Our Journey with Conjoined Twins
Abby & Erin
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
Romans 8:28
Romans 8:28
It is official, the girls, my mom, and myself leave for Philly in two weeks! We are well on our way with packing and planning. After much debate we have decided to forgo staying at the Ronald McDonald house. We LOVE the Ronald McDonald house so much! Unfortunately with COVID their restrictions just weren't going to work for us. We needed something where we were able to have guests come back and forth and get the girls out a little bit. As much of a hard decision this was we decided it was in our families best interest. Through many suggestions we contacted an organization called hosts for hospitals. This organization works with families in the community who live near the hospital who are able to open up their homes for families using the hospital to stay. Because of COVID things are a little different with their organization since they aren't able to place families directly in host families homes like they used to. So they have been working on finding us a private place to stay. We recently found out that we will be staying at a wonderful place. It is a working sheep farm outside of Philly with a private carriage house where we will be able to stay. It has a small kitchen and plenty of space for us to be comfortable for our 4 month stay. It also is farm so there will be animals for the girls to see and plenty of outside play space including a pool during the summer months. We are so grateful that this family has opened up their property to share with us. It really is an answer to prayer! There is a $20 per night fee to stay with hosts for hospitals but a huge thanks to the Kelly Ann Dolan memorial fund who are going to cover that cost for us. Without them I don't know if our stay with hosts for hospitals would be possible. I am going to post a link to their website below so you can read about them and all the wonderful things they do! We have had a lot of people ask what they can do to help with this trip and now that we know where we are staying we have a few ways you can help (please do not feel obligated in any way) The place we are staying is 45 minutes away from the hospital. With therapies and appointments we could be traveling up to 5 times a week back and forth to the hospital which is a lot in gas that we weren't quite expecting. The other thing we weren't prepared for is paying for parking every time we go to the hospital. Granted hospital parking is on $4 per day but multiply that by 4 months and it adds up. Also at the Ronald McDonald House they always provided all the meals. Where we are staying that doesn't happen. We will need to food shop or use the hospital cafeteria which can become quite expensive and i don't know if we have an oven or not in our place. These are just a few main things that we could use help with. We have a wishlist with gift cards and other things that we could use for this trip on it as well. Our wishlist will be posted below. If you have any questions please let us know. We are getting ready slowly but surely and enjoying every minute we can together as a family. Preparing to be away from Riley is so hard for me. When I think about it I get anxious pretty fast. I know we have done it before, but that doesn't make doing it again any easier. He is such an important part of our family and there is a huge hole when he isn't around, and I know the girls are going to miss their daddy so much! We are so grateful that my mom is able to come and stay with us in Philly periodically. I don't know what I would do without her. She will be coming with me up there to help with traveling and with the girls first surgery recovery. Then my best friend will be able to visit so often on the weekends as well to keep me company when my mom is back home. We also have a few friends in the area who I am hoping we are able to see. But none of that compares to having Riley. Please pray for us as we prepare for this transition. I know both my and Riley's anxiety is a little tough at the moment. We know this is something we have to do, but we wish we didn't have to. Also if you could say a prayer that the girls insurance will cover out of state outpatient therapies for the girls. It is something that has been worked on and we are still waiting for the definite yes. It's really important for the girls to be able to receive therapies while we are away so they don't fall anymore behind. We are praying that everything works out and that the girls are able to receive all the therapies they are receiving now. In other new Abby got her walker yesterday and loves it! As soon as she was put in it and it was sized correctly she walked away in it. It was actually very funny how fast she went. We are so grateful that it got here before we left. She will be able to cruise around with that thing and keep up with her sister! We are planning on leaving April 1st so we have a day or two to settle in before the girls have their first surgery. We will unfortunately be away for easter. We aren't sure what that is going to look like yet but we will figure out something special for the girls. Then the day after easter the girls will have their skin expander surgery. I will update as much as I can. So keep an eye out for those posts. One of our amazing Delaney twin family members sent us this really neat bracelets called caring bands. They are bracelets that Riley and I will be wearing. They are a way to send encouragement. There is an app you can download (for free) and in that app you can send encouraging messages. Every time a message is sent to either of us our bracelet will vibrate to let us know someone is thinking of us. Once the girls are old enough we will pass them onto them, but for right now Riley and I will each have a profile. I will post all the information below and if you feel so led to download the app we would love to know when you are thinking of us, especially on the hard days. That little bit of encouragement goes a long way. And if you know of anyone who is going through a tough situation these are really cool little devices that give so much support! We love you all so much and as we prepare to walk down this road a second time we can't help but think about how grateful we are for the love and support. Even just reading my blogs and sending a quick prayer for us is huge. We couldn't have made it this far without all of you!!
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AuthorMy name is Heather Delaney. I married the love of my life Riley on 10/02/15 and we now have two beautiful girls Abby & Erin, who are conjoined twins, that were born 07/24/16. We are trusting that God is going to work all this out for his good! Archives
March 2021
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