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It was 3 years ago today, August 19th, that my world came crumbling down around me. Three years ago today, we had the ultrasound that revealed that our Marco had "multiple anomalies". August 19th marked the beginning of our 7 week journey to save our little guy. When I think back, 7 weeks is a really long time to be pregnant and not know what the fate of your baby will be. I guess none of us really know what the fate of our babies is, but being naively pregnant with my first, I would have never expected to be so unsure of what Marco's fate would be. One of the most painful, yet tender moments I remember from that 7 week rollercoaster is being with my sister, Lisa, who was pregant with her second son, Sebastian. She was on bedrest at the hospital due to pre-term labor. I believe it was the weekend before I was hospitalized on bedrest. The two of us are very close, and she is so supportive of me. At one point during my visit, the nurse came in to take her vitals or something, and noticed that I was pregnant. She proceeded to ask me the usual pregnancy small talk questions "how far along?", "girl or boy?"...ect. I don't even know how I answered...but it was painful. I was terrified and sad, because the questions I was asking myself were whether or not my baby would be severely disabled and whether or not he would die. It was during the same visit that a chaplain from the hospital came in to give her Communion. As he was saying a prayer with my sister, I held her hand and she and I cried together. Two sisters. Each pregnant, four weeks apart . Her child healthy, but fighting to stay in utero longer. My child, fate uncertain in many ways. I believe she was crying for me, but I know she was scared for her too. A painful and tender moment that I know we will never forget. Because of what I went through, I avoid making pregnancy small talk with random pregnant women that I see. Although my hope is that whichever pregnant woman I see in the grocery store is going through a blissfully healthy pregnancy, it could be that she is going through a painful nightmare instead. Today, 3 years later, I had a wonderfully uneventful day. A nice day with just Bruno, Lucia and me...a low key Sunday here at the house. The weather actually cooled off really nicely (unusually cool compared to the typical "dog days of August" in the DC area), a pleasant surprise. I wasn't going to mention that today was the 3 year anniversary of The Sonogram to Bruno (he certainly doesn't remember the date), but I did on our evening walk. He proceeded to say "that's not a good day to remember". I certainly don't try to remember this particular date as that anniversary, and I don't know that I always will. But this year, I did. Marco was with us in a special way today, I could feel it - and Bruno could too. Here's a picture of Lucia and Sebastian playing together at her birthday party. I am so thankful that, even though he was born 9 1/2 weeks early, Sebastian is here, and a super awesome and healthy almost-3 year old. And I'm so thankful for that moment Lisa and I had together in the hospital, pregnant with our boys. Marco - Though those 7 weeks were so very painful, I will forever be grateful for that time with you. I love you, baby boy.