classic Paralympics Swim Meet today at the US Olympic Training Center. What an awesome experience! Such a joy to see kids from all different walks of life with all different disabilities swimming. As we were preparing our kids this morning before we left, I was talking to H (3 years old) about how some of the kids will be blind, some won't have legs, others won't have arms, etc. He then said, "and yea, some will have dark black hair! And some will have blonde hair!" Amazing that kids think like that...we're all different but its not a big deal whatsoever...some people have all their limbs, some people can't hear or see, some people have black hair, and others have brown :).

Inspiration

To Inspire:
verb
1. to fill with an animating, quickening, or exalting influence: His courage inspired his followers.
2. to produce or arouse (a feeling, thought, etc): to inspire confidence in others.
3. to fill or affect with a specified feeling, thought, etc
4. to influence or impel
5. to animate, as an influence, feeling, thought, or the like

So many of you have written us about inspiring people that are on a journey that is a similar to ours - people that you know or have met or have seen speak. Thank you for sharing those stories with us! We have been reading and researching this month and have been greatly inspired by so much. What an amazing God we serve! We wanted to share one story with you, in case you don't know Nick. 

Nick Vujicic is in his late twenties, a speaker who travels all over the world sharing the love of Christ with everyone he meets. Nick doesn't have arms or legs. He swims, he surfs, he speaks, he walks around places like India sharing Jesus, and he is truly a joyous inspiration. Nick's main website is www.lifewithoutlimbs.org, and we encourage you to check it out! He has written a book called Life Without Limits where he shares a bit about his story, and how no one should live according to what they lack. Nick reaches out to many through his ministry, and encourages us greatly. One of our favorite things on his website, is a media section where he posts videos to children. He tells kids to write in and ask him questions, and then he picks some to answer on video. Its a great resource for kids! 

Here's a short video of Nick Vujicic:

Another thing we've been trying to do lately is search the library like crazy looking for books on children in wheelchairs or without limbs, just to try make it more "normal" for our kids. It's difficult when there aren't a ton available! If you have recommendations, please feel free to send them on! We have found a few good ones suitable for preschoolers, and the most recent one we checked out is called Best Friend on Wheels by Debra Shirley. Its a book about Sarah, the new girl in school, who is in a wheelchair. Its from the perspective of a girl in Sarah's class that is afraid to talk to her at first, but then realizes that they are much more alike than different, and they end up becoming best friends. Joni Eareckson Tada's ministry has sent us some resources recently that we have yet to go through, but I'm sure they will be an encouragement as well. 


Other book resources: go to onelittlefin.blogspot.com - she has some great book lists! 

As an update, we had a doctors visit today, and there isn't much new to report, except for the fact that he thinks we're having a BOY! Yahoo! Baby boy is measuring a little small, but its hard to gauge. They have to do measurements by the humerus bone instead of the femur, which is normally used for calculating weight and growth. We continue to pray that growth remains steady.

We also shared the news about baby with our own kiddos today. It's absolutely amazing, how children understand far beyond what most would let themselves believe they can. We should never underestimate the capacity of a child to embrace something we think they just might not get. They'll aways surprise us. Our kids are so excited to meet their little baby brother. They can't wait to teach and help him with whatever he needs. They can't wait to love him. 

So, we're just keeping an eye on baby for now, feeling blessed and waiting anxiously to meet this beautiful child of our great Creator God.

Thank you once again for inspiring us and sharing stories that have helped us walk forward with hope and peace. May you, too, be inspired this week! Thank you all immensely as well for your prayers. We have felt them greatly.