Diehl Family of 3
Wednesday, February 12, 2014
Gotcha Day! Landon officially becomes a "Diehl" November 28th, 2012
The legal aspect of the adoption went so smooth and quick. We were assigned to the judge who doesn't make adoptive parents wait the normal 6-12 month period before an adoption can be finalized. He believes whatever is best for the child, so Landon was born on October 4th and he was officially ours just under 2 months. Here are some pictures of us with our family and the judge.
Pumpkin Patch 2012
Landon went to his first pumpkin patch with family! Nana, Pappy, Aunt Taylor, Uncle Jason, Cousin Max, and Mom and Dad were all there. We had a blast!
Newborn Pictures by Ashley Tremaine
Part of a baby shower gift was a newborn photo session of Landon by the fabulous Ashley Tremaine. Landon was just 10 days old and did great! Here are a few of my favorites!
Bringing Landon Home
Landon was born on October 4th at 7:35 p.m. and weighed 8 lbs 5 oz. and was 20.5 inches long. We went back to the hospital on Friday for a little bit and the nurses said we could come to the new baby orientation the following day before he was discharged. We came up to the hospital on Saturday for the orientation and then waited in the waiting room until she was ready for us to come in. The nurses were getting ready to discharge Ashley, so she spent her last few moments with him before we came back in. When we came back in, she handed him to me and said, "Take good care of him." We both were extremely emotional and I just can't imagine how hard that was for her to do. Her friend and her left the hospital and we stayed and waited because he was getting circumcised. Finally, we were on our way home with our brand new baby boy, Landon!
Adoption Opportunity and Landon's Birth
After posting about our fifth loss and people reading our post (Tuesday), we got word that there was a birth mom (Ashley) who was looking for someone to adopt her baby boy who was due in September. The connection was through the dance studio that my sister used to dance at. We talked with Jennifer for a while that evening and she gave us the birth mom's aunt's contact number. We contacted her and set up lunch for that following Friday. JJ and I had lunch with both Ashley and her aunt on Friday in Coppell. We were leaving to celebrate our 3rd anniversary on the West Coast the following week, so we told them we were going to pray about it and get back with them soon. We contacted a private adoption attorney while we were traveling and began the process. I went with Ashley to a few of her appointments during the summer prior to starting back at work. We quickly got a nursery ready and began waiting. Ashley went past her due date and it seemed like forever waiting. She informed me that they would induce her on the 4th and she would let me know when I could come up to the hospital. The night before, JJ had kidney stone pain and didn't sleep well at all. We called the doctor the following morning and scheduled an appointment at Baylor Irving since that's where Ashley would be delivering. After being seen, the doctor said he was going to have surgery that day. We were at the hospital until around 8:30 p.m. and still no word from Ashley. Her friend that was with her did give me text updates though. After we were discharged, we went to pick up JJ's prescriptions and went to my parent's house in Irving. Around 10:00 after JJ had just fallen asleep, I got a call from Ashley. She said, "Are you ready to meet him?" I of course was super excited and woke JJ up. We quickly grabbed our things and headed back to the hospital. We were in awe as soon as we saw him. Ashley handed him to me and took a picture of us with her phone and texted it to me. We stayed until midnight and told her we would be back the following day whenever it was convenient for her. We were so in love and couldn't wait to bring him home.
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
A Sad Day
We write this blog post with heavy hearts and saddened spirits. Our beloved baby boy has gone home to join the Lord after a short but unforgettable 17 weeks. However, it is best to start this post with a short history about our previous attempts at starting our family.
After being married a short five months, we found out we were pregnant. We actually weren't planning on getting pregnant that soon, but realized that it was God's plan. We became super excited and couldn't wait for our first appointment. Valentine's Day 2010, we received devastating news. The baby didn't have a heartbeat. I had a D&C the following day. At our follow-up appointments, the doctor said that we could try again and JJ and I were ready. We got pregnant again in April 2010. This time was a little different. I had some bleeding and a heartbeat was detected early on, however there was a blood clot and the following appointment the baby didn't have a heartbeat. I then had another D&C. JJ and I struggled for a while trying to figure out why this was happening. We had many unanswered questions and wondered how God could let this happen to us. That summer, we switched doctors. We wanted to find someone who specialized in high-risk pregnancies and multiple miscarriages. I had numerous work-ups done to see if anything seemed abnormal or strange. Nothing major came back. We tried again and found out I was pregnant. This time, I had blood work done weekly as soon as I found out and had our first sonogram at 8 weeks with no heartbeat again. The doctor had the fetal tissue sent off for genetic testing. The results came back and indicated the baby had a chromosome abnormality known as Trisomy 15 which was incompatible with life. Our doctor was worried at this point that JJ or I had something wrong genetically and sent us to see a genetic counselor. All of our results came back normal. We also had some further blood testing done because of a platelet antibody that showed up on a previous screening. The results came back that JJ and I had a platelet incompatibility which would cause my platelets to attack the baby's, resulting in the baby having bleeding on the brain and being born with a low platelet count. The previous three miscarriages had nothing to do with this particular condition. This was a condition that would be treated with steroids starting at 20 weeks. We found out we were pregnant again last August and I was watched starting at 4 weeks through blood work. We had our first sonogram at 6 weeks with a strong heartbeat. Went back the next week and still had a heartbeat. We went back the following week to find out that the baby didn't have a heartbeat. I had my fourth D&C and the fetal tissue came back with a different Trisomy. We were then advised to possibly use donor sperm or adopt even though we didn't have any answers. We just couldn't do that. In November 2011, we decided to see a doctor at CARE, Center for Assisted Reproduction, since they had treated people with multiple miscarriages. We had many tests done. I had a hysteroscopy done and JJ had further testing done. Those came back normal. They also wanted to have the fetal tissue from our first two miscarriages sent off for genetic testing to compare them to the third and fourth. One came back a healthy male and the other wasn't able to be tested because it was tissue from me and not the baby. So, there were more questions we had. We had one that came back normal, two Trisomies, and one that we were unsure on. After consulting with the doctor, we decided to try again. In April 2012, we found out we were pregnant a fifth time. We immediately were seen at 4 weeks, 6 weeks, 8 weeks, and 10 weeks at CARE. A heartbeat was found from 6 weeks on. Everything was looking great! We were still super nervous. I had my first appointment with my regular OB around 11 weeks and everything was progressing as should. My last appointment was on July 2nd, the day before flying to see my parents in Connecticut. My brother, grandma, her husband, and I flew up to help pack my parents up to move back to Texas. Everything looked good and I was scheduled to go back for two appointments on the 11th and 12th. While in Connecticut, I began to have some weird pains that I felt went away. We began our driving journey back to Texas this past Saturday. I began leaking fluid that day, but wasn't too sure what exactly was going on. We stayed in a hotel in Roanoke, Virginia that night. The next morning I had fluid leaking and some light bleeding. My grandma, her husband, and my brother headed on to Texas while my mom and dad took me to the nearest ER. Once admitted, I had an exam done to find out that I was already having signs of preterm labor. I was told that I was going to have to deliver at an early 17 weeks. I was in complete shock! I delivered shortly after 4 pm on Sunday. JJ flew up and got there as soon as he could. We decided to name him David Aaron, from the Hebrew for "Beloved" and "Strength." We both held him for closure, which was by far the hardest thing we have ever had to do. However we know he is with the Lord now!
Throughout this journey, we are staying strong knowing that God does have a plan for us. We obviously aren't sure what that is at this moment, but will continue to trust Him! Please continue to pray for us!
-Amanda and JJ
After being married a short five months, we found out we were pregnant. We actually weren't planning on getting pregnant that soon, but realized that it was God's plan. We became super excited and couldn't wait for our first appointment. Valentine's Day 2010, we received devastating news. The baby didn't have a heartbeat. I had a D&C the following day. At our follow-up appointments, the doctor said that we could try again and JJ and I were ready. We got pregnant again in April 2010. This time was a little different. I had some bleeding and a heartbeat was detected early on, however there was a blood clot and the following appointment the baby didn't have a heartbeat. I then had another D&C. JJ and I struggled for a while trying to figure out why this was happening. We had many unanswered questions and wondered how God could let this happen to us. That summer, we switched doctors. We wanted to find someone who specialized in high-risk pregnancies and multiple miscarriages. I had numerous work-ups done to see if anything seemed abnormal or strange. Nothing major came back. We tried again and found out I was pregnant. This time, I had blood work done weekly as soon as I found out and had our first sonogram at 8 weeks with no heartbeat again. The doctor had the fetal tissue sent off for genetic testing. The results came back and indicated the baby had a chromosome abnormality known as Trisomy 15 which was incompatible with life. Our doctor was worried at this point that JJ or I had something wrong genetically and sent us to see a genetic counselor. All of our results came back normal. We also had some further blood testing done because of a platelet antibody that showed up on a previous screening. The results came back that JJ and I had a platelet incompatibility which would cause my platelets to attack the baby's, resulting in the baby having bleeding on the brain and being born with a low platelet count. The previous three miscarriages had nothing to do with this particular condition. This was a condition that would be treated with steroids starting at 20 weeks. We found out we were pregnant again last August and I was watched starting at 4 weeks through blood work. We had our first sonogram at 6 weeks with a strong heartbeat. Went back the next week and still had a heartbeat. We went back the following week to find out that the baby didn't have a heartbeat. I had my fourth D&C and the fetal tissue came back with a different Trisomy. We were then advised to possibly use donor sperm or adopt even though we didn't have any answers. We just couldn't do that. In November 2011, we decided to see a doctor at CARE, Center for Assisted Reproduction, since they had treated people with multiple miscarriages. We had many tests done. I had a hysteroscopy done and JJ had further testing done. Those came back normal. They also wanted to have the fetal tissue from our first two miscarriages sent off for genetic testing to compare them to the third and fourth. One came back a healthy male and the other wasn't able to be tested because it was tissue from me and not the baby. So, there were more questions we had. We had one that came back normal, two Trisomies, and one that we were unsure on. After consulting with the doctor, we decided to try again. In April 2012, we found out we were pregnant a fifth time. We immediately were seen at 4 weeks, 6 weeks, 8 weeks, and 10 weeks at CARE. A heartbeat was found from 6 weeks on. Everything was looking great! We were still super nervous. I had my first appointment with my regular OB around 11 weeks and everything was progressing as should. My last appointment was on July 2nd, the day before flying to see my parents in Connecticut. My brother, grandma, her husband, and I flew up to help pack my parents up to move back to Texas. Everything looked good and I was scheduled to go back for two appointments on the 11th and 12th. While in Connecticut, I began to have some weird pains that I felt went away. We began our driving journey back to Texas this past Saturday. I began leaking fluid that day, but wasn't too sure what exactly was going on. We stayed in a hotel in Roanoke, Virginia that night. The next morning I had fluid leaking and some light bleeding. My grandma, her husband, and my brother headed on to Texas while my mom and dad took me to the nearest ER. Once admitted, I had an exam done to find out that I was already having signs of preterm labor. I was told that I was going to have to deliver at an early 17 weeks. I was in complete shock! I delivered shortly after 4 pm on Sunday. JJ flew up and got there as soon as he could. We decided to name him David Aaron, from the Hebrew for "Beloved" and "Strength." We both held him for closure, which was by far the hardest thing we have ever had to do. However we know he is with the Lord now!
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| Certificate of Memory for David Aaron Diehl |
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