Yesterday we had another weekly sonogram. The water on the brain has finally stabilized at this time! Praise God!! Thank you for continued prayers.
Addi didn't want to cooperate very much for the sonogram. She moved plenty before and after the sonogram, but didn't want to move around during. She is stubborn already. :)
Otherwise, everything is going well. I will keep you update on more later. Thank you for all the prayers!!

Hi everyone! Just thought I would write a quick short note. My mom headed home and my sister Catherine is here now with strict orders from mom on how to be a proper warden. Catherine will leave mid to late June to head back to Hutch, KS to start her summer job working at a grain elevator and mom will come back out for the remainder of the time.

Today we went to the park right across the street has a pond with a bunch of geese and ducks all over. So, of course Cat had to go buy a loaf of bread to feed the waterfowl. They were pretty cute, some of the animals had their babies out swimming in the water.

Our house is coming together quickly with lots of help from our awesome friends and neighbors!! Our upstairs is getting painted as I am typing. Matt is excited about our countertops getting finished and today the plumber was installing our range top stove and sinks. YEAH! I am sure that Matt is going to be happy about having the kitchen back in the proper area as opposed to having it temporarily in our dinning room.

All in all, everything is going well. Matt has had ample rain at home for all of the crops. All of the hail and tornados have missed us at home so far, praise God! Tomorrow we have another sonogram for Addi and a meeting with the neurologist that performed the surgery on Addi. The sonogram will be a growth sonogram, measuring the circumference of the stomach and head and the measurement of the femur bone. I will let everyone know how everything goes tomorrow. Thank you again to everyone who has sent packages, cards and prayers our way!! Also a BIG thank you for everyone helping us get the house ready for Addi and I to come home.

We had our weekly sonogram today. Addi is doing well. Still scoring an 8 out of 8, moving her toes, feet, knees, and hips today. Heart rate is still good and she is surrounded by a large amount of aminotic fluid. We were told today that sometimes after the fetal surgery aminotic fluid will decrease. She was all stretched out today and we got to see a really clear picture of her little chin, lips and nose. The hydrochep. is still present, so please continue to pray.

Thank you again for checking our blog and for those of you that have sent cards and packages. I really appreciate it and it sure makes the day go by faster to have mail to read. Mom was pretty excited to get some cross stitching items. THANK YOU!!
I think that is all for now. I will post again soon!

Happy Birthday to my awesome husband, yesterday. I was having problems with the internet here at the hotel.
My mom and I went browsing through Target yesterday to start a baby registry. We know that Addi will have a latex allergy, so we were trying to find items that are latex free or made with silicone. WOW! I guess rubber has latex in it. So we have to watch for outfits where the elastic is exposed to the babies skin, as long it is covered by material we are okay. But, I think that we found some pretty neat things for Addi. There will be just some things that we have to look out for. But, if that is the worst thing we have to worry about, I would say that we are doing okay.
Thank you again for all of the awesome packages that have come our way. I love getting all the adorable outfits for Addi!! It is so much fun. She is going to be all set! I can't wait till she gets here.
Thank you again for all of your continued prayers and support. We love you!!

Today we had another sonogram of Addi. She was busy moving around as usual, letting us know that she is there. PLEASE, PLEASE continue to keep Addi's hydrocephalus in prayer. Thank you once again for everyone's prayers and emails. I loved getting Mother's Day cards from many of you, I feel very blessed and I truly appreciate it.

Okay..so I know I haven't written in a couple of days, sorry. There hasn't been too much going on. Yesterday I broke the rules a little bit (shhh..don't tell), mom and I went for a short walk to grab a bite of lunch so I could sit outside and enjoy the sunshine. I couldn't take it anymore. :) We are supposed to get some more rain the rest of the week.

We have a sonogram tomorrow, so we will see what Addi is up to. Please keep praying for her. Once again, I am finding this patience thing kinda hard. It must be the Wurtz in me. For those of you who know the Wurtz's, you can smile a little bit. I know that God is leading us in the direction that he has planned for us and will take care of us.

From what I hear from home, Matt is doing well. Although I miss him greatly, he is working very hard to get everything taken care of. He is getting ready to plant soybeans as soon as it dries up and is sounds as if we might have a late wheat harvest this year. Good thing he has some great help through our friends and neighbors. Our concrete countertops were poured the other day. I got some pictures of the raw product and they look pretty awesome so far! I can't wait to see the finished product, all polished and sealed.

Well, check back tomorrow for updates on the sonogram. I will keep you posted. Again, thank you everyone for your prayers, notes of encouragement through email and the mail. I truly appreciate it! Love to all!

Today I had some fun company from Kansas visit. My cousins Jessica, Jon, D.J, and my aunt Laurel and uncle Dana stopped by. They helped make the day go by quickly! Mom and Laurel decided to 'tour' Nashville in search of some cross stitch bibs and came up empty handed. Everyone told my mom that cross stitching was a thing of the past. Pretty funny!
GREAT....now she is going to bug me even more because she has nothing to keep her busy. (just kidding) She really has been a big help and a great companion.
We also finally figured out what county we were located in so we could watch for all of the storm and tornado warnings/watches. Being a farmers wife and growing up on a farm I was trained at an early age to keep on eye on what the weather is doing on a daily basis. It is wierd being out your element not really knowing where you are. Well, we know now!

Not much going on today. Lots of rain and no sunshine. Just catching up on email and enjoying reading everyone's notes and words of encouragement.

Our life

While I am spending time in Nashville, Matt has been very busy at home. In the midst of our family having our first child, the time has come in farming to plant corn and soybeans. Along with farming, we also decided to remodel our home that has been in Matt family for years. Matt says what started out as a bathtub for the little one, turned into the whole house. What would I do without Matt? He is truly a blessing to me!!

With all of the rain lately that Hutchinson has received, it has pushed back planting soybeans a little bit. Thankfully, all of the corn is planted and all the fields that needed tending to have been taken care of. Matt and Craig worked late nights trying to get finished before we left for Nashville.

As far as the house....the utiltiy room has been built. YEAH!!! (no more dirt and mud across the whole house. Containment is good) Our whole home was built with plaster and lath. All of the plaster had to be taken out. Talk about a mess. Good thing we had lots of help.

The kitchen and utility room have sheetrock, paint, and cabinets. Thanks to our contractor, Roy, we now have doors hung and trim up. One of Matt's friend in Wichita, Brock is pouring our concrete countertops today. Yep, you read it right...concrete. Matt wanted concrete from day one as I was a little leary to start with, but after seeing a few pictures I think they will look great. I can't wait to see pictures of our countertops! The chocolate countertops should look great with our light colored painted cabinets.

Not only did we tackle the downstairs, but also the upstairs. We have yet to get sheetrock, I am told next week, and also the nursery. One day at a time, right?!?!

Thank goodness I have Matt to take care of everything!! Praise God for all of our blessings.

Just wanted to give you a quick update. We had a sonogram today and everything looks wonderful! Addi is doing fantastic. We saw movement in both feet, knees and hips today! Praise God!!! The hydrochep. is maintaining, it at least hasn't grown anymore. We are still keeping the water on the brain in prayer. I know that God has plan, but it awful hard to be patient. :) Please continue to keep in your prayers the water on the brain. We could also see the incision on Addi's back, and it look great as well. Still held together, very smooth and small.

Every week they will score Addi physically on a scale of 1-8. The scale is based of a variety of things such as the movement of feet, ankles, knees, hips, arm movement, heart rate, lungs, etc. ADDI HAS SCORED AN 8 OUT OF 8!!!! TWICE!!! Today and Saturday when they let us out of the hospital. The power of prayer is amazing! The nurse and doctor said today that they haven't seen anyone, mom or baby ever do so well so quickly!!

I haven't had to use any pain medication for a couple of days now so I think that is a great sign.Although I miss Matt, my mom is doing a great job. Mom did get one wheel of the wheelchair stuck in the grass. I guess she was trying to go off-roading. Hope everyone's day is going well. Thank you for your prayers and support. We would not be where we are without you and your love!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Love Matt, Valerie, & Addi

Matt and I found out in December that we were being blessed with a child. During a sonogram in April we were told that our little girl has spina bifida. What a shock!!
On April 27th, we traveled to Nashville, TN to have some additional testing done at Vanderbilt Medical Center, Children's Hospital and were selected for a clinical trial. In this clinical trial, there were two options, fetal surgery or post surgery. The Lord lead us in the direction of the fetal surgery that occured on May 1st. With Matt by our side, Addi and I headed into surgery.

The doctors performed a C-section and repaired the leasion on Addi's back. The doctors reported that Addi and I were a very strong couple of ladies. The surgery went well with no complications. Matt stayed by my side the whole time, sleeping on a cot in my room and made sure the doctors took good care of me. After a couple nights of that, he thought that he might have needed the epidural as well.

The best part was that we were doing so well that they let us leave on Saturday afternoon. While we were in the hospital, we had sonograms of Addi everyday to make sure that she was doing well. The first sonogram, we were able to see Addi playing with her toes and her tongue and give us a quick wave. Like she knew she was being watched. Matt said that Addi was starting physcial therapy already in the womb. On the second sonogram, Addi was still fascinated with her toes and we saw both of her feet flex at the ankles. PRAISE GOD!! I believe that was his sign of showing us everything is going to be fine.

Matt and I moved back into the hotel, where I will be staying until Addi is born. My mom came in on Sunday to stay with me, while Matt continued back to Hutchinson to continue farming. Though I miss him dearly, mom is being quite the 'warden', making sure that I maintain bedrest required by the doctors.

Addi continues to let me know that she is still there, by using my stomach as her 'punching' bag.

We praise God daily for all of the loving individuals that have supported us from the begining. THANK YOU!!!! We would not have made it this far without your loving prayers.