The Email

Here is a sample of the email we sent out in various forms to many family and friends:

Dear Family,

We hope this email finds you well.  We are happy to tell you that MJ is going to be a big sister around March 25, as many of you already know :)  We are expecting another daughter.  This last week we found out that our baby has an underdeveloped left side of the heart (called hypoplastic left heart syndrome).  It is a pretty rare and serious heart problem.  Although we are still getting our arms around this, we know that she we will have to surgery within her first week of life, again at 4-6 months and then again at 2 years old.  Even though nothing is certain and we have a tough road ahead of us, her prognosis is good to have a wonderful, long life with the help of the top notch team at U of M.  We hope that you can keep our unborn daughter in your prayers. We are really trying to keep a positive attitude during all of this.  Please do not feel sorry for us because there is really no reason to be sorry.  We are excited for the arrival of our second daughter and will do everything we can to meet the challenges that are ahead of us!  Your positive support means a lot to us!

 

With love,

L & A

We apologize that we had to send this out but it was the most effective way to get our news out there.  It is hard to have to have to explain this just a few times and we did want to share our news.

As we state in the email, we are not looking for sympathy.  We know that God has chosen us to be the parents of this little girl so that we can provide everything that we can.  We have the means and the support necessary to do everything we can to give our daughter the best life possible.