One year ago...

A major lesson we have learned  in this household is just how quickly life can throw you a curve ball. Last year on July 22, we went in for a routine ultrasound to check on our healthy baby boy. With excitement and impatience, we sat in the waiting room ready to see Parker again. It had been 7 long weeks since our last ultrasound, and Jason was at work for that one. Just three hours later we were sitting in a very strange waiting room in New Orleans waiting to see a doctor we had never met. This doctor would later tell us that our son would not live. He said those words with such certainty, and in that instant it felt like our whole world had come crumbling down. I can replay each and every moment of that day like I was an outsider looking in. Jason immediately lost it and cried for hours while I became a zombie, literally. I felt all of the color rush out of my skin. I couldn't form sentences, or put one foot in front of the other. Jason practically drug me out of the hospital because I could not move. In the days that followed, I didn't want to leave my bed, while Jason did more household chores than ever before because he couldn't sit still. When I was weak he was strong and vice-versa.

This year on July 22, we spent the day alone with our son. Our miracle baby. We played with toys, watched cartoons, and even had a visit from the tickle monster. I sat in awe of my son, who smiles and laughs more than most healthy children. He has brown hair and hazel brown eyes. He has my chin and his daddy's dimples. He can sit on his own. He can stand with assistance. He can kneel to play with toys. He has two bottom teeth. His favorite cartoon is Mickey Mouse.

He's spent 50+ days in the hospital and I cannot count how many times he's been stuck with needles. He takes medicine every morning and every night and will for the rest of his life. He needs a hero to give him a kidney. But most importantly, he is ALIVE.

So much has happened in the last year, but we count our blessings each and every day. We have a very long road ahead of us, but Parker is a fighter.