Armand Joseph’s Story

Site created on July 30, 2023

In March of 2023, the Zinthefer family was blessed and grateful that God had given them another child.  With how much joy their 2-year-old son gave them, they were eager to see their family grow when Baby Z would enter the world in November.


In early July, Mom and Dad went to their 20-week ultrasound and were excited to get a glimpse of their second son, Armand Joseph (Armand after Amanda's grandfather's brother meaning "soldier" and Joseph after Mary and Jesus' Joseph).  Unfortunately, they left that appointment with a wide array of emotions and more questions than answers.  All they knew for sure was that their son was going to have some challenges to overcome.


Over the next several weeks and after multiple hospital visits, the reality of what their son was up against had set in.  The doctors confirmed that he had Myelomeningocele, the most severe form of Spina Bifida.  While their world seemed to be turned upside-down, they were bound and determined to do whatever they could to help Armand and give him the best life possible.


Through plenty of research and several meetings with Children's Hospitals in Milwaukee and Chicago, the decision was made to move forward with a pre-birth surgery.  This medical procedure has proven to reduce the affects of Spina Bifida on the various functions of the body.  However, due to the nature of this disorder, there are no guarantees nor is the surgery a cure all.  Therefore we will be grateful for any improvements seen. 

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Amanda and I ask that you keep us in your prayers leading up to August 14 and the many weeks after.  We are hopeful that the surgery will go well, that Amanda and Armand will recover, and that Armand will enter this world as strong as possible.


We also want all of our family and friends to know that we have not been angry at God during all of this.  We understand that's a common response during difficult times like this, but neither of us have felt that way.  So we pray you will not be angry at God either.  He has a plan for this.  Instead of thinking "Why us", we are grateful to think that our son will be part of a family that already loves him so much and will do anything for him.


God Bless,
Amanda, Jon, Finley, & Armand

Newest Update

Journal entry by Amanda Zinthefer

Dear Family and Friends,

Happy Easter! There is no other way to begin this post then by thanking you you all for your continued support. Your Love, Christ's Love through you, has carried us along and bolstered us up. 

Currently, Armand is two weeks post-op from his cleft lip surgery and about two months post-op from his shunt surgery. He has been healing well and has taken to smiling so often that Finn and I now refer to him regularly as "smiley guy". 

The past two months have been filled with a lot of joys. We have been incredibly blessed to see many friends and lots of family. We were especially grateful for all who gathered to celebrate Armand's Baptism, our ability to be out of the NICU and to share in the celebration of Great Grandma Mary and Great Grandpa Joe's life, Easter cookie making with Oma (and our cousins), and for Armand's first trip to the cabin!

Above all that - being home together to celebrate Lent and Easter and the peace God gave me (Amanda) following Armand's shunt surgery are definitely tops! If you had seen me immediately following Armand's shunt surgery you would have seen someone who was rattled, anxious, and afraid that this feeling was not going to go away. But thanks to God that feeling subsided within a week. As someone who has suffered from anxiety before, there is no other explanation for this than grace itself. Thank you so much for your prayers and for helping me to be the best Momma I can be. 

With Love of Him,
Amanda and the rest of the Zinthefer Crew
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