A day about family and giving thanks. Two weeks ago I wanted this holiday to just pass by as it was hard to find gratitude in my heart. Today, as I sit in our hospital room, I feel much different. I have SO much to be thankful for. The list is long, but these are the big ones that I remind myself of everyday: 💙I'm thankful that the man of my dreams became my husband and he's an amazing father! He's everything to us. 💙I'm thankful for my family, who love, support and help me every second of every day 💙I'm thankful for my friends, new and old. Even when I can't or don't respond, they continue to send me strength and love 💙I'm thankful that two years ago when looking for a house, we stumbled upon Thrasher Ln. I didn't know a neighborhood like this still existed. I have the best neighbors 💙I'm thankful I work for a company that supports me when life gets hard 💙I'm thankful for all the amazing doctors and nurses who have come into our life 💙I'm thankful for my son! He is the BEST baby. He spends all day being passed around often in a hospital as mommy helps sissy. He never cries or fusses. God brought him to us at the perfect time. 💙I'm grateful for my little girl. When I met her three years ago she changed my whole world. She taught me a new kind of love, a new kind of patience and now a new kind of strength. I have a lot of strong females in my life, but she's the strongest and the bravest. We wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving!!

Just a quick update. We brought Sofia in for her scheduled chemo treatment this morning. She has major anxiety about going to the hospital so she crying pretty much the whole ride up and in the waiting room. The doctor noticed she had an elevated heart rate and thought an infection might be brewing. I thought it might have to do with the anxiety so she ordered some fluids and we watched her for an hour. Her heart rate got really high and she spiked a fever so we are being admitted back into the hospital. Given these first 30 days are so dangerous and she had a fever over 101 they will now keep us in the hospital until her numbers get better which is usually around day 21 of treatment, but it could be longer. So, that means we are here for at least a week. Though being in the hospital is not fun for anyone, we are happy she's here being monitored. We are also very happy this fever spiked while we were here and not tonight or tomorrow which would have put us in the ER. Sofia is not happy about any of this but I wouldn't be either if I were her. Keep those prayers coming!! Mike & Gina

Well its been 6 days since we have gone home and they have been busy, scary, eventful, but most of all comforting to be home. Sofia is much happier and at ease to be at home with a chance to play with her toys, sleep in our beds and watch our tv! We managed to get through a fever scare. Luckily sofia only got to 100.6 once for about an hour, which means that we did not have to rush her to the hospital. We are still struggling with our medicine because as sofia says "I don't like it! ", so daddy tried it, and I must say it did in fact taste terrible. Since being home we have gone back to the clinic 3 times, including today. We have gone for a dose of chemotherapy, to flush a line that both mom and dad could not do, and today which we thought would only be about an hour long, but we have been at lucile Packard since 8am and it is now 4:30pm and we will probably be here for another hour, at least. All in all, we are extremely happy that sofia has had minimal side effects and for the vast majority of the days she has been her happy and playful self. We know that this is going to be a constant struggle with lots of sick days, lots of lengthy hospital visits and many other things, but as long as we stay positive we know the fight will be won. 11/740 almost done! And as always we thank all of you that are sharing your prayers for sofia, and those of you that have contributed in countless other ways. We love you all.

We got the news at 8am, we were going home. Sofia's labs were still stable and still no fevers which means we were being moved to outpatient care. Her platelet number is lower than we would like so we are on alert for any bleeding. So we began packing up our room in preparation for discharge. As our potty book says, we sat and we sat and sat.... And finally got our meds and were on our way at 7pm! Masks were on and we were out. Being home is a great and extremely frightening. Though our home is a much cleaner environment for Sofia's compromised immune system, we don't have the peace of mind that you have with amazing nurses right outside your door. I asked our nurse Sarah about a million what if questions and practiced flushing her Picc line one more time. Now we're home! Sofia ran into the house and picked up right where she left off. She is experiencing a lot of jaw pain from the chemo so she hasn't eaten anything which means I ask her if she can please try to eat about every 10 minutes. Yep, I'm the walking definition of a nervous wreck!!! We are heading back to Lucille Packard on Thursday for labs and a possible platelet transfusion and then again on Friday for another Lumbar puncture and more chemo. Our new normal. But the best news of the day for Sofia is that she now gets to sleep with Mommy and Daddy. Best news for mommy and daddy is that I have both of our babies right next to us all night!!!

This is moms first post! It's about 1 in the morning and I can't sleep. I woke up to pump knowing my sister is at home waking up to feed Noni for his first night feeding. Now, as I lay in the dark cuddled up to Sofia, I do what I have done so many nights, and "check my phone". The usual, Instagram, Facebook and Emails. Over the past few years I was having a real love/hate relationship with social media. I enjoyed reading the posts and seeing the pics but I hated how people (myself included) were constantly looking at their phones. Last Tuesday my world was rocked! As I sat in a room holding my 6 week old baby and trying to explain to my 3 year old who wasn't "sick" why we were at the hospital, I found out that my first baby has cancer!! I still can't believe it when I say it. I regretted every minute I spent looking at my phone when she was trying to talk to me or play with me. Within hours of thinking my daughter looked a little pale, we were preparing ourselves for lumbar punctures, Picc lines and bone marrow aspirations. It was suggested to us that we create a web page where our friends and family can get updates so we aren't constantly answering calls and texts. Truthfully, social media was the last thing I wanted to do! Mike went ahead and set up this page and asked I share it on Facebook. Hesitantly, I did. Within minutes I was receiving comments, private messages and texts all offering love and Prayers. I was connected to 2 other moms in our area who are currently fighting this fight with their daughters. Balloons and toys arrived at the hospital to brighten up Sofia's days. Donations were made to help with the cost of treatment. "BCP Family #Team Sofia" bracelets were being made. A prayers blanket was made and blessed for my baby. Sofia's name was added to countless prayer circles. Masses were dedicated to her in 4 states. Meal delivery to my home was being planned. We have received support from family near and far, elementary school friends, high school friends, college friends, friends from Italy, parents of my friends, Bellarmine baseball families, barre3 friends, co-workers, neighbors, friends of friends and the list goes on. All because I clicked "post". So go ahead and check your phone, but then put it down and hug your babies extra tight! We are forever grateful to our community and can't wait until Sofia is grown, so we can show her how much love and support she received. Thank you all!!

So day #4 saw Sofia fight through some of the normal side effects of the chemotherapy as well as the steroids. She was tired, cranky, irritable and some soreness throughout. However, she did react well to one of the treatments that is known to be one of harder ones on the body. And, even though she went through a tough day, she remains in great spirits as she has begun these first days of a long battle. I know that Sofia will fight and give everything she has because she is strong willed as well as extremely determined to get what she wants! Our biggest concern remains her susceptibility to infection and fever as her body tries to rebuild a healthy immune system. Thank you again for all your prayers and thoughts. 4/730 And GO #teamsofia[...]

Well, Sofia is now in the middle of day #3 which is going well but day #2 was a really good day for her spirits. She had a lot of fun playing with her aunts and gigi. Things like racing in the cars on the third floor to the "stinky pig" game. Sofia is getting better at taking her medicines which are a real pain being that they are done 3 times a day and each time is multiple medicines. We still are not to the point where we are eating a lot but the day was overall a good one. The biggest issue that we have during this induction period is the risk for fevers and infections. We deeply appreciate all of the support and prayers that each of you are sending our way, and even though we would love to see each and every one of you the risk is simply to high right now for us to introduce all the potential germs. With that said, we can face time, and call on the phone but no face to face visits at this time. We thank love you all for your support and it means more than you can imagine! (2 of 730)[...]

So, day number 1 has come to an end with both it's ups and downs. We started our first day of induction with lots of medicine, lots of negotiations, and lots of tears. The newness, the fears, the anxiety all mixed together for a very emotional day. The hardest part of dealing with this is by far and away the helplessness of seeing your little angel be put through things that she either hates, or simply does not want to do. And when you think you've gotten to a point where you are happy about her taking a specific medicine, she has to have her dressings checked and lets out the most gut wrenching, bone chilling screams begging you to stop and not "do that anymore". But with all of that said, Sofia is tough and each reoccurring thing is getting a little easier and more tolerable. Day 1 of 730 is now behind us.

Last night Gina and I met with our team of doctors and were given the promising news that Sofia has ALL B-cell Leukemia. We have been told that this is the most common and the most treatable form of Leukemia. The two year long treatment plan will begin today with the first dose of chemo-therapy and steroids. The next 30 days are intense, crucial and pretty scary, but we know that she is in one of the best places and has some of the most amazing people helping us along this struggle. Sofia has already begun her battle. She has now learned how to flush a picc line, take blood pressure, and take the temperature all on her dolls. We are now comforted to at least know something, and now have a plan! We are so grateful for all of the support and well wishes we have received! All of your prayers and thoughts are more than welcome as we begin the hardest thing that we have ever experienced.[...]

Just another tuesday morning. We started our day thinking we were just going to play and do the same old things. We decided that we should take our little princess to the pediatrician because she was a little lethargic and a little pale. After a normal check up and then a seemingly normal blood draw, sofia went to enjoy her favorite treat: ICE CREAM! Two hours later we were on our way to stanford hospital for another blood draw and then the most startling news in our lives, our little princess has leukemia. So, we have been told our little princess has leukemia. We are not sure what type, nor what our process is going to look like. All we know is that we are going to have a hard fight ahead and fight is what we are going to do!