Joy and Sorrow for the Fishers

We have made the move to WA and are now settled in to our new home (pics will be posted once we get our Internet hooked up).  August has proven to be a difficult month for our family and we are now ready to share this with you all.  Many of you wondered why we waited so long to make the move to WA rather than going as soon as we sold our house.  We had our reasons . . .


Few of you know that Garrett and I had a very difficult time conceiving Alli.  It was only after we took Clomid and had an IUI that we learned the joy that comes from pregnancy.  Fortunately, we conceived Alli the first month we received treatment.  We had always assumed we would have two children but have now learned that God has other plans for us.  We have spent much of this year trying to conceive another child but after multiple failed IUIs and a failed IVF cycle (in August, i.e. reason for staying in MA!), we now believe it is not meant to be.  It appears that it is God's plan that Alli be an only child.  Many may say, just keep trying, however, the physical and emotional toll it takes on us is simply too great.  Moreover, neither of us believe that having children is meant to be this difficult.

We tell you this for a number of reasons.  First, it is difficult for us to deal with and try to pretend that everything is okay.  While we know that no one means any harm, questions regarding when we are "having another" are very painful to us, as are comments about how  Alli needs a sibling.  Second, this is what God has planned for us and we are trying hard to accept this, which is difficult to do when we are bottling it up.

We are beyond blessed to have Alli ~ she truly is our miracle baby and there could not be a baby more loved and wanted than her.  Each day brings us closer to acceptance but please know that this is a difficult time and comments about how if we just relax, we'll get pregnant or we'll have more children some day hurt more than we can explain.  That said, we will accept this and move forward as the Fisher Family of 3, as we are pretty excited by our family and what lies ahead.

Thank you all for your prayers and support, we appreciate each of you very much!

Please pray!

I know that I have not updated recently (life's been hectic) and, unfortunately, I do not have time to update much now. I am writing to beg for prayers. Some dear friends of ours, who are currently pregnant with twins due in January, learned today that the mommy is dialated and there is little chance of saving the babies. We are praying for a miracle for the family and would greatly appreciate you keeping them in your prayers. Medicine can do only so much, the rest is up to God.

The LONGEST Day . . .

Yesterday, I had to go to Wilmington, Delaware for work. The day started out okay; up at 5 a.m. and on my way to the airport by 5:30. I got there and the lines for security were huge. This is not typical for our airport at that time of day, and to top it off, they didn't have the business traveler line open ~ aagh! Fortunately, given that I was on a 7:15 flight, they let me go to the front. So I get through security and get to my gate as the flight is boarding. No time for breakfast. Great news, I have a row to myself so I'm thinking, okay day is looking up. Then we sit. We don't actually take off until 8 and then the Captain says that due to problems in Philly, we are in a holding pattern. We finally get out of that but we're told to go slow. I was supposed to arrive in Philly by 9, jump in a car and be to Wilmington by 9:30. I was interviewing a witness for one of my cases. I finally get to the interview, which was supposed to start at 10, around 10:30. Thankfully, the interview goes well and I'm back in a car on my way to Philly by 1. I was thrilled when I got to the airport in time to jump on the 2:15 flight (I was booked for the 3:15). So I get to the gate only to find that the plane isn't there yet. It arrived shortly and things were looking good. Then the fun began . . . the weather looked fine, talking to people in Boston, I learn the weather is fine there as well. We're not boarding and they are telling us nothing. This goes on for quite awhile. Fast forward to 4 p.m., still in the terminal, sky is starting to look dark, not surprising since severe storms were threatened for the late afternoon. All they are telling us is that they do not know when we will be departing. Fortunately, the gentleman at the desk is kind and tried to answer all questions. He finally admits the problem is both airports. It's not looking good. I call my secretary trying to find other ways to get back to Boston that night ~ no way was I staying in Philly. Trains are booked but I can take a car service. Still not sure what to do, trying to be optimistic that the flight would go. Suddenly, I look up and see one of the junior partners from my office. He too had been in Wilmington and just switched to my flight. I let him know the situation. He's optimistic the flight will go, I'm not. Then he gets a call from his wife, who tells him about the tornado warnings in New England. Decision made, we're getting a car service and the car should be there within a half hour. We wait, no car. I call the driver who says he'll be at least another 45 minutes. By this point, it's 5:30 so we decide to rent a car and drive. Best decision we could have made. No traffic, weather wasn't bad at all and I finally got home a little after 11 p.m. I had to check the flights to see if they actually went and guess what, all flights had been cancelled. YEAH!!! We made the right choice. I have no desire to return to Philly or Wilmington any time soon!

Fun for the Fishers

Sorry it's been so long since our last update ~ we've been very busy out here! I won't bore you with all of the details but will try to stick to the highlights :)


As you know, since we pulled Alli out of day care the middle of March, the moms took turns coming out to provide what we fondly called "Gramma-care" Well, Gramma-care ended the week before Memorial Weekend and we've been on our own since then. It was challenging at times, but we survived

Garrett's last day working for the Air Force was June 13th.  Alli and I drove down to CT for his going away party and had a great time!

Since then, he and Alli have been having a great time together.  On June 21st, the two of them boarded a flight to WA for a two week visit.  Sadly, I have been so swamped at work (a whole other story!) so I stayed behind in MA.  Fortunately, Salem was with me ~ of course, he was in trouble because he was supposed to fly back with Garrett & Alli but the little stinker ran away for the day.  Turned out to be for the best as it would have been too much for G and I enjoyed the company.  I flew back to WA to meet up with my family on July 2nd.  Salem had his last plane ride ever and is now officially a WA kitty (G's parents were nice enough to let him stay with them until we move).

Since returning to MA, things have been busy!!!  I am still swamped with work but have high hopes that things will return to a more normal pace in August.  G and Alli have been very busy getting us ready for the move.  We're still set to close on July 30th and have set up short term housing for August.  As of now, we're still hoping to be back in WA by Labor Day but there are a few things we have to take care of out here before we move.

We know that the packing may not be as much fun for Alli so we are trying to sprinkle in fun with all of the boring stuff.  Garrett has been taking her out to play at parks with other little ones and we took her to this great place for kids yesterday:  Davis Farmland.  It is an amazing place with lots of animals for petting and cuddling, lots of playgrounds, and a water park!  We spent the entire afternoon there and had a wonderful time.  Alli really liked the bunnies and goats ~ she even ran up to hug a baby goat!  It was going great with the animals until a large sheep "baahed" loudly.  After that, she was pretty scared of all the animals, including a baby chick!!!  Fortuantely, she had fun playing at the various playground and eating ice cream.  Then we played at the Toddler water park.  After getting changed and trying out another playground, we headed home.  It was a long but very fun day!

I have to head back to work today ~ these one day weekends are killing me and I haven't seen a Friday off in I don't know how long. Can't wait until things go back to normal . . .

Well, our biggest news is that Garrett got a job offer from Honeywell!!!!!!!!!!!! He interviewed with them while in WA and made a great impression. Assuming they don't mind him starting in late August, it looks like he's got a new job

I promise to try updating a little sooner next time

We Sold the House in MA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

YEAH!!! We could not be happier (okay, so we could if the price was higher but you take what you can get!)  We have been in negotiations with the buyers for the past week and it wasn't looking too great.  Needless to say, after counteroffering to multiple rounds of low ball offers, we finally settled on what was pretty much our bottom line.  Actually, their final offer was a little below our bottom line which led to our re-negotiating our realtor's rate from 6% down 4.5% to make the deal work.  I can quite honestly say that I'm pretty sure our realtor hates us but we can live with that.  It came down to a horrible market and some great negotiating.  We are thrilled!!!  The plan is to still stick around MA for part, if not most of August and be home by Labor Day.  Please pray that this works out for us!!!

Looking for support

By now, I'm sure that most of you have heard the GREAT news . . . Alli is continuing to gain weight!!!! At her appointment with her GI doc last week, she weighed in at 19 lbs 8.6 oz. So all of you mathematicians out there now realize that Alli gained 2 lbs in 3 weeks ~ Woo Hoo! We are so thrilled, now if only we could get her to eat a bit healthier of a variety of foods, oh well, that's tomorrow's battle. For now, we are just so happy that she seems to be improving. Now, to be fair, she still is not a great eater, very picky and eats small amounts, but she's a small gal so we're not expecting her to eat a ton yet. We are a little nervous for when we have to take her off of the stimulant (6 weeks on, 2 weeks off). She has to go off of it so her body doesn't build up a tolerance to it. Although we have been warned that it could be stressful, we are trying to remain positive and hoping that she will at least not lose weight even if she doesn't gain.


We had a very touching experience at Children's Hospital at her last visit that I wanted to share. We were down at the lab because Alli needed to have her bloodwork re-checked. While we were waiting, Alli saw a little infant with her Mommy and was very intrigued. The other Mommy thought Alli was very cute and we began chatting while the little girls were watching each other very intently. Turns out the little one was 7 months old and had just received a heart transplant. You could just see the love and joy pouring out of her Mommy. We were absolutely amazed by this and were reminded once again how fortunate we are to have Alli in our lives. As we were leaving Children's that day, we saw a sign for a 7 mile walk to benefit the Hospital and we decided to sign up.

As you know, Alli has had difficulty gaining weight because of her aversion to food. We begged Alli's former pediatrician to help but were told that it was no big deal and she would grow out of it. Alli went from a healthy little gal who was in the 15th percentile to completely off the charts. Thankfully, in January, her new pediatrician (who we absolutely love!) referred us to Dr. Duro, a GI doc at Children's. Thanks to the wonderful folks at Children's, Alli is now eating and gaining again ~ even back on the growth chart at 6%. It's never fun to be poked and prodded but the everyone who works at Children's has been so great and made all of us feel like there is hope. We are working as a team.

Although we have nothing to compare it to, we think that Children's Hospital in Boston is a wonderful place, a truly unique hospital—one of the best pediatric institutions in the world, giving hope to so many kids and their families, constantly finding new ways to treat or cure an amazing variety of diseases. The doctors and nurses here never say "never" and they treat kids from all over the world. We're fortunate that we have insurance but some of the kids have families who can't afford to pay for their care and Children's takes care of them all! If you are interested in supporting Alli in her walk for Children's, please visit her Walk page.

Thank you! Your donation will make a difference in kids' lives, including Alli's :)

Woo Hoo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Alli had her 15 month appointment yesterday and it was AMAZING!!!! She is up to 18 lbs 13 oz and 31 inches. We were just hoping that she might hit the 18 lb mark finally, we never dreamed she would surpass it and almost hit 19 lbs!!! I cried when the nurse told me the weight I couldn't help it, I was just so excited. It was a great appointment all around. Alli only cried when she got weighed (go figure!) She was such a little champ during the exam and chatted the whole time. Although she has her own language and doesn't say a ton of recognizable words, her doc thinks she is right where she should be and was impressed by how well she understood directions ~ she showed him her belly, how she can shake toys, how she dances, how she can "pet" animals (he gave her a baby animals counting book) and she gave Mommy smooches when asked Here's the most impressive part . . . she got two shots (one in each arm) and our big girl didn't so much as wimper!!! That's right, she just looked at the nurse as if to say, "are you done yet? I want to go play." When we went out to the waiting room so I could book her next appointment before we left she played and flirted with the women at the front desk. The consensus in the office was "WOW! not a usual 15 month old reaction" She was such a brave little girl!!! I was so giddy yesterday that I couldn't stop smiling and crying ~ silly Mommy!

Another Giant Leap Backward

As I mentioned in our last update, although Alli had gained weight, she started refusing food and liquids again. Garrett and I were completely beside ourselves and decided we simply couldn't wait before seeking help again. We were determined to break this cycle so we attempted to contact Alli's GI doc last week. We reached out to her last Tuesday and had a response by Wednesday: "bring Alli in on Friday at 10 a.m." We were really nervous for the appointment, assuming that she had lost more weight, afraid she may be hospitalized, and concerned that we would have to battle to get help. We could not have been more wrong.


Well, we were partly right, she did lose weight. She's now at 17 lbs 7 oz so she lost 6 oz in two weeks. I have to say that while we weren't happy that she lost weight, we were relieved to see that we had hard proof of a need for further help. Alli's GI doctor is AWESOME!!! I truly think this woman is an angel sent by God to help us with Alli. When she walked into the room, the first thing out of her mouth was "thank you so much for contacting me for help, I'm so glad you didn't wait" What?!?! We begged for help almost daily with Alli's former pedi and were told that nothing was wrong, she would grow out of it, blah, blah, blah. We were made to feel crazy. Not with her. She even apologized again for the delay ~ she was in Brazil for a family emergency. She re-reviewed all of Alli's tests and they are negative, but she said that the RAST (allergy) test may not be accurate so if we don't see improvement, she will do an endoscopy and colonoscopy.

What was even better about this appointment is we have action. Like us, she found it interesting that Alli stopped eating two days after she stopped the Zantac. Garrett got really nervous when she said this, but she quickly erased his fears. She prescribed the appetite stimulant and another medication to treat reflux. It's not Zantac but apparently in the same family, just newer. We also need to continue giving Alli the Vit D, Vit E and Iron supplements. She asked that we call on Tuesday to check in with her to determine if we need to up the amount of the appetite stimulant. She also wants Alli back in three weeks to determine whether to schedule the further tests. Here is what also impressed us, she went to the scheduling desk with us and made sure that we got an appointment for exactly three weeks even thought the scheduler thought she was over-booked that day. We got the first appointment of the morning so there will be no problems :) She asked that we call her that afternoon to let her know the vitamin concentration. I was amazed, the number she gave us was her direct line ~ she actually answered the phone ~ WOW!!!

After a couple of days on the appetite stimulant (which is actually an antihistamine that has the side effect of increased appetite) Alli does appear to be eating a bit better. She is still not eating a lot but she is no longer violently refusing food and she will actually ask to eat, which she never does. It's pretty exciting but at the same time, we are afraid to get our hopes up since she does go through cycles of eating okay.

We truly believe we are going to get to the bottom of Alli's issues and we're going to get help. Praise God, the prayers are working!!! We know there will be difficult days but at least we know that we are in good hands. Please keep praying that the appetite stimulant works and Alli will not require a feeding tube.

Keeping us on our toes!

Where to start . . . As I mentioned in our last update, Alli and Garrett flew back to WA with Adele (i.e. Gramma) April 2nd to do some work on our new house.  Fortunately, it was not a full flight so Alli had her own seat but decided to stay awake the majority of the flight. Good thing she is such a good natured little girl or that could have been a very long flight :)  Alli does great traveling and adapting to new surroundings, thank goodness.  She was very happy to see her Gram and get reaquainted with the grandpas, great-grandparents, cousins, aunts & uncles.  She loved showing off how great she can walk and run these day :)  I flew in that weekend to help work on the house. We got a ton completed thanks to the help of our families ~ we are so lucky to have family members that know what they are doing when it comes to remodeling.

 

As you know, we bought a brand-new house so all we were really doing was adding "us" to the house. It originally came with wire shelving, which I detest, so as part of our purchase agreement, we had the builder remove all of the wire and fix the walls.  Garrett and my dad completed the coat closet, linen closets and pantry. 

 

We are having a company do custom shelving in the Master closet as well as a custom built-in office. We will have to work on Alli's closet and guest room closet on our next visit.  We also did a ton of painting. We went for earth tones in every room but Alli's.  The living room is a chocolate brown, the Master bedroom, bathrooms, and office are all tan, and the dining room (by far our biggest project) is an olive green with white wainscoting.

Alli's room is adorable.  We painted it spearmint green on top with green and white stripes on the bottom.  I have to thank my wonderful friend Michelle for the idea ~ future baby McDonald's room is blue and white stripes.  Garrett and I loved it and asked if we could copy them.  I had to return to work that Monday so Adele graciously offered to paint the stripes (I cannot say I was sorry to miss doing that!)  As you can see from the pictures, she did a FABULOUS job. 

All we have left to do in Alli's room is put up the chair rail. It was exhausting but fun working on the house and we are so anxious to move back there!!!

Now for the update on Alli . . . she's part of the reason that we're not sure when we'll be able to move. We need to get her eating and weight issues under control before we move.  Now that we have such a great team of doctors working to address these issues, we are hesitant to switch.  Alli had her follow-up with her GI doc last Thursday.  The GREAT news is that all of the scary tests came back negative and she does not have reflux so no more Zantac ~ she is thrilled about this.  She is slightly low on iron and Vit D so she's on a vitamin now that she does not love!  They are re-running one of the tests concerning her absorption of fat because the results were not clear.  She is up to 17 lbs 13 oz so she gained 7 oz in the last 3 weeks. This was a good thing (although it doesn't sound like much) because the GI doc said that if she had not gained, she planned to hospitalize her and place a feeding tube that day ~ WHAT?!?!  That made us nervous but thankfully, she gained.  Because she gained, the GI doc wants to wait another month before trying an appetite stimulant but agreed that if she does not gain substantially in the next month, we will begin Alli on an appetite stimulant ~ can we say "fat pill"? :)  We would like to just start it now but agreed to wait until her 15 month appointment to see where she's at.  We're praying she will finally hit 18 lbs!  The bummer is that she is working on more teeth and they are causing her so much pain that she is not at all interested in eating right now.  One step forward, a giant leap back. We'll see what happens . . .

Our trip to D.C.

Well, I am officially back at work today and healing nicely from the appendectomy. Alli enjoyed having my mom out here while I recovered and certainly wore her out :)  Alli is still not great with the eating but we go back next Thursday to meet with her GI doc so hopefully we'll get some assistance or answers then.  Last Friday, my mom returned to WA and Garrett's mom arrived here.  We went to the Nordstrom opening in Burlington but because Miss Alli decided to sleep in, we missed the speeches and walking on the red carpet. Oh well, it was fun and Alli was thrilled because she got more pink bunnies (her lovey that shows up in many pictures!) Apparently, you can never have too many bunnies :)

On Saturday, Garrett and I flew down to D.C. for a weekend of fun. My law school hosted a weekend-long event culminating in a swearing in ceremony at the US Supreme Court. We had a great time visiting with my former classmates and touring the city. It is such a great place to visit but we overdid it a little with our walking on Sunday and were both feeling it!!!

Here we are at the cocktail reception hosted by my law school at the swanky Hay Adams hotel.

Touring DC ~ as close as we got to the White House :)

The actual swearing in ceremony was quite brief but exciting as we saw the justices up close and got to meet Justice Ginsberg ~ not exactly my favorite justice (yes, I'm a Scalia and Thomas fan!) but it was still fun and made for some good pictures.

With Dean John O'Brien and President Marty Murphy ~ both of whom have been wonderful to me!

Before the swearing in ceremony

After the ceremony with Justice Ginsburg

As much fun as we had, we were most excited to return home to see Alli, who gave us big smiles and snuggles when we got there!!! Nothing better than that! She and her Gramma had a very funfilled weekend. Garrett and Alli will fly back to WA with Adele tomorrow and I plan to joint them this weekend. Other than that, there's not much going on with us. As I mentioned, I'm healing nicely and no longer need pain meds but our trip to D.C. was a friendly reminder that I still need to take it easy ~ I'm terrible at that . . .