Friday, July 10, 2015

Hope for the Days Ahead

"Hope is the thing with feathers-
That perches in the soul-
And sings a tune without the words-
And never stops -at all."- Emily Dickenson

This past week, we went to the ultrasound of our seventh child with high anticipation. We brought along the children with us so they could witness the excitement of the gender reveal. We have this pattern so far of boy-girl-boy-girl-boy-girl. It was so exciting to find out we were having another boy. As the tech took us through the ultrasound, my heart was overjoyed at this amazing creation. My heart carried with it a deep feeling of hope for this child who would be apart of our lives.




Seeing his heart beat was a good sign along with a healthy spine and brain. He kicked around which made me giggle as the tech was trying to examine him. I loved the way he waved his hand around as though he was signaling to us all, "I'll see you soon." It was such an exciting moment to see those images of this precious baby boy.



Psalm 139:16 Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.

After the ultrasound, the doctor came in and shared that it looks like our son has a cleft lip and we'd need to go to a higher definition ultrasound to confirm. I was taken back a little with this unexpected news. I really didn't know very much about cleft lip other than what I'd seen in ads for Operation Smile.

We came home and started Googling which is probably not the best thing to do. At the same time, we were able to learn more about it and saw that this was a cosmetic issue that can be fixed through several surgeries. I was reassured after talking with my parents, my mother having been a NICU nurse for many years and my father a speech pathologist. It helped a tremendous amount to know that it wasn't a big deal and I felt hopeful again.

I was worried more than anything that there could be serious problems. Sure, he could have trouble with hearing loss and feeding. But without knowing much about it, I didn't know if there were other issues linked to it.

I was told that many people have had this as babies including Jase's daughter from Duck Dynasty. (http://www.miamoo.org/latest-news/mia-s-latest-surgery) Cleft lip is a very common birth defect that happens between the 4th and 7th week of development. There is really no known reason why it happens but it's linked to genetics. Neither my husband nor I know of anyone in our families past who've had cleft lip. Sometimes things happen because it's meant to be. Our boy is going to be perfect in his design.


We love our new little boy so much and are so excited for him to enter the world. We don't have the total confirmation on the cleft lip. It is likely there will be hard days ahead with feedings and surgeries that need to take place. We are praying it was a misdiagnoses. However, if it is, we know that God formed this child in His image. He does not make mistakes. Rather, he makes everything glorious. We look forward to seeing what God's plans are for this child.

10 comments:

  1. Carrie, you are so cute with your baby bump. Another little boy...fun! A college friends son was born with a cleft lip. He is five or so now and you would never even know. You're so right God does not make mistakes. God knows the hairs on his head and has his name already written in his book. I love the hopeful promises found in Psalm 139.

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    1. After googling cleft lip, I've been amazed at what they can do to repair it. It's amazing! Thank you for your sweet comment, Tara! I appreciate your encouragement.

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  2. thanks for blessing me, and touching me with this post. praying for you, and that precious gift that you are carrying.

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  3. I've seen beautiful outcomes of cleft lip corrective surgery. You can have hope that God holds your precious gift in the palm of His hands.

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    1. Absolutely Barbie! I am so thankful that no matter what, He is in control and is caring for this boy.

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  4. Congratulations on your little boy! Yes, God does make everything glorious. Even those things that we wouldn't want for our children. God uses them to shape us and give us more dependence upon Him. Our little boy was born with Down syndrome, and it has been a journey for us as we learn how to do life with our little guy. BUT GOD, has become much more precious to us through this unexpected journey. And I wouldn't change my son for the world! Hard days cause us to cling to our hope in Christ even more. Regardless of the outcome for your little boy, he is blessed to have parents who are clinging to the Lord!

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    1. Thank you for sharing your journey with me, Lauren. I love that you said you wouldn't change your son for the world. I was reading a few blogs about the cleft lip and other said that after the first surgery, it was almost shocking to see the change in that they missed the way their baby looked before it was done. They had grown to love the way it looked. Thank you for your sweet encouragement today!

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  5. Hi Carrie, this post really touched my heart, thank you for sharing it. I pray God will bless you and your family and that through whatever season of life, may He lead and guide you with peace and joy. Your little boy is going to be perfect because he is God's design even from the Garden of Ede, God knew this day would come and this little boy would be given to the perfect family. May His love surround you today! Much love and blessings Aliyah (setapartwarrior.me)

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    1. Thank you so much, Aliyah! Indeed, he will be perfect!

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