Welcome to the All-New Audrey Blog! This is my first Blog attempt, so bear with me. I was inspired by my friends Catrina and Jill, who have great sites about their families.

I'm hoping this will be a great way to keep family and friends up to date on Little Audrey's progress, as well as a way to post the cute pictures we're collecting!

We feel very blessed to have so many great supportive friends and family who likes to follow our story.

I'll start with a quick introduction for those of you who have not been on our mailing list:

Audrey was born on November 30th, 2009. It was love at first sight for Harry and I. She was (is) gorgeous and perfect! That night, after the excitement of the delivery, the nurses noticed she had low blood sugar and wanted to keep her for the night to monitor. The next morning began our journey of many many tests. After two weeks in the NICU, and many false leads, the doctors diagnosed Audrey with WAGR. To borrow words from the WAGR.ORG website, this is what it is:

WAGR Syndrome is a very rare disorder.

There are less than a few hundred cases reported in the medical literature.

“WAGR” is an acronym for the most common features of this disorder.
Wilms' Tumor, Aniridia, Genito-Urinary Anomalies, Mental Retardation

People with WAGR Syndrome have many things in common, but they are also individuals. It is important to remember that a given individual with WAGR syndrome may or may not have or develop all of the conditions listed.

So far, out of the many anomalies of WAGR, Audrey is only showing signs of Aniridia, which is a lack of iris development in her eyes. Her eyes are beautiful -- the pupils are very large and the iris is a very thin blue-grey line around the iris. She is visually impaired, but she is able to see lights and focus on our faces and bright objects. Some people have compared Aniridia vision to looking at the world through wax paper.

After we found out about Audrey's special condition, we were amazed by the outpouring of love and support from all of our friends, colleagues, and families. We received many meals, kind notes, and calls from all of our loved ones. We felt so blessed.

I've created this blog to help keep everyone in the loop as we watch Audrey blossom and grow. Every day she surprises us with her growing strength, energy, and sweetness. Audrey is definitely a teacher to us all. She couldn't be more amazing!

Another great blessing we have is the Anchor School for Blind Children. This incredible program offers classes two days a week for infants and parents. The center has teachers for the visually impaired as well as occupational therapists, physical therapists and speech and language pathologists. They are all so nice and completely dedicated to helping all the parents and kids who come there. I have seen no teacher burnout at the Anchor Center so far! Their passion and encouragement is contagious. We are fortunate to have this oasis to help Audrey use every bit of vision she has and help her to grow developmentally to her full potential.

So thank you for following our journey, friends! I will try to update this blog every week or two...and more when we're having more hospital visits.

Best to all,

Tiffanie, Harry, and Audrey Grace Strasser