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
Time seems to be flying by! I am amazing to think that 3 months ago we were sitting in the hospital wondering when we were going to be headed home. Now we have been home for 2 months and the girls are doing amazing. Abby is getting closer to walking every day. Everyone is very hopeful that she will take her first steps very soon. She is cruising along furniture and is walking with her walker. Erin is walking up stairs, running around, and getting stronger everyday! They are both still working on their eating and speaking. We are working with an app on their Ipads to help them communicate. It is a little slow learning, but they are slowly getting better at it bit by bit. They both have been working hard on strengthening their weak sides. Abby has a weak left side and Erin has a weak right side. So they don't use those hands. But they work very hard in Occupational therapy every week to strengthen their weak hands. Something I haven't really talked about much is how the girls have healed from surgery. Abby has healed wonderfully. Almost all of her stitches are gone and everything is healing beautifully. Her scars will easily be hidden by her hair once it grows all the way in. Erin on the other hand is a little bit of another story. i mentioned it a few times but never really elaborated, but Erin had a spot where her three incisions met on the top of her head, and unfortunately that spot opened back up, and hasn't healed. So right now she literally has a hole in her head. Everything else has healed up beautifully it is just this one spot that is about the size of a dime, maybe a little smaller. But it is an actual hole where you can see the implant. We do our best to keep it clean and help it heal, but we have been told it is very likely that it will not heal. So because of that we need to have an appointment in January-ish. At this appointment our plastic surgeon and Riley and I will have to make a decision on what to do since it cannot be left like it is. It is a constant infection risk, even though it isn't an incredibly high risk, it is still a risk. So we will have to decide on what to do to close that hole. Which is going to be some sort of surgery. We have been told there are most likely two options, neither of which we like, both are surgeries, but one is less than the other. So please be praying that this spot miraculously heals. These girls have surprised their doctors so many times, we are praying that this would just be another miracle to add to the list. We know our God is able, and we are praying that he shows himself in this small way. Everything in me wants to keep Erin from having to go back into surgery. But sometimes things are necessary and we need to do what is best for the girls and their health. On a total different note I know a lot of you have read that the girls and I were in an accident on October 6th. We were on our way home from therapy and we were driving on the highway (like we do pretty much everyday) and we had driven through a little rain shower that had just ended. All of a sudden the car in front of me started to stop short, so I in return started to slow down as to not hit them. As soon as I started to slow down we were hit hard from behind. So hard that we in turn hit the car in front of us as well. Thank the Lord that the girls and I came out alright. I was hit right in the middle of the back of our van, if we had been hit off to one side at all we could have very well been spun and things could have been really bad since there were a lot of cars on the highway at that time. So much so that 3 cars behind the car that hit me also rear ended each other. The girls had some marks on their necks the next day from their car seat belts (thank the Lord for car seats!) but seemed to recover well. When you are in an accident with young children it is scary. Your first thoughts are not about you. You hear your children screaming and instantly pray that they're ok. Luckily the worst thing for them was being scared. Myself on the other hand is a bit of a different story. I ended up having a concussion from my head hitting the back of my seat. I had an instant headache the persisted on and off for about a week. The doctor also is sending me to physical therapy for my neck and shoulder. I thought it was something that would heal, but here we are weeks later and I am still incredibly sore. By the end of the day I am so so sore, and I usually have a headache from my neck being so tight. It's been tough. But since I am the only care taker of the girls during the day I have no choice but to lift, move, and pack things in the car no matter how I feel. So I start physical therapy in a little over a week, so please be praying that it helps and that my body can heal, even while being mama. We also found out that our van has been totaled. We weren't expecting to have to buy a car right now so it's a little tough. We have been looking at bigger SUVs. The two vehicles that we were sandwiched between were both SUVs and neither one of them seemed to have any damage where as our minivan was totaled. So in the view of safety we have decided to look into getting an SUV, and SUVs are more expensive than we were expecting. But the girls deserve to be in a safe vehicle, especially since they will need to be in car seats longer and don't understand being safe while in the car. We are looking into SUVs with three rows so that we have enough room to fit the girls double stroller, as well as Abbys walker and all the other usual things (diaper bag, feeding supplies, emergency supplies etc). We also need to it to be roomy enough to hold all of our stuff when we make the trips back and forth to Philly. We would really love to get something a little newer so that it is reliable in that we won't be breaking down any time soon. Our minivan was a 2011 and was having quite a few issues as of late, so we are wanting to stay away from cars that are more than few years old. All these things combined equal a pretty expensive vehicle. But unfortunately it was what we need. So we are trying to figure out what type of payments we can afford with what our downpayment will be. So please pray that we find some type of amazing deal what will help us get into a safe reliable and spacious SUV. We have been driving a ford expedition as our rental and we are in love with it and are trying to find something similar but not as expensive. With the car market the way it is we need all the prayers we can get...it's a jungle out there ya'll! Thank you so much for all of your prayers and well wishes since our accident! We are so appreciative of the love we receive from all of you. You all are truly the village that helps raise our children. Our girls are so lucky and blessed to have so many who love and care about them (and their parents). I know I can't respond to everything, but I do read all your comments and all your messages. They really do help us through some of the tough days, and we have been having a few lately. In the midst of all the car stuff we have been dealing with plans being thwarted because Abby got sick. Erin broke one of our friends glasses, and whenever we go out their yell and scream the whole time (not necessarily angry screaming, but just shrieking *insert eye roll*). Their special needs have just been in the forefront of our lives these days and it has been tough. Especially now that I am sore, every time I lift them it is very much in the front of my mind that I am having to carry 5 year olds everyday and that if they were typical I wouldn't be having to carry them out to the car and things like that. But even with all of these things, your encouragement and love helps us during some of those tough days. This verse has stuck out to me recently and I want to share it with all of you...I love the way the message says it... Jeremiah 29:11-14 I know what I’m doing. I have it all planned out—plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for. “When you call on me, when you come and pray to me, I’ll listen. “When you come looking for me, you’ll find me. “Yes, when you get serious about finding me and want it more than anything else, I’ll make sure you won’t be disappointed.” God’s Decree.
3 Comments
Crystal
10/31/2021 12:22:18 pm
I love you Abby and Erin. Erin I am seeing and visualizing your “miracle hole” completely healed up and the expression on the doctors face. I love you guys. Keep going
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Vera Peter
3/11/2024 07:27:13 pm
i want to share my amazing experience with Dr Jumba my husband was cheating on me and when i found out we had a fight which lead to him filling for a divorce i cried and fell sick when i was searching about love quotes online i saw people talking about him and his great work whose case was similar to mine they left his contact info i contacted him and he told me not to worry that after 24hrs he will cancel the divorce and be back to me after i did everything he asked me to do to my greatest surprise the next day evening it was my husband, he knelt down begging me to accept him back,thank you once again Dr Jumba you are indeed a blessing to me he can also help you contact
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11/19/2023 09:45:35 pm
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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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