The majority of this blog focuses on Meghan.  But a huge part of Meghan's life is her older brother, Lucas.  This post is all about him!!

Eight years ago at 9:18am, God gave me a beautiful gift...my first child, Lucas.  Luke was delivered via emergency C-section after 50 hours of labor...yes, 50 hours.  It was a long 50 hours of many ups and downs.  It was around the 24 hour mark of labor that I asked for a c-section because I felt I just didn't have it in me anymore.  The nurses talked me into holding off on a C-section and to get rest.  Ummm...yeah right!  But...like the trooper that I am (LOL), I listened and knew I really didn't want to go the C-section route if I really didn't have to.  Time went on and Luke decided he wanted out...now!  Too quickly though.  As labor intensified, Luke wasn't reacting well and we started losing his heart beat.  My quiet labor room that consisted of myself, Luke's dad, and a labor nurse turned very quickly into a room full of about 10 nurses and a few doctors.  I will not go into details on how they got Luke's heart beat again, but I will say they finally got him to react and got a heart beat again and I was rushed immediately into surgery.  From the time I was taken out of my room for surgery until the time of Luke's birth is very blurry.  But I remember very clearly seeing my beautiful bundle of joy right after his delivery.  He weighed 8 pounds 7.5 ounces and was 21 1/4 inches long...just absolutely perfect!

Fast forward 8 years and I am very proud of the person Luke is turning into!  He wanted to be a big brother very badly and when he finally became a big brother, I saw a very nurturing, loving side to him that I had never seen before.  Of course, I also saw the side to him where he couldn't go without an hour of picking on his little sister, but, I guess that's what big brothers do!  Many, many times Luke has had to take the backseat to his sister's health, but through it all, he's always the first one to be concerned and ask how his sister is doing.  He always wants to know she is okay. 

To my little fisherman, farmer, baseball player and overall goofball...have a very HAPPY 8TH BIRTHDAY!!  Enjoy your special day!!

September is a big month in this house!  We started the month with the Hydrocephalus walk, it's Luke's 8th birthday on Saturday and it's also Hydrocephalus awareness month as well as Chiari Malformation awareness month!  For many people, they have never heard of Hydrocephalus or Chiari Malformation - so here are a few quick facts about both conditions:

Chiari Malfmormation
- Chiari is a congenital (present at birth) defect, but people can acquire Chiari due to a traumatic head/brain injury.

- Many people have Chiari but don't even know they have it, as they are asymptomatic.  There are many incidents of a person having an incidental finding of Chiari on an MRI as they are having an MRI for various other reasons.

- Research is currently being done to see if Chiari is genetic.  Currently, there has not been a Chiari gene found, but it isn't uncommon for Chiari to be found in more than one family member.

- 1 in 1,000 people have Chiari.

Hydrocephalus
- 1 in 1,000 babies are born with Hydrocephalus, making it as common as Down's Syndrome and more common than Spina Bifida or brain tumors.

- Hydrocephalus is the most common reason for brain surgery in children.

- Over the last 50 years, there has been no significant improvement in Hydrocephalus treatment or progress toward prevention or a cure.

- An estimated 50% of shunts fail with in the first 2 years.

- Children who have been shunted for Hydrocephalus and who have cognitive delay or motor delay are more likely to develop seizures than those without cognitive or motor delays.  A person can develop seizures at any age.

Yesterday, we walked in our first ever Hydrocephalus Association walk.  Our team, Team Meghan, had 22 awesome walkers and our team raised $1,155 - well over our original goal of $500!  I think that is pretty amazing being it's our first year walking!!  Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who walked and/or donated!  You guys are awesome!  I would love to make this an annual event and we have a big goal for next year.  I've been brainstorming of a few ways to fundraise already!  Here are some pictures from the walk. 

 

 

 

Whew!  We have been super busy here lately!  School started for Luke, therapy has resumed for Meghan, I've started a couple new daycare kids the last few weeks and we've been busy getting everything organized for the big WALK this weekend!!

I am so happy to say we exceeded our goal for the walk (by almost double)!!!  How awesome is that!  We also have a strong walking team of 20 walkers!  I can't wait to experience our first walk!  A huge THANK YOU to everyone who has donated and/or walking with us!  We couldn't do this without the help of you all!  There is still time to join our team or to donate.  To do so, just click this link: http://walk4hydro.kintera.org/faf/search/searchTeamPart.asp?ievent=1077849&lis=1&kntae1077849=EDB26336EA3A4B2AB8E6FDC2429943C7&team=5568491.  Luke and Meghan helped me make the team sign earlier this week and Meghan and I painted our toenails and fingernails.  Well, I painted my fingernails but am still debating on whether to paint Megger's fingernails or not.  I think we are ready!!!  HA walk, here we come!