November 2013
Right when I thought I knew what was going to happen in my life, God pitched us another curve ball.
I finally made the phone call to the maternal fetal specialist. I had been dreading it for weeks. After the Houston doctors told us the terrible news, we decided we needed a break from the weekly doctor appointments filled with more loss and hurt. We decided a month was long enough and I needed to go back and make sure no new developments had occurred. I still felt pregnant but there was only one way to know for sure..so I bit the bullet and made the appointment.
I remember having one of those moments (that I mentioned in the last post) where I felt like God was giving me a message. As I was driving to work the morning of my appointment I felt God saying, "Let go of the fear..what is left to fear? I am with you and will bring you through anything the world throws at you."
Again.... its not like I heard God's voice... It is something that touches your heart and simultaneously makes you feel like the smartest person in the universe because you suddenly understand something so clearly that had just seconds before been a jumbled up mess in your head. Then you know you will never be able to accurately explain what just happened! It's an amazing thing.
When I got that message....I still NEVER saw what was coming. I was under the impression that my son was not going to make it... but that God would someone get us through it.
We got to the appointment and as soon as I saw my baby on the screen tears welled up in my eyes. His perfect little heart was beating strong and his bladder that had been so huge for so long... was no longer 4 times the size of his head..in fact I couldn't tell the stomach from the bladder (After you have an ultrasound every week you pretty much are a professional at labeling the anatomy of your baby) My heart was pounding and Donny and I didn't speak to one another. I remember feeling like if I made any sudden movement or spoke too loudly it would all go away.... or not be real.
Donny pointed out the bladder and asked the sonographer what the measurements were. It was the size of a "regular" baby bladder.... we still didn't get too excited because we hadn't spoke with a doctor yet.
When our doctor walked in we all had a .."ummmm....is this really happening" moment. Then he told Donny and I that this was a game changer. All the life threatening issues had been resolved. No more worrying about the lungs not having room to develop... or the heart being crushed... and the kidneys didn't appear to have any dilation...WOW..
The rest is history. My baby was born at 32 weeks gestation. He weighed 4lbs 30z. He has some challenges with mobility but his kidneys and everything else were wonderful. God blessed us greatly. Thank you to all that prayed and continue to pray for our William.
He has a chronic condition known as Eagle Barrett Syndrome. We have to monitor his kidneys very closely. A very large portion of people with this Syndrome end up needing a kidney transplant at some point in their life. He also has Arthrogryposis (or AMC) which is the mobility disorder. He makes progress every day! I can't wait to share our stories with you.
