First time blogging!

Hello!! Well it's my first time blogging EVER and I am quite excited! I thought this would be a good way to update everyone on things going on with me, Greg, and most importantly our bundle of joy on the way Ethan!

For those of you that don't know our story I will give you a brief history!
Greg and I began dating in 2004 and got married Jan 25th 2007 (my birthday!) We were expecting our first child in 2005 and sadly our baby did not make it and proceeded onto heaven. We named our little boy Jame Alexander Whitaker and refer to him a lot by Alex (This will help some confusion later I'm sure! I tend to talk about Alex a lot and forget that I haven't exactly explained who he is.) After the loss of Alex they couldn't figure out what happened, I went through a ton of testing and in 2006 found out I have PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrom) this makes it very difficult for me to lose weight, and it makes me insulin resistant. I also do not ovulate regularly due to this condition. I went through many Drs and many tests trying to be able to ovulate regularly so that I could get pregnant and after many failures the Drs finally told me I only had a 10% chance of concieveing. I gave up on my hopes of being able to have my own child and began talking about adoption in Dec 08 (which Greg didn't exactly agree with, he believed we would get pregnant when the time was right) and SURPRISE!!!!!! Feb 9th 09 we concieved Ethan without any meds or anything! I am currently 25weeks 6days pregnant with Ethan and things are going well! At our 18week anatomy scan we found out that Ethan has a condition called Spina Bifida at the time they believed it was at the S2 level. At our 22weeks visit we found out that it is actually a bit higher at L4, we were also told that Ethan has Chiari Malformation II, and that as of now his ventricles are just fine but there is a 90% chance he will have Hydrocephalus by the time he is born and that if he doesn't have it by then surely he will after his back closer.

NOW, what this means per say. According to the Drs Ethan will not have any bowel or bladder control and will need to be cathed numerous times a day and will need to be on meds for the bowels. The Drs also say that Ethan will not be able to walk but if he does he will need a lot of assistance and by the time hes about 11 he will be in a wheelchair because he simply wont be strong enough. What I believe is what I have been reading from people in the baby center Spina Bifida Kids group. From their wors of wisdom to me and from the other posts Ive seen and pictures and videos of their children, I know Ethan will be just fine! These parents have given me such hope and joy and have led me to a comfort level with all this news that I can once again enjoy my pregnancy (to some extent)! There are some children that are affected in the same level or higher than Ethan that walk with and without assistance, not all of them end up with hydrocephalus!!! For me I mush prefer to listen to what families with expierence have been through or what they are currently going through and look at how well their children are doing before I come to conclusions. I know that each child is different but I believe that my son will be out there running with the best of them one day!

I think that is ebough for tonight! I feel like I just wrote a novel! :) I'll be back tomm though! Goodnight!