Jeffrey Rovenstine

“I found out my Dad had cancer the same time I found out I was expecting his first grandbaby. The first baby flutters I ever felt happened when I was with him at one of many medical appointments. I was growing a life while I watched my dad come to the end of his. He didn't tolerate chemo, had a stroke and so the simple surgery that was supposed to remove a small cancerous area on his bladder instead caused the cancer to spread like wildfire. It was everywhere. He suffered, I suffered, my baby suffered. She would stop growing periodically. He wanted to move in with me while he got better. He said he could help change diapers and play with his granddaughter. Unfortunately, the pain of the cancer that had moved in to his bones. His spine, his lymph nodes, his lungs, everywhere, was too much. He passed February 17, 2020 at 9:01 pm. I went to the hospice house, we said our goodbyes and around 1am sent his body away. That morning (the 18th) I had my high risk appointment at 10am. They told me my blood pressure was nearingbstroke levels and baby quit growing again. That I needed to be induced. Hours after losing my dad, I was sent to have our baby. She was born February 19, 2020 at 11:12am and she looks just like him, and is brilliant, just like him. After having that stroke, he didn't challenge himself to see if he remembered the basics (his name, address. Etc. ) He was reciting Morse code and world wide states and capitals. At just 15months his granddaughter knew over 160 words and could put a few words together. At 2 years old she can say her alphabet, can count to 14, sings songs from memory and talks our ears off in full sentences. He would sure love his Lillirelly!

Born after such a great loss and thrown in to a pandemic, although I have a nursing aversion that I've been powering through for 2 years now, breastfeeding my little love and holding her close got me though my darkest days. Lilliana is our sunshine girl, held first by her papa in heaven.” -Kristin B.