Charity

London’s Grace Foundation

My husband Matt and I thought finding out we were having twins was going to be the biggest shock of our lives – we were wrong.

Since having twins is considered a high-risk pregnancy, we saw a fetal specialist for monthly ultrasounds. At our 12-week ultrasound, we were told everything looked perfect. The tech counted 20 fingers and 20 toes. We also found out we were going to be blessed with twin girls.

When we went back for our 16-week ultrasound, however, it was a different story. The ultrasound tech called the doctor in earlier than normal, so I immediately felt a wave of anxiety.  After examining the ultrasound screen, the doctor said in a calm voice, “Baby A is missing her left hand.”

I can’t even begin to explain the overwhelming shock, fear and sadness Matt and I felt. The doctor assured us that everything else looked perfect and that our little girl would be just fine. We later found out that our daughter’s left arm had gotten caught in the amniotic band, which had amputated it just a few inches below her elbow.

It took us months to cope with it, but with many prayers, our loving, supportive family and friends, and my regular OB, who is the most amazing doctor in the world, we got through it and were excited and ready for our daughters’ arrival.

On November 17, 2009 I gave birth to two beautiful little girls, London Grace and Leyton Reese. London Grace, the charity’s inspiration and namesake, is the most beautiful, loving, sweet, sassy, hilarious, strong-willed little girl you will ever meet. We saw right away that missing a hand is not going to hold her back from accomplishing anything – it may, in fact, push her to do even more in her life.

London has been wearing a prosthetic since she was 6 months old. She was able to crawl perfectly with it, and today she can do everything, as if she were born with it.

Inventing Table For Two has not only helped me solve feeding hassles for parents of twins, it has enabled me to set up a charity in London’s name that reserves a portion of the profits of every sale to go to kids whose parents cannot afford prosthetics. Less than a week after I set up the charity, I saw a video of a good friend of mine who owns a prosthetic business fitting prostheses on a two year-old boy who was born without arms. In the video, the boy holds a crayon and colors for the first time. It was so amazing and inspiring to see the smile on his face!

I truly believe that it was London’s destiny to be part of a divine plan to change people’s lives for the better. She is more than just a blessing to Matt and me – she is and will be a blessing to countless others as well.