Just a Little Faith! Syndication Thu, 16 Oct 2008 12:50:05 -0400 IP.Blog 60 Today is Faith's Second Birthday!

After a life that started out with a broken neck at 8 weeks, being paralized and unable to stand or walk, and no viable surgery options or realistic chance of recovery, just surviving, healing, and learning to walk and run again is an incredible accomplishment. Now at two years old, healthy, happy, and completly recovered with full mobility - she is a very special part of my every day! I never dared to dream that she would today be the happy full-of-life bundle-of-joy that blesses me every day I am graced with her presence!

I think the best part of Faith's life is her bond with our new baby girl, Hope. Right from the beginning, Faith has bonded with Hope and decided this is 'her' baby and she takes great care to watch over her. We put down hardwood floors in our livingroom before Hope was born, so I bought a big fluffy dogbed so I have a clean soft spot to lay Hope down sometimes without being on the hard floor. Faith, as usual, has to be right there anytime Hope is not being held - watching over 'her' baby. Ended up being a naptime together for the both of them. Had to grab the camera and share!

If you have not yet seen the Amazing story of Faith's Miracle, be sure to visit her website: www.JustALittleFaith.com!
You can also check out her BLOG and GALLERY here on IGW!

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Many of you know Faith's story and place in my life. In fact, Richard has jokingly asked me when I am going to break the news to Hope that Faith is the true firstborn child in the family! Faith is my constant companion, always by my side, sleeps in the bed with me, I swear she thinks she is a human. As my pregnancy progressed things changed a little, Faith learned that she was better off sleeping by my feet after the second time the belly bumped her right out of the bed. I had to put a doggie bed right by my feet when I am on the computer after she no longer fit on my lap. She ajusted well.

When I went into labor (we started with a homebirth), I didn't want to lock her out of the room, but didn't want her underfoot getting in the way either... so I got her a soft crate with screen sides so she could easily see me from the ajoining room. She waited patiently for me to let her out, and though she had a soft bed in the crate, she spent the night glued against the front door watching and worrying about me. Every time I would moan she would whine a little worried whine. I don't think she slept all night. When we left for the hospital the next morning she was so worried - as soon as she was let out of the crate she bolted for the door and slipped out despite efforts to keep her in (I was already in the car). She ran straight for the car, jumped the seat and started licking my face. I had to hand her back to Richard to put back in the house, and we left. That was Sat morning. I didn't come back from the hospital till Monday afternoon. Richard went back home during that time to feed and care for the animals, and Faith wouldn't even go near him. Every time he walked in the door she would bolt across the room and bark at him. He thinks she must have thought he killed her mom and I wasn't coming back.

The afternoon I got home she was SO happy to see me!!! I walked over to the bed and she jumped up on the bed and tried to climb into my arms and frantically whined and licked my chin and nibbled my hair ... like she thought she would never see me again. She was so happy! Then after a couple minutes of saying hi, she noticed something move in the car-seat we had set on the bed...
Faith was intrigued by Hope, she watched her, started sniffing her toes, and would watch her so alertly every time she moved. then she did the oddest thing - she sniffed Hope, then walked over and sniffed Richard, then went back and sniffed Hope again, then walked over and sniffed me, then went back and sniffed Hope again ... and laid down right by the car-seat and quietly watched her.

Faith has since adopted Hope as *HER* baby. The crib is at the foot of our bed, and when Hope is in the crib, Faith will stand or lie at the foot of the bed and watch her in the crib. When we are out of the room and Hope starts to cry, Faith will be the first one in there watching to be sure she is alright. When I put Hope on the bed, Faith will lay right beside her, or will lay with her nose just touching Hope. When family comes to visit and holds Hope, Faith is very intent on watching every move they make with 'her baby'. It is amazing to watch.

Here are a couple photos to share of Hope and Faith. Nothing says more than a good picture

The official baby-watcher . . .


. . . and foot-rest . . .


. . . and toe washer . . .


. . . and the guardian of her sleeping baby . . .
]]> Mon, 15 Sep 2008 17:00:04 -0400 Hope, 4 Days Old





More Pictures at: www.RichardAndLaura.com]]> Mon, 15 Sep 2008 16:59:40 -0400 I know everyone has been waiting for pictures and updates on little Hope, so now that I have a minute to sit down at the computer, here they are!

Our little bundle of joy arrived on 08.08.08, at 4:35 PM, weighing 6 lbs 10 oz, and all of 20 inches long (though if you measure from toe-tip to the end of her hair she has to be over 21 inches!).

Her name is Hope Ann. Hope has been the name I wanted for a baby girl for over 10 years now, and Ann is my mothers middle name, and my middle name (her first daughter) as well.

As many of you know, we planned on a home birth with a midwife. I went into labor on Thursday, seriously got down to business Thursday evening, and made good progress all night. Early Friday morning things seemed to hit a wall, and went for four hours of being "almost there" with no further progress. I was exhausted to the point of uncontrolable trembling across my entire body, and my back had reached the point where it was severly spasming with each contraction to the point where i could no longer focus. Due to nausea from the pain I had been unable to eat or drink all night, and by that point was so dehydrated that the midwife was unable to even get an IV started. all things considered, it was time to head to the hospital.

My sister Joy is completing her degree to be a midwife, and had worked for a local hospital so I called her and told her we were coming. She was great. Though she quit a couple weeks back (as she just left for the Philipeans to complete her last two years of study) she was there waiting at the hospital with a wheelchair when we pulled up. She had be already checked in, a room waiting, a wonderful nurse and friend of hers ready to take care of me, and a very nice Dr lined up as well. Seemed everyone in the place knew Joy and was glad to be able to help her sister.

My contractions were only at about a third of the strength they should have been - or needed to be to deliver - and I was unable at that point to deal with anything when the back spasms hit. I was given an epidural to control the back pain, and allow my body to catch a couple hours of much needed rest while on IVs to get re-hydrated too. The Dr warned me that if my contractions did not strengthen I might be needing a c-section, but I told him I thought things would be ok once I was rested and my back was not an issue. He said we'd be looking at waiting till that evening likley and see what progress was made. After a couple hours I called the nurse and told her I didn't know exactly why i was saying this, but I felt the baby was ready to be born ... she said wouldn't hurt to check, and was surprised to find I was right! We made a couple quick calls and Joy and my mom came back, started pushing at 4:15, and Hope Ann made her grand entrance into the world just 20 minutes later at 4:35!

The first thing the nurse commented on as she was being born was lots of long dark thick hair - one of the heart monitoring probes on the side of her scalp was stuck in her hair when they tried to remove it! I think she looks like Richard, she has his head of hair for sure. After she was born, she spent an hour laying on my chest looking all around with her big dark eyes. I love the first picture below - it was taken just 5 minutes after she was born!

Everyone has been asking, so here are some photos to share!

Newborn Hope - Just 5 minutes after her birth





Hope, an hour old, with Candace and my sister Joy


Hope, an hour old with my sister Joanna


Our New Family



Hope, 1 Day Old


Hope, 2 Days Old
]]> Mon, 15 Sep 2008 16:59:18 -0400 For those who don't know, we live in the mountains, a very rural place (that I absolutley love) at the end of a road with wilderness on three sides. I can see the rooftops of our nearest neighbors ... if I try hard. It is a beautiful peacefull area, but there is wildlife to contend with. On a couple occasions we have seen bears walking our fenceline (they've never been a bother), we have mountain lions around, lots of coyotes, and of course ... the inevitable field mice everywhere outside. As long as the little buggers stay outside where they belong they're not really a problem, but a couple months back one found its way into the house and set up shop in our bedroom.
Me being the big softie I am, of course we had to go out and buy some little mouse box traps that catch the thing live (as my husband so eloquently put it - so I could go turn it loose outside where it would promptly let itself back in thru whatever crack it had originally found, and come back smarter than the box trap to annoy me again.)

Moving right along ... the box traps didn't work. Apparently our new little friend was smarter than we were ... despite the various treats we tried to entice him with for a couple weeks straight. He liked his new lodgings and wasn't planning on going anywhere anytime soon. This was around the time I was dealing with all-day-long-morning-sickness, so I was spending a lot of time in bed. Usually I'd be working on my laptop, but I was quiet so I'd often see the little fat furry critter scurrying from place to place across the floor.

Now Faith is always by my side, constantly in the same room as I am of course, and it didn't take her long to notice there was a intriguing new squeaky-toy scuttling around her room. She was fascinated by the mouse. This dog would sit or lay at the corner of the bed, perched like a cat for hours while she stared at the corner the mouse was last seen. I could always tell the mouse's whereabouts by following the direction Faith's nose and ears were pointing. She would follow it around the room, peering under dressers, trying to wedge herself under cabinets, stalking it's every move, fascinated by whatever little mousey-noises it would make in the assorted corners it would hang out in. I have never in my life seen Faith so very totally utterly obsessed by something as she was with this mouse!

This went on for about two weeks. Me trying (without luck) to trap the mouse, and Faith spending every waking minute watching its every move. Sometimes she would scramble out of bed in the middle of the night to stalk it over to the dresser or whever it happened to be at that moment.

So, about the time I'm really getting frustrated with the unwelcome guest, and the unsuccessful traps, I go out to run a day's worth of errands one afternoon. I left Faith home as it was a hot day and we were going to lots of places she would have had to wait in the car. We come home from a long day of running, nice and tired, and tell Richard I'm heading to the bedroom to take a short nap. When I walked in the door, as always, Faith was right there to greet me in an estatic bouncy happy dance of energy and enthusiasm. However, this time was different, she'd bounce around and say hi, then dart off across the house and come racing back to bounce off me again. I followed her into the bedroom (where she kept running off to) and she darted up onto the bed to stand proudly over her prize and make sure I noticed it right away.
For those of you who have figured out where this is going ... YES, the (limp & soggy) mouse was proudly displayed in a sodden pile right smack in the middle of my bed.
I have never seen Faith so proud of herself. She was so pleased with her accomplishment, and so proud of her "prize" that I hardly had the heart to call Richard to come take it away.

OK, so I lied there. Just a little bit.

Considering it was in the middle of my BED, (and I can only imagine it had been from one side to the other and over the pillows too while it was still a wriggly-squeaky-play-toy), it was actually quite easy to yell for Richard to haul the little carcas off as quickly as possible.

Needless to say, the bed, the pillows, and Faith all got a bath before I got my nap that afternoon.

She was so pleased with herself though!
Since then, anytime we visit a pet store her favorite thing to do is to find the mouse and gerbil cages... where she will excitedly eyeball all the scurrying little critters for as long as I will let her. I think the ultimate "Faith-toy" would be a gerbil in one of those hard plastic balls ... she would never tire of it. (NO, I wouldn't actually do that to the poor gerbil though!)

There are so many things to keep busy with latley, I haven't posted as much as I would like to, but had to take a few minutes to share her funny story.]]> Sun, 18 May 2008 00:19:54 -0400 So Faith's updates have been sparce latley ... as "Mom" has been spending entirely too much time in bed with some horrid all-day-long-morning-sickness.

Yup ... ... Faith is going to have some competition arriving in August!

I don't think she'll mind, so long as she gets to keep her spot in the bed!

Will be back to more photos and news soon.

~Laura]]> Thu, 06 Mar 2008 01:45:32 -0500 Faith loves playing with puppies, and we want our litters to grow up familiar with all types (and sizes) of dogs. We have a Cane Corso Italian Mastiff litter that is 4 weeks old currently, and I wanted to share this video of them at 4 weeks old. It was their first face-to-face meeting with Faith, and as you can tell they seemed to think she was a great chew toy!

Watch the "Bad to the Bone" Video here!

PS - The pups barely have teeth starting to come out, and Faith was not harmed in any way in the making of this video. ]]> Mon, 10 Dec 2007 08:27:54 -0500

Faith's 1 Year x-Ray Results!
Amazing Recovery from a Broken Neck!

We had follow up x-rays taken today - 1 year after Faith broke her neck.
The x-Rays are AMAZING!!!

Faith's original X-rays (taken November 11th, 2006 & shown again for comparison below) showed cervical vertebral fractures between C1 and C2 in addition to a fractured dens, resulting in the displacement of a number of vertebrae. The break, as shown in the original x-ray caused her spinal cord to stretch and bend around the ms-aligned vertebrae, resulting in swelling, torn muscles, and paralysis.

Her x-rays today, taken one year following her original break, show an incredible and amazing recovery! Even after watching her progress in leaps and bounds through her recovery and since, I was still floored by what the x-rays showed.

FAITH'S BROKEN NECK HAS STRAIGHTENED AND COMPLETLY HEALED! SHE IS 100%, WORRY FREE, AND IN NO DANGER OF FUTURE DISPLACEMENT OR DISLOCATION, OR ANY CHANCE OF HER OLD INJURY AFFECTING HER SPINAL COLUM AND MOBILITY AGAIN!

Even our vet was surprised by the x-ray results. He credits the early stabilization and care, combined with the fact that she was so young and still growing when the break happened, as big factors in her miraculous recovery. She was young enough to grow thru the break, and for her neck bones to heal as they were stabilized and pulled back together as the swelling was brought down. Long term, she retains a slight bit of un-coordination, (nothing that would be noticed without knowing what to look for), and a slight bulge on either side of her neck at the point of the break as a result of the massive amount of tearing and muscle damage that had to happen for the severe displacement shown in the original x-ray. Her gait seems to be a little high in the front, but as there was no comparison before the break (due to her young age) there is no way to know if it is possibly just her natural gait or somewhat affected by the injury. Bottom line is that Faith's neck has fully healed, she is doing great, has nothing to worry about in the area of future issues due to the original break, and things couldn't be better!

Here is Faith's original x-ray, taken a year ago immediantly following her break:


Here is Faith's new x-Ray, taken today, one year from her break.


Here is another of Faith's new x-Rays, taken today, one year from her break.


I'm so happy today No more always being overly protective and careful! No more holding back and coddling when she wants to play tug (one of her all time favorite games)! Now I get to go "collar shopping" as she doesn't have to wear a harness all the time for fear of re-injuring anything!

Below is a copy of an 11x14 framed print I took to my vet today. My gorgeous and amazing girl (can you tell I'm just a wee bit biased?) now holds a place in his office on his "wall of fame"! Already she has been an inspiration to other clients who have had a pet with a serious injury!



Have I mentioned I'm walking on air today!??? ]]> Wed, 07 Nov 2007 01:55:41 -0500 Faith had a blast playing on the beach, and was quite excited at seeing the ocean for the first time. She loved the waves rippling in and out ... I guess she thought they were some kind of cool new toy to play with . She had a bit of a confused moment when she realised her new "toy" was getting her feet wet, but she had a blast anyway!

LOTS of pictures to share:

]]> Mon, 15 Oct 2007 19:00:36 -0400 While we were in Mexico, folks there seemed to find Faith very interesting...
We ran into lots of people who wanted to pet her, and who couldn't seem to stop staring at her - especially when she was running around.

There was a really cool guy who brought our water to the house we were staying at - He did not speak English and I am very limited in my Spanish, so I don't know his name, but he absolutley loved Faith. He would watch her run and he would point and laugh - he was so happy. Every time she stopped to look at him or took off running he would slap his leg and laugh again.

Her new friend wanted his photo taken with her - I love the way this picture came out. He was so happy to hold her - but was trying to look so serious for the photo. He told all his friends that I took his photo and was going to take it back to the US and sell it there.

After some limited conversation attempts, one of his friends translated for me - he pointed to Faith and called her
"Beautiful Deer who Runs Like Rabbit"
So I guess that is Faith's Mexican name now ...

Another guy who came by was staring very strangly at her thru the glass door to the house as he thought we had a small deer in the house!

The next time we go back I want to take a print of that shot in case we run into him again so I can give him a copy.

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