Dear Family & Friends,
Many of you may have heard by now that we are having a precious baby boy in early November. We are so excited about this gift of life—nothing can dampen the excitement and gratefulness that we feel from knowing that God has given us this baby to take care of and love forever. Unfortunately, our 20 week ultrasound revealed a very scary situation and today (a week later) we have confirmed that our baby boy is very sick. He has CDH (Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia) which is a very serious situation for babies—also, very rare. Our baby is happy and otherwise completely healthy swimming around inside me right now—the serious part comes when I deliver. In short, CDH is a hole in the diaphragm which allows the stomach and intestines (and sometimes other organs) to float up into the heart cavity, thus pushing the heart and lungs over. Because the heart and lungs have been “squished” they haven’t had a chance to develop normally/completely which makes it difficult and sometimes near impossible for the baby to breathe once the umbilical cord is clamped. A great way to learn about this is through the video provided by CHOP (Children’s of Philidelphia) http://www.chop.edu/fetalsurgery/everything_in_place/index.html This video is very thorough and doesn’t really sugar coat anything. Being from Birmingham, I have always touted UAB for being one of the best medical schools in the country—unfortunately, CDH is not something they specialize in and Rusty and I will be making a trip to CHOP in the very near future (perhaps by Monday) and possibly to Gainesville, FL to find the absolute best care for our baby—but who knows, we may still end up at UAB.As our family and friends, Rusty and I ask that you will pray for our baby boy (no, we don’t know a name yet) and pray for the doctors, surgeons and nurses who will be helping us take care of him. We know we have a long road ahead of us—we thank you for your support and prayers. I started this blog so you can keep updated on what is going on from now until we bring our baby home with us! If you have any questions—we are happy to answer anything, so please ask!
Much Love,
Liz and Rusty
5 comments:
I think he looks like me!!!!!
You, Rusty and Baby Boy Rich are in my constant thoughts and prayers. I love you. Dad
Dear Rusty and Liz,
What a precious gift you are about to receive! We are so happy for you. We serve a God that is in the healing business. Jim and I will join you in believing that this special baby will be born whole and healed. May I share this with some friends that are pray warriors? My e-mail address at home is jwright20@triad.rr.com. We love each of you very much and wish that we could be closer. May God truly bless you and especially Baby Rich. Jim and Sheila
Liz and Rusty,
What a wonderful gift God is sending you guys!! Our thoughts and prayers will be with you every day!!
God bless!!!
Love,
James, Zandra and Emaline
Liz,
You are constantly in my thoughts and of course in my prayers. God has chosen 2 special people in you and Rusty to care for and nurture this baby. I have no doubt that he will be healed and recover fully, so that he and Baby Hines will be playing together soon! Robin and I are with you always in spirit and prayer. Safe travels and Godspeed. Lynley
Hi Liz. Just checking out your blog and wanting you to know that you, Rusty and the baby are in our thoughts and prayers. I also wanted to let you know that a very close family friend of mine had a daughter that was born with Down Syndrome 4 years ago and they were at CHOP and absolutely loved it. Abbie, their daughter, was born with a hole in her heart and had two surgeries at CHOP to correct it. Julia, my friend, says that without CHOP they would not have their daughter alive and thriving today. She is eternally thankful for them and all they did for their family. Just thought you might like to hear about a CHOP experience.
Please let us know if there is anything we can do for you and Rusty.
Alex and Robby
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