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I have always tried hard to praise God through good or bad. Let's be honest - it's much easier to praise when things are going good. Although, it's more common for people to turn to God for help in the bad. The last couple of weeks has been a lot of both. What started out as seemingly devastating has quickly morphed into relief with a hint of anticipation.

E's diagnosis of Turner's syndrome just a few weeks ago was a lot for me to take in. I was able to understand the overwhelming feeling of trying to catch your breath and not being able to find it when you're told that something is wrong with your child. It was almost like I was on the outside watching myself try and process everything and knowing that there had to be an explanation. Sometimes, especially with Turner's, there is no explanation. It's completely random. The more research I did, the more I was able to calm myself and take everything in. This is not a death sentence. There are some potentially threatening issues that accompany this syndrome, but even those are seemingly random, especially among girls with Mosaic Turner's. To cut right to it, if someone is going to have this syndrome, the Mosaic type is what you want. There's a greater chance of everything being just fine. 

And that's exactly where we are. Our doctor visits on Thursday concluded that Emma's heart is absolutely perfect! No defects of any kind! PTL! That, however, doesn't meant that something couldn't develop later. Her cardiologist was very optimistic about how Emma's heart looked and assured me that she doesn't expect any issues to develop, but just out of precaution because of the nature of this syndrome, we'll go back for checkups every few years. You have no idea how much of a relief it was for me to hear "every few years"! One side of me was a little disappointed that we couldn't just be done with it forever but the other side of me (the hypochondriac side) was kind of happy that she would be having regular checks to make sure that everything is staying just as perfect as it is right now!

On the side of the endocrinologist, Emma was VERY happy that no more blood needed to be drawn for tests. Dr. Lomenick simply confirmed the diagnosis of Turner's Syndrome and explained a little bit of what the road will look like for us going forward, in regards to Emma's growth. As of right now, she's set to stay our 'little' girl for pretty much her whole life. He told me that the average height of kids with Turner's is about 4'7" and Emma is right on track for that. He then gave instructions for Rory and I to research growth hormones. He explained that there has been a lot of success with girls gaining several inches through the administering of growth hormones, and that starting them sooner rather than later would allow time for E to catch up. He estimated that she could potentially be as tall as me, 5'2", if her body took the hormones well. His main point through the whole discussion was that it was up to us and Emma. Unfortunately, growth hormones have to be administered through injection, and from my understanding, they are taken daily until you reach the desired height. That would mean that Emma would be taking shots every day from now until she reaches the height she wants. She takes after her Uncle Will in her complete and utter disdain for needles, but I know that she would eventually get used to them and it would be just another part of life.

In all, the news we received was fantastic! I know that we are not done with this trial and I know that we face a lot of hard decisions and tests down the road, but God has provided us the opportunity and time to build the strength we'll need to get through those. He's also put people in our lives that will open other opportunities for Emma and us down the road and I can't wait to see where this path will lead our family!

Thank you so much for all of your prayers on Emma's behalf! We know that God is answering them according to His will and plan!

God bless!