Kahlan Rocks, Kahlan Chops!!

On May 31, 2016 my water broke at 18 weeks pregnant. The ER doctor gave our baby a 0% chance of survival. The on call OB told us much of the same BUT added the babies heartbeat was strong ‘so don’t give up hope yet’ she told us. That was the first day of a long, difficult journey ahead. Gracelynn, our tiny fighter was born on July 14, 2016 at 25 weeks weighing 1lb9oz. She faced many struggles over the next 211 days in the NICU at McMaster Hospital but finally on February 9, 2017 we got to take her home. We lived at Ronald McDonald House for 208 days with Kahlan, our 5 year old daughter. Kahlan visited her sister every day in the hospital. During our 7 month stay we got to know some other families and their journeys, Kahlan made many friends at the hospital as well as the house. There was one girl in the hospital who we saw often, a young girl who was battling cancer. A couple weeks ago Kahlan asked me if she were to make a wig with her hair would it grow back. I told her yes. ‘Some kids can’t grow hair because they are too sick, Mom, like the girl at Mac. I want to make a wig out of my hair and give it to her. My hair will just grow back but hers won’t until she gets better so she can have mine’ she said. The emotions that ran through me during that conversation were overwhelming but mostly I felt so proud of her. She will be doing the BIG chop on July 10th at RMH so stay tuned for more pics and videos! Without the Ronald McDonald House we would have truly been at a loss. We faced some of our darkest days during our stay but the love, spirit, comfort, and magic of the house gave us what we needed to get up everyday and pour our love and strength into our tiny miracle during the fight of her life. Please consider donating to this amazing charity and keep families close when it matters most! The Black/Van Alphen Family