Friday, May 25, 2007
Peter - Carepages - May 25th, 2007
Sorry this is a day late! Can we say "Dancing with Peter"??!! Mr. Peter Bear is dancing the waltz to his own music....some steps forward, some steps back and some graceful steps to the side. The doctors are still trying to figure out what music he's dancing to so that they can make him better. As I mentioned the big wins so far are he seems to be past his pulmonary hypertension and is no longer on oxygen! yeah!! Yesterday we were moved back to the NICU because Peter is having a little kidney failure. His sodium levels are off, and he has a high level of creatanin (sp?). While he should be at 0.9 or less, he has been climbing since he got here and this morning was at 3.5. The doctors are optimistic at this time that the kidney damage is temporary and reversible. While his levels have been increasing since we got to Childrens - and it is believed to be because of the diuretic treatments - there is good signs to this being temporary. His kidneys showed no sign of damage when he was in the Springs and his level was 0.7 upon arrival on 5/16. An ultrasound was performed on Monday of this week and there were no indications of lesions or damaged areas.....so we pray this is just a temporary situation with no long term effects on Peter. To treat the situation they are continuing to cut back on his fluids which as a parent is very scary to see your child eating less and less and continuing to loose weight. Despite loosing some of his baby fat in his face, and having skinny little chicken legs, I think Peter is noticing some of the cute young nurses around here. He is getting more charming and cute each day. Sorry no pictures to proove it - I sent the camera home with John so that he can capture memories of the kids first visit to the pool for this season. John is home again, and will be in the Springs till the latter part of next week. Besides caring for 4 VERY active kids - he is painting the basement (in case there are any volunteers to help him out), getting pieces and parts ordered and getting things in order over all. What a champ! I am so lucky to have John!! He is so capable and willing to doing everything that needs to be done so that I can spend my days cuddling little Peter. The library is closing early today and will be closed until Tuesday due to Memorial Day. We aren't sure yet when we will get our next update out. But please know that we continue to thank God every day for each and every one of you! Please continue to pray for Peter and for the doctors figuring out how to dance with our little man. Hope you all have a wonderful weekend. Lots of HUGS! God bless, Catherine & John
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Peter - Carepages - May 23rd, 2007
Peter is 2 weeks today! It seems hard to believe - on one hand Peter is so new into our crazy world, but on the flip side we have gone through so much that it feels like a lifetime. We miss our kids terribly and John is torn about going home tomorrow for a week. He will have a great time taking the kids to the pool - and maybe trying to get the older kids over to see "Pirates of the Carribean". We are so greatful that John's parents and niece April have been able to watch the older 4 and keep them in their normal routines during this crazy time. Rollercoaster Peter is on a new adventure now! Today is his first day off of oxygen and he is maintaining his oxygen levels higher than they were wanting. He looks great and has been so much more active today - crying, playing, taking in the strange world around him. As I mentioned yesterday, we are starting to see the effects of his heart condition (VSD).....however, in true form - he is doing it all his own way. The lab results are showing abnormal product from his kidneys as well as some enzymes levels. He continues to loose weight due to the diuretics. The doctors are working closely together to figure out this little mystery named Peter. Because there are so many pieces factoring in to get him stable it feels like trying to fine tune a motor. They've decided to cut back on his fluid intake but adding formula to the breast milk to increase his caloric intake. We hope all these little adjustments will help us find the right approach to get Peter home. However, they will continue to monitor him to ensure we are headed in the right direction. As with any bodily function - at this time Peter should be able to recover from these set backs - but we need to ensure they are resolved so as to avoid long term effects to his brain, organs, etc. Please pray hard for this little man! If the doctors are unable to get the results they need, then there is a possibility of moving his heart surgery up so as to fix the root cause of all these problems. Holding our little boy in our arms, it seems hard to believe he is big enough to have his little heart fixed. But, on the other side, we so look forward to the day it is mended and we can put this time behind us. Thank you for all your prayers and support. Please spread the word that little Peter needs even more prayers for his healing, and wisdom for the medical professionals caring for him - we trust God is listening and answering our prayers in ways we may not understand and that one day this will be just a memory, a small part of our life journey. Love and blessings! John & Catherine
Peek-a-boo
I SEE YOU!
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Peter - Carepages - May 22nd, 2007
Time for a daily update on Mr Peter...PAK-Man...Peter-Bear....Peter, Peter, pumpkin eater! All in all Peter had a good day. He continues to remain stable - meaning no surprises which is great! He is barely on any oxygen at all and they are trying to get him to none. He has been on and off oxygen through out the day, and the doctors are confident that he will come home without oxygen needs. Due to the VSD they actually want his oxygen saturation levels on the lower end to protect his lungs. We expect that he will develop a slightly blueish tone (does that make him Peter Smurf?!....dating myself aren't I?). He continues to improve his respiratory rate although still on the higher side. We are thankful that we are headed in the right direction - thank you God for answered prayers! Peter and I had a lot of snuggle time today - time I will never again take for granted. Please continue to pray for little Peter's recovery, his heart and also his little ears. Peter failed his hearing test - but no one seems too concerned at this time. He responded to conversation level noise, but did not to levels just above whispers. He will need to be retested at a future date. John will be heading back to the Springs on Thursday as John's parents will be headed out for a week. We are so thankful that they have been available to care for Alexandra, Michael, Jack and Tom-Tom. Peter and I will miss having John here, but know that each day is a day closer to being back in the Springs as a family. We are so thankful for all the love, prayers and support!! We are so blessed!! Love, John & CatherineCheck out the mohawk!
This was a rare moment of Peter playing with John....in the early weeks Peter conserved his energy by sleeping a lot.
Monday, May 21, 2007
Peter - Carepage - May 21st, 2007
Being with Peter is like being on a rollercoaster ride. I have strict instructions to keep my updates brief - but you all know how wordy I can get - but will give it a try! :-) Saturday Peter remained stable although we were concerned with his respiratory rate as it seems to be climbing. Despite our concerns, we were moved from the NICU to the ICC (Infant Care Center) due to some urgent needs with sicker babies (may God bless them and their families with healing!). Immediately after the move the new nurse was not happy with the respiratory rate either so finally a good look was given. He was placed on diuretics again with the hope of getting some fluid away from his lungs. The change was stressful for me - but we are over the anxiety of the change now. Sunday was a very relaxing day and Peter was very stable. Dr. Laura Brown came by several times and spent a long time letting me talk through what I felt was going on. I know she was very busy, but it was nice to feel like her only patient. All in all Peter looked well. His changes in oxygen and breathing patterns indicate he is getting over the pulmonary hypertension (PPHN)and as a result his heart condition (VSD) is kicking in. He has increased fluids to his lungs with the diuretics should help with. His enzyme tests came back abnormal on two indicators - so further review of his kidneys and liver were ordered. The ultrasound was done today and the results were good - so no need to worry there! Yeah!! Today Jacinto stopped by and that is always very comforting. He agreed that we are now trying to find the right balance between oxygen and diuretics to get Peter as healthy as possible. One step at a time! The encouraging news is that we may be able to take him home without oxygen. Yeah! The next step after getting the right balance for the VSD is to ensure he can eat and gain weight. John is the master of the bottle and Peter's biggest cheerleader in getting him to eat orally. I continue to pump like crazy - so it is a true team effort! The goal is to have Peter eating orally - but if that proves to take too long, they will evaluate sending him home with a feeding tube. We have no ETA for going home - but could be days to weeks....Mr. Peter will be dictating next steps and seems to be taking one challenge at a time. We are sooooo thankful for the healing God is bestowing on our little angel, and ask that you continue to pray for his healing. Although we are taking baby steps - each is a step closer to being home. We pray for his ongoing healing, and for a miracle to his little heart of gold. Thank you again for all your love, encouragement and support. We thank God daily for you all. Love, John & Catherine
Friday, May 18, 2007
Peter - Carepage - May 18th, 2007
Welcome to the adventures of Peter Alistair Krause! This is going to be a quick first update as the library closes soon and won't be open again till Monday. Peter rushed into the world 10 days early - arriving at 1:03pm (mountain)on Wednesday 5/9/07. As most of you know, Peter was determined to have Down Syndrome and a heart condition during the pregnancy. Originally diagnosed with Transpostion of the Great Arteries, we felt our prayers were answered when the diagnosis was reversed to be Pink Tetrology of Fillot (sp?). The prayers around the world were further answered when at birth the condition was reversed once again and replaced with Ventricular Septor Defect (VSD) - a much more common and easier to repair condition. We have been told that while the possibility is slight, there is the chance that it will heal itself. However, based on the size they believe it will require surgery between 3 to 6 months. Please pray for another miracle to Peter's little heart! At birth Peter showed trouble breathing and maintaining his oxygen saturation levels. He was placed under an oxygen hood for what was believed originally to be a short period of time. While heart breaking to not be able to hold our child, we were hopeful it was for just a short period of time. Minutes turned to hours, and hours to days. I (Catherine) stayed with him at Penrose hospital praying for a speedy recovery. I will always be thankful to the wonderful health care providers at Penrose that watched and cared for Peter day and night while in the NICU. Peter had ups and downs and appeared to be moving in the right direction. Tuesday 5/15/07 Peter gave us a scare as his saturation levels dropped into the 40%'s and he turned blue. The nurses and doctor got him stabilized but it was concerning to all. That night his oxygen requirements continued to increase getting us close to the point where treatment options at Penrose would be exhausted. At 6am on 5/16/07 I was told he needed to be immediately transported to Children's hospital in Denver before it was too late. There are no words to express the primal fear I felt at the thought of loosing my child - and harder yet that I might loose him without ever holding him in my arms, looking into his eyes and letting him know how loved he is by all. Thanks to John and some fast acting friends Father Steve made it to the hospital to baptize Peter before the transport began. Close to 9am the "Flight for Life" crew arrived and prepared Peter for land transport. The confidence with which the three ladies handled him gave John and I the reassurance we needed that we would make it to Denver. I rode in the ambulance while John followed shortly behind. We arrived to Denver around 11am where the crew was ready to run all the tests on him and get him stabilized. We are incredibly thankful that my parents were able to reach their friends Pam & Jacinto Hernandez. Pam is a nurse and Jacinto a top neonatologist - formerly running Children's newborn/NICU. The day was long and exhausting...and a roller coaster of emotions beyond what words can express. Before the day was over Peter was in our arms and we were finally able to hold him, kiss him, touch his beautiful soft blonde hair and see his beautiful face that had been masked by a steamed up hood for the first 7 days of life. Now that he was finally in our arms it was hard to let him go! Coming so close to a loss beyond words, we have been reminded how fragile human life is and how much time we loose getting caught up in stuff instead of focusing on what really matters. This pregnancy has been teaching us little by little, and Wednesday was a test. John and I both just wanted to hold our 5 beautiful children in our arms at one time letting them know how much we love them and letting God know how thankful we are for the blessings he has bestowed on us. The last couple of days Peter seems to be headed in the right direction. He continues to struggle with "persistent pulmonary hyper-tension". His oxygen requirements seem lower and he has been trying (unsuccessfully till now) to breastfeed. He has taken some breastmilk through the bottle as well as through a feeding tube. He seems much more content with some food and was able to come off the IV yesterday. Early this morning he gave the nurses a scare with another episode like the one he had in the Springs. We know at this time he will be in the hospital for another 5 days at least as they want him to go for that amount of time without an episode. Their preference is also that he accept his feedings orally, but will consider discharging him if he needs part of his nutrition via a tube. We will play that one by ear. He will definitely be on oxygen for the next several months - we assume until the surgery and possibly for a period of time after that. There is still so much up in the air, that there are many questions we just can't answer yet. I did want to take the time to say THANK YOU! All you - our friends, family, friends of friends and family of friends for your prayers and support. We know that our little Peter is a gift from God given to us to care for....and as our wise pediatrician Dr. McCaffery always says - he will teach us the virtues of patience and humility - and he is already! Coming so close to loosing our little gift, we know he is still in our lives due to all the prayers raising up to heaven. THANK YOU! All we ask is that you continue to pray for Peter to recover, a miracle for his heart and thanksgiving for all the wonderful caregivers we have taking care of him. We ask that you keep our other children in your prayers. And, selfishly, ask that you continue to pray for John and I to have the wisdom and serenity to be good parents through these difficult times and beyond! One day I know Peter will give me the firsts I dream of - first smile, first step, first "mama" and so much more. I dream of taking him to the beach and seeing the look on his face as he feels the sand between his toes for the first time. I dream of watching him play in the back yard with Jack and Tommy who of course will constantly be saying "come on Peter!" I know these first will come in time thanks to God who is answering all our prayers. God bless you all! We will update you further next week. Love, John & Catherine
Friday, January 19, 2007
Peter - Announcing Baby Bear #2 (1-19-07)
January 2007
Dear Family & Friends!
First of all, thank you to each and every one of you for the love, support and prayer you've sent our way. John and I feel an incredible amount of comfort knowing we have the most important support we need - spiritual! Second, for those of you who have worked with me at any time, you know how much I love technology yet technology does not embrace me back. I have had a series of laptop issues together with loosing both our computers at home. As a result I've been "re-built" multiple times leading me to loose my whole distribution list. I know I am missing more people than I am including as I no longer have their e-mail addresses. So I apologize for those who will get this more than once, but could you please forward this on as we would like to make sure as many people as possible get the update and can keep praying for Baby Bear.
With that said, John and I went in earlier this week for a follow up ultra-sound on Baby Bear. Encouragingly he seems to still be growing at a healthy pace. And, while he will be smaller in size than we are used to, he is still growing. We found out this time that the prior ultra-sound had noted a risk for a cleft palate. The physician felt that it was probably not the case this time around, but it is noted for additional follow up. The discouraging finding was Baby Bear's heart. It has been identified that he has "transposition of the great arteries" or TGA. For those who have known me since my early days in school, biology was not my strong suit! So I keep this at a simple level just because that is how I understand it. All our hearts have 4 chambers. Blood from the body comes in through the top right, drops to the bottom right chamber and is pumped out to the lungs to get oxygenated. The oxygenated blood re-enters the heart through the top left change, drops to the bottom left chamber that pumps it back out to the body - so one blood circulating system. Baby Bear's heart developed differently - he has two separate circulation systems per se. The blood coming in from the body is going right back out to the body. The blood coming in from the lungs is going right back out to the lungs. So two separate systems which prevent oxygen from getting to his brain or other organs. He is safe during the pregnancy but at birth this becomes a fatal condition. Most patients with this condition also have a hole in the heart that allows the oxygenated blood and non-oxygenated to mix - allowing some oxygen to reach other parts of the body. Baby Bear in true Mortimer/Krause form must do things his own way - and has perfectly healthy heart walls with no holes. This would have been the one time we would hope for a hole in heart!
Suffice to say this news was disappointing and alarming due to the severity. It took about a day to calm our fears and re-gain our focus on the future. As many of you have heard me say - at least we know! And for that we are truly thankful to God each and every day!! Now we know, and now we can prepare. We go back in mid February for a follow up ultrasound and to meet with Dr. Brames, a local pediatric cardiologist to determine our prognosis and treatment plan. While we know that Baby Bear will need open heart surgery, we don't know if they have options to keep him stable for a few days or weeks, or if the surgery will be immediate. We are also assuming we will need a c-section so as to have control over his treatment. Working at PacifiCare/UHC is allowing me to tap into resources I would not normally have access to so as to make sure we truly are getting the best treatment - be that in Colorado Springs or elsewhere. I ask that not only do you keep Baby Bear in your prayers, but also the medical staff that will be caring for him. Thank you!
To end on a more positive note, I wanted to share with you how playful Baby Bear is proving to be already! Every time they tried to zoom into his face to check out his upper lip he would bring his hand up to his mouth. When they wanted to see his nose, he would turn his head. When they wanted to check out his internal organs he would start doing flips as if saying "catch me if you can!". He finally moved his hand to show them his face and I could have sworn there was a smile on his face - as if he was having a pretty good laugh about how hard he was making everyone work. To all you mom's out there, you know during pregnancy how you get to know your baby even before they are born. In my heart I can already hear his laughter. No doubt he will be keeping us on our toes each day. We look forward to those days still to come with God's will......the first smile, the first clap, the first steps and the first true belly laugh. We know it will take longer than with our other children, but I so look forward to the day I can take him to the beach and see the expression on his face as he feels the sand squish between his toes. And if for some reason those days are not to come, we know that in his short life he has already touched so many lives and spread such love. He truly has blessed us so much more than we can imagine and for that too we are thankful!!
God bless all of you!!
catherine, john & family
( I am including my original e-mail as I heard in and out of work that not everyone got my original e-mail...sorry about that - I got tons of error messages when I sent it out over the size of my distribution list - so hope it goes through this time since I lost so many addresses)
PS. A mis amigas de San Silvestre - sorry mil veces por no haber respondido a todos los mensajes de amor y apoyo que me mandaron - prometo hacerlo pronto. Entre los dias de vacaciones, Navidad, y la locura del trabajo llego al fin del dia cansadisima. Kitty - thank you!; Sandra - si, si,si mil veces si - ya te mando mis datos y los de mis padres; Lala, Ginny, Patty y las otras profesoras - ya con tiempo estare buscando informacion sobre metodos de ensenansa, etc y si me podrian ayudar seria maravilloso - y Lala, si me puedes poner en contacto con alguien que me pueda ayudar entender las opciones de physical therapy que ofrece el estado de Colorado te lo agradeceria un monton - entiendo que se tiene que coordinar en el school district y mis hijos estan en colegio Catolico y no se nada de los school districts; Karen - thank you por el resumen de la fiesta - senti estar alli con todas ustedes - tanto asi que tuve que sacar mi musica de los 80's - y Ushi - gracias por acordarte de mi esa noche - no te imaginas cuanto me emociono!! Maga - gracias por la llamada. John a mi costado "talk to her in English, I want to hear it all!" y Alexandra con una foto de ti, cargandola de bebe, ensenandole a Michael que ella si te conoce! Gracias por todo chicas, de verdad que se pasaron con el apoyo y el amor y las oraciones - THANK YOU!! Besos...catherine
**************
December 2006
Dear family & friends!
For some of you this may be an update, and for some it may be breaking news. Please know that if this is your first update, it isn't because we didn't want to share, but rather because we needed to care for our family first before sharing the news. John and I are expecting Krause baby #5! Baby #5 - lovingly known as Baby Bear - is due in mid-May shortly before school is out. During what I thought was a routine ultra-sound it was very evident that Baby Bear was not developing "normally". An amniocentesis and several weeks later we have discovered that Baby Bear has Down Syndrome. While this is obviously not what we expected, we are holding on to our faith with as much strength as we can. We shared the news with our children last night during our Advent reflection and now feel that we can share it with our larger circle of friends and family. I want to share with you a bit of our family discussion so that you know our perspective a nd hop e for your support of us and our children through this life changing opportunity.
First, John and I view every life as a gift from God - and not a commodity we can chose to dispose of for any reason. Secondly, although we struggle with this sometimes in our day to day lives, we view each challenge as a gift from God. An invitation from God to take a short cut to get closer to Him. And while these challenges may sometimes feel bigger than we can handle, if we ask God for the graces we need He will shower us with the gifts of the Holy Spirit. When we talked with our children we started off explaining the medical and physical side of Down Syndrome - then accentuated that although there are some differences they will see with Baby Bear, that there are many more things that will be alike to them. We shared how lucky we are to have this news early so that as a family we can prepare the best home and family life for Baby Bear. We talked about making new friends through this. That we will meet many other families with child ren who have DS, and that through them we will continue to learn and grow, and one day we can help other new families. John talked about how some people don't understand what this is, and therefore can be mean or hurtful, that we need to stay strong and that we will make the world better by showing how to be loving instead of mean. We then focused on our faith in this situation. I told the kids that God loves and trusts our family very much to give us Baby Bear. That when He finds a home for His little souls that need extra care He looks for families where He knows there is a lot of love. I explained that while we are all imperfect we are usually imperfect in our hearts and need extra work to make them pure and loving, but that Baby Bear has different challenges, and that is why God gave him a pure and loving heart. So while we will help Baby Bear walk and read one day - he will help us to love unconditionally and enjoy the little things that we forget God gives us ever y day to remind us of His love. Although there is some fear, the kids are excited about what this means to our family, understand that things will change, but are looking forward to having Baby Bear join us. Now we are all praying for his heart and other physical parts that we still need to have checked out in the next ultra sound. Children with DS have a higher chance of health issues - some of which we will be able to tell through the ultra sound, and some that we won't. Regardless of your faith life (or you think we are just religious nuts! :-) ), we ask that you please keep Baby Bear in your thoughts or prayers so that he will continue to grow healthy. We ask that you please keep the rest of us in your thoughts or prayers - we know that while now we can prepare, as we get closer to Baby Bear's arrival there will be an increase in anxiety and fear - and that we will be relying on our friends and family to give us that extra lift when we might feel overwhelmed. I ask too that you keep John in your thoughts and prayers as he discerns God's calling for him - personally and professionally. I ask for your prayers and thoughts so that I too may be open to my calling in this situation and that I may continue to grow as a mother and wife to best care for my family. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your love and support.
catherine
Dear Family & Friends!
First of all, thank you to each and every one of you for the love, support and prayer you've sent our way. John and I feel an incredible amount of comfort knowing we have the most important support we need - spiritual! Second, for those of you who have worked with me at any time, you know how much I love technology yet technology does not embrace me back. I have had a series of laptop issues together with loosing both our computers at home. As a result I've been "re-built" multiple times leading me to loose my whole distribution list. I know I am missing more people than I am including as I no longer have their e-mail addresses. So I apologize for those who will get this more than once, but could you please forward this on as we would like to make sure as many people as possible get the update and can keep praying for Baby Bear.
With that said, John and I went in earlier this week for a follow up ultra-sound on Baby Bear. Encouragingly he seems to still be growing at a healthy pace. And, while he will be smaller in size than we are used to, he is still growing. We found out this time that the prior ultra-sound had noted a risk for a cleft palate. The physician felt that it was probably not the case this time around, but it is noted for additional follow up. The discouraging finding was Baby Bear's heart. It has been identified that he has "transposition of the great arteries" or TGA. For those who have known me since my early days in school, biology was not my strong suit! So I keep this at a simple level just because that is how I understand it. All our hearts have 4 chambers. Blood from the body comes in through the top right, drops to the bottom right chamber and is pumped out to the lungs to get oxygenated. The oxygenated blood re-enters the heart through the top left change, drops to the bottom left chamber that pumps it back out to the body - so one blood circulating system. Baby Bear's heart developed differently - he has two separate circulation systems per se. The blood coming in from the body is going right back out to the body. The blood coming in from the lungs is going right back out to the lungs. So two separate systems which prevent oxygen from getting to his brain or other organs. He is safe during the pregnancy but at birth this becomes a fatal condition. Most patients with this condition also have a hole in the heart that allows the oxygenated blood and non-oxygenated to mix - allowing some oxygen to reach other parts of the body. Baby Bear in true Mortimer/Krause form must do things his own way - and has perfectly healthy heart walls with no holes. This would have been the one time we would hope for a hole in heart!
Suffice to say this news was disappointing and alarming due to the severity. It took about a day to calm our fears and re-gain our focus on the future. As many of you have heard me say - at least we know! And for that we are truly thankful to God each and every day!! Now we know, and now we can prepare. We go back in mid February for a follow up ultrasound and to meet with Dr. Brames, a local pediatric cardiologist to determine our prognosis and treatment plan. While we know that Baby Bear will need open heart surgery, we don't know if they have options to keep him stable for a few days or weeks, or if the surgery will be immediate. We are also assuming we will need a c-section so as to have control over his treatment. Working at PacifiCare/UHC is allowing me to tap into resources I would not normally have access to so as to make sure we truly are getting the best treatment - be that in Colorado Springs or elsewhere. I ask that not only do you keep Baby Bear in your prayers, but also the medical staff that will be caring for him. Thank you!
To end on a more positive note, I wanted to share with you how playful Baby Bear is proving to be already! Every time they tried to zoom into his face to check out his upper lip he would bring his hand up to his mouth. When they wanted to see his nose, he would turn his head. When they wanted to check out his internal organs he would start doing flips as if saying "catch me if you can!". He finally moved his hand to show them his face and I could have sworn there was a smile on his face - as if he was having a pretty good laugh about how hard he was making everyone work. To all you mom's out there, you know during pregnancy how you get to know your baby even before they are born. In my heart I can already hear his laughter. No doubt he will be keeping us on our toes each day. We look forward to those days still to come with God's will......the first smile, the first clap, the first steps and the first true belly laugh. We know it will take longer than with our other children, but I so look forward to the day I can take him to the beach and see the expression on his face as he feels the sand squish between his toes. And if for some reason those days are not to come, we know that in his short life he has already touched so many lives and spread such love. He truly has blessed us so much more than we can imagine and for that too we are thankful!!
God bless all of you!!
catherine, john & family
( I am including my original e-mail as I heard in and out of work that not everyone got my original e-mail...sorry about that - I got tons of error messages when I sent it out over the size of my distribution list - so hope it goes through this time since I lost so many addresses)
PS. A mis amigas de San Silvestre - sorry mil veces por no haber respondido a todos los mensajes de amor y apoyo que me mandaron - prometo hacerlo pronto. Entre los dias de vacaciones, Navidad, y la locura del trabajo llego al fin del dia cansadisima. Kitty - thank you!; Sandra - si, si,si mil veces si - ya te mando mis datos y los de mis padres; Lala, Ginny, Patty y las otras profesoras - ya con tiempo estare buscando informacion sobre metodos de ensenansa, etc y si me podrian ayudar seria maravilloso - y Lala, si me puedes poner en contacto con alguien que me pueda ayudar entender las opciones de physical therapy que ofrece el estado de Colorado te lo agradeceria un monton - entiendo que se tiene que coordinar en el school district y mis hijos estan en colegio Catolico y no se nada de los school districts; Karen - thank you por el resumen de la fiesta - senti estar alli con todas ustedes - tanto asi que tuve que sacar mi musica de los 80's - y Ushi - gracias por acordarte de mi esa noche - no te imaginas cuanto me emociono!! Maga - gracias por la llamada. John a mi costado "talk to her in English, I want to hear it all!" y Alexandra con una foto de ti, cargandola de bebe, ensenandole a Michael que ella si te conoce! Gracias por todo chicas, de verdad que se pasaron con el apoyo y el amor y las oraciones - THANK YOU!! Besos...catherine
**************
December 2006
Dear family & friends!
For some of you this may be an update, and for some it may be breaking news. Please know that if this is your first update, it isn't because we didn't want to share, but rather because we needed to care for our family first before sharing the news. John and I are expecting Krause baby #5! Baby #5 - lovingly known as Baby Bear - is due in mid-May shortly before school is out. During what I thought was a routine ultra-sound it was very evident that Baby Bear was not developing "normally". An amniocentesis and several weeks later we have discovered that Baby Bear has Down Syndrome. While this is obviously not what we expected, we are holding on to our faith with as much strength as we can. We shared the news with our children last night during our Advent reflection and now feel that we can share it with our larger circle of friends and family. I want to share with you a bit of our family discussion so that you know our perspective a nd hop e for your support of us and our children through this life changing opportunity.
First, John and I view every life as a gift from God - and not a commodity we can chose to dispose of for any reason. Secondly, although we struggle with this sometimes in our day to day lives, we view each challenge as a gift from God. An invitation from God to take a short cut to get closer to Him. And while these challenges may sometimes feel bigger than we can handle, if we ask God for the graces we need He will shower us with the gifts of the Holy Spirit. When we talked with our children we started off explaining the medical and physical side of Down Syndrome - then accentuated that although there are some differences they will see with Baby Bear, that there are many more things that will be alike to them. We shared how lucky we are to have this news early so that as a family we can prepare the best home and family life for Baby Bear. We talked about making new friends through this. That we will meet many other families with child ren who have DS, and that through them we will continue to learn and grow, and one day we can help other new families. John talked about how some people don't understand what this is, and therefore can be mean or hurtful, that we need to stay strong and that we will make the world better by showing how to be loving instead of mean. We then focused on our faith in this situation. I told the kids that God loves and trusts our family very much to give us Baby Bear. That when He finds a home for His little souls that need extra care He looks for families where He knows there is a lot of love. I explained that while we are all imperfect we are usually imperfect in our hearts and need extra work to make them pure and loving, but that Baby Bear has different challenges, and that is why God gave him a pure and loving heart. So while we will help Baby Bear walk and read one day - he will help us to love unconditionally and enjoy the little things that we forget God gives us ever y day to remind us of His love. Although there is some fear, the kids are excited about what this means to our family, understand that things will change, but are looking forward to having Baby Bear join us. Now we are all praying for his heart and other physical parts that we still need to have checked out in the next ultra sound. Children with DS have a higher chance of health issues - some of which we will be able to tell through the ultra sound, and some that we won't. Regardless of your faith life (or you think we are just religious nuts! :-) ), we ask that you please keep Baby Bear in your thoughts or prayers so that he will continue to grow healthy. We ask that you please keep the rest of us in your thoughts or prayers - we know that while now we can prepare, as we get closer to Baby Bear's arrival there will be an increase in anxiety and fear - and that we will be relying on our friends and family to give us that extra lift when we might feel overwhelmed. I ask too that you keep John in your thoughts and prayers as he discerns God's calling for him - personally and professionally. I ask for your prayers and thoughts so that I too may be open to my calling in this situation and that I may continue to grow as a mother and wife to best care for my family. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your love and support.
catherine
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