Giving Thanks

Thanksgiving has taken on an entirely new meaning for us this year. It used to be a day that we spent at our Grandparents' houses, eating a feast of yummies and spending time with family, planning what you were going to purchase at those Friday sales. This will be the first time we've both spent Thanksgiving somewhere other than at "Grandma's House" and not just because of Carter. But we are grateful for our new family and plan to spend most of the day with Carter and our extended Duke family. Before you start to feel sorry for us, I have to share--Jes & Ashley's (Parker Reese Fndt.) Church is making food for both families staying in Parker's House and our families will be here this weekend to feed us.

In light of our new appreciation for this day, we wanted to share a few of the things we are giving thanks for. Obviously, we can't list every single thing we're thankful for and these are in no particular order, but here are a few...

We give thanks for our faith; God; Carter; each other; friends; family; Lucy; lungs; breath; ECMO; nurses; doctors; nurse practitioners; respiratory therapists; many, many other hospital staff; Duke University Medical Center; Jessica, Ashley, Parker & the girls; Rob & Joanna McGuire; Hope (the concept and the person); our jobs--not just because we have them, but because they have been so supportive; health insurance; Baby Jack, our never-ending source of hope for Carter; our CDH Family; and each and every one of you who have sent cards, called, emailed, commented on the blog, thrown baby showers, set up fund-raisers, donated vacation time to Brad, worked Kellie's shifts at work, said prayers, or anything else that has allowed us to have Carter in our lives.

We've talked about this a lot in the last week and although it may sound like a ridiculous thing to give thanks about, we are thankful for CDH. We would never wish CDH on our worst enemy, and we pray every day that a cure is found (we know Dr. Cotten and Dr. Benjamin will find it!) so that no other families have to endure this living nightmare. But, in every road bump there are lessons to be learned. We may never know why we were chosen to be CDH parents and what knowledge we were supposed to gain from our experience. I can say that this has certainly strengthened our faith as we have seen the full power of prayer and have a living, breathing miracle in our presence daily. CDH has caused us to cross paths with people we never would have met before and we have many new friends who we'll treasure forever. It has allowed us to help others. It has given us a new appreciation for life and shown us just how precious life is. It has strengthened our faith in the human spirit. It has made strangers into friends. It has made us stronger than we ever imagined we could be. It has made us appreciate the first time you hold your child at 6 weeks old and the first time you hear your child cry. It's even made us appreciate poopie diapers :)

Although we wish we could spend Thanksgiving sitting around the table with our families eating till we're stuffed, we are happy to spend it sitting around Carter's bed giving thanks for his life. With any luck, and a lot of prayer, his homecoming will be the best Christmas gift ever.

THANK YOU!