A long awaited life update!
In support of
The Malone Family
View Support Registry
The Malone Family
Hi friends!
Last year, as we were doing Grayson’s wheelchair van fundraiser, I was so intentional about keeping everyone updated regularly on here. I was hoping to post a fun video showing off what God did! (and maybe I’ll still be able to) However, since we purchased the van, I’ve been pretty quiet, so I want to give a little update of our lives this year.
First of all, quiet online usually means chaos in the background (for us anyway). Right before the van purchase, we found out about our surprise baby #3! We believe every life is worth celebrating, but the idea of another child still took quite a bit of time to wrap my head around.
What you saw in February was a picture of our new van! 🙌 Behind the scenes, I was struggling through my <<all day>> morning sickness that set in right as I was recovering from what I presume was Covid in my first month of pregnancy. Morning sickness for me usually hangs on for the first four months, so we scheduled Grayson’s surgery for around the time I thought I wouldn’t be sick anymore but before my anatomy scan needed to be done.
Our surgery trip to Texas came up before morning sickness abated, but I held onto the promise that Grayson’s recovery should only be a struggle for 3-5 days… I wish that had been the case for him. Keith and I took turns helping him through the night, but because I was still dealing with fatigue and sickness, Keith definitely bore the weight of that load. I don’t know how we’d survive without that man.
We stayed in Texas from April till the end of May, yet Grayson was still in a lot of pain and struggling from the procedure when we came home. He continued struggling during the day and waking up screaming throughout the night in pain till halfway through August. Our nervous systems were fried.
Don’t get me wrong - there were a lot of enjoyable times too. I just really didn’t have it in me to try to share our lives online.
He still is not back to baseline developmentally, but his nervous system settled down quite a bit… just in time for my third trimester, when I got to a point that I couldn’t lift and transfer him anymore. He’s just about 60lbs and my stomach was larger than my arms are long. I don’t know how we would’ve managed without the flexibility of Keith’s work at the time, my super involved mom, and Grayson’s aide and our friend Christy who helped us get to and from almost all of Grayson’s appointments.
My due date was October 4, but our little surprise decided to break the family trend of coming before his due date. He finally arrived on October 12 safe and healthy after two separate hospital visits in labor. Grayson is now a big brother to two! Emmett is five, and Rowan just hit the one month mark!
Needless to say, it’s been a really busy year of change and constant adapting for us, so I’m sorry to have left you all in the dark for so long.
If you read this whole thing, bless you 🫶 I truly appreciate this beautiful community God has given us. You all have been our greatest supporters and most dedicated prayer warriors from day one.
We felt like we were in the trenches back in our NICU days, but as G gets bigger, so do the care decisions and challenges. We are not stronger or more equipped than anyone else to do this life… but we do have a faithful God who is sustaining us.
Your presence and prayers mean just as much to us now (if not more) in this big kid stage as they did in his cute baby stage.
Thank you for being here and loving Grayson and our little family… and thank you for being so understanding of my absence online during this phase. 🫶
💙 Alicia
Last year, as we were doing Grayson’s wheelchair van fundraiser, I was so intentional about keeping everyone updated regularly on here. I was hoping to post a fun video showing off what God did! (and maybe I’ll still be able to) However, since we purchased the van, I’ve been pretty quiet, so I want to give a little update of our lives this year.
First of all, quiet online usually means chaos in the background (for us anyway). Right before the van purchase, we found out about our surprise baby #3! We believe every life is worth celebrating, but the idea of another child still took quite a bit of time to wrap my head around.
What you saw in February was a picture of our new van! 🙌 Behind the scenes, I was struggling through my <<all day>> morning sickness that set in right as I was recovering from what I presume was Covid in my first month of pregnancy. Morning sickness for me usually hangs on for the first four months, so we scheduled Grayson’s surgery for around the time I thought I wouldn’t be sick anymore but before my anatomy scan needed to be done.
Our surgery trip to Texas came up before morning sickness abated, but I held onto the promise that Grayson’s recovery should only be a struggle for 3-5 days… I wish that had been the case for him. Keith and I took turns helping him through the night, but because I was still dealing with fatigue and sickness, Keith definitely bore the weight of that load. I don’t know how we’d survive without that man.
We stayed in Texas from April till the end of May, yet Grayson was still in a lot of pain and struggling from the procedure when we came home. He continued struggling during the day and waking up screaming throughout the night in pain till halfway through August. Our nervous systems were fried.
Don’t get me wrong - there were a lot of enjoyable times too. I just really didn’t have it in me to try to share our lives online.
He still is not back to baseline developmentally, but his nervous system settled down quite a bit… just in time for my third trimester, when I got to a point that I couldn’t lift and transfer him anymore. He’s just about 60lbs and my stomach was larger than my arms are long. I don’t know how we would’ve managed without the flexibility of Keith’s work at the time, my super involved mom, and Grayson’s aide and our friend Christy who helped us get to and from almost all of Grayson’s appointments.
My due date was October 4, but our little surprise decided to break the family trend of coming before his due date. He finally arrived on October 12 safe and healthy after two separate hospital visits in labor. Grayson is now a big brother to two! Emmett is five, and Rowan just hit the one month mark!
Needless to say, it’s been a really busy year of change and constant adapting for us, so I’m sorry to have left you all in the dark for so long.
If you read this whole thing, bless you 🫶 I truly appreciate this beautiful community God has given us. You all have been our greatest supporters and most dedicated prayer warriors from day one.
We felt like we were in the trenches back in our NICU days, but as G gets bigger, so do the care decisions and challenges. We are not stronger or more equipped than anyone else to do this life… but we do have a faithful God who is sustaining us.
Your presence and prayers mean just as much to us now (if not more) in this big kid stage as they did in his cute baby stage.
Thank you for being here and loving Grayson and our little family… and thank you for being so understanding of my absence online during this phase. 🫶
💙 Alicia
Comments