Count Your Blessings..

Have you counted your blessings lately? What are you thankful for in your life? When was the last time you really took a look around and really thought about all of the amazing blessings you have in your life? Today was a day my husband and I knew was coming and one we know we have to deal with. But its just the beginning of a journey we are praying for the best outcome. Every night before bed I thank God for all of the blessings in my life and everyday I pray that He will heal my son. My little Robert is 2 years old. He is our little blessing , our reminder everyday that God does preform miracles and that He is truly amazing and awesome. In 2007 my husband and I had to bury a little boy who didn’t even take his first breath or even get a chance at life. After the loss I knew that my thoughts were wrong but I kept on asking , “Why?”. I know that God has a path chosen for us and that I just need to keep my faith in Him because he wont give me more than I can handle. So in the Fall of 2007 when we found out we were pregnant again, I dropped to my knees and thanked Him and prayed for a safe and healthy pregnancy. The doctor had explained that there were risks involved and that I would need to stay in bed and take it easy through the pregnancy. Once we passed the first trimester I had to quit work and go on complete bed rest. I can still remember the day I was at the doctors for a sonogram. I was on the table  and when the sonogram tech went silent, the first thing I did was look at the heart and check to make sure I saw blood flowing and count the chambers. I then started looking to see if I could see what would trigger her silence and the look of dread on her face. I didn’t see anything at first take out of the norm so I asked her what was wrong. She wouldn’t answer, then she just left the room. I immediately began to panic, last time I was in for a sonogram and the tech left the room and wouldn’t tell me anything, was when they said, that our baby that we had lost, no longer had a beating heart. She then came back in and said to go in this room and the Dr. would be in to talk to me. Those few minutes of waiting seemed to be hours. When the Dr. did come in he sat down and told me that there was something wrong with my baby and they were not sure what is was. All they knew was that his heart was on the right side instead of the left and that they had already made an appointment to see a specialist. I had to go home and wait one week before we could get answers. I went to the specialist and she had me go and have another sonogram done. She then came in and explained to us that our baby boy had a disorder called CCAM or Congenital Cystic Adnomatoid Malformation. When they found this, his entire left lung was a mass of cysts and his heart had been pushed to the right side of his chest. She had explained what that meant and what the chances of him surviving after his birth. She also explained that if he did make it through the entire pregnancy, that he would have to stay in the NICU for a while and he would also need surgery. Once we got home we held each other and cried. This time I didn’t ask why, I just prayed, I prayed for my babies life and for the best outcome possible. The pregnancy was not a easy one. I became very sick and ended up staying at the Ronald McDonald House for the final 8 weeks of my pregnancy. I ended up getting so sick that the doctors said I would have to deliver him 4 weeks early. I went in for a final sonogram with the specialist two days before the scheduled delivery. She had told us that he would be very tiny, maybe 3 lbs and that he may not be able to thrive. I went in for the scheduled delivery and they began to induce me. The doctor came in to talk to us and explain about how there would be a entire team of doctors ready to rush him to the NICU once he was born. When the Dr left the room the nurse came in and prepped me for my Epidural. When she sat me up I felt my babies head coming out. She said that was impossible since the Dr had just started the induction. I insisted that she lay me back down because he was coming. Sure enough, I was right. Robert was getting ready to make his debut. It all happened so fast that my husband ended up delivering him. The Dr. was out in the hall and came back in and guided Toby through the delivery. To mine and everyone else’s shock, he was not tiny and he came out screaming. When they weighed him he was 6 lbs 13 oz, no where near the size they had told us. They then rushed him to the NICU. I know that God was listening to my prayers. I and many doctors have witnessed a true miracle. We were not completely out of the woods though and we still aren’t. Robert still has cysts on his left lung. They are not huge, but they do cause him to have health issues. When he gets sick, he gets really sick. For example, this past Spring my daughter had a little cold. Robert got it and his fever got so bad that he started seizing. During the cold and flu season he is constantly sick. He also throws up quite often, sometimes just out of the blue and others just when he is playing he ends up coughing then throwing up. We have been waiting to see if the surgeon is going to do surgery on Robert to remove the cysts. They wanted to wait to see if the cysts would, I guess, go away. Well since this past winter was real hard on him and because of him throwing up all of the time, they are looking at going through with the surgery. We got the call today, one have been waiting on. Robert will be going in for a sedated MRI this coming Thursday. This has been something that has been held off because of the risks of the sedation. Once we get the results we will then know what the next step will be. There is a chance he could go into surgery directly after the MRI. We wont know until MRI results are read by the doctor at the time of the MRI. So, for now, we are counting our blessings and hoping for the absolute best.

My lil sis holding baby Robert!