There were many things on my mind yesterday morning. One of those being, “Would this baby also have a cleft lip and/or palate?” The chances of it happening for the “average” person are 1 in 700. If you have one child with a cleft, your chances of having a second child with a cleft become 1 in 25 (per Drew’s plastic surgeon).
We went back for the ultrasound and it was the same lady who had done my ultrasound when I was pregnant with Drew. We didn’t bring up our concerns, but after a bit she said, “Are you OK?” I guess she could sense my nervousness! Then she said, “Well, I’m sure you are both wondering about the lip, but I can see it now and it looks great!”
I started to cry. (And I’m pretty sure I saw Jon wiping his eyes too…)
I had prayed (and prayed and prayed), but not for the baby to not have a cleft, but just that God would help me accept whatever we found out and that I would be reminded that if we just continued to put our trust in Him, we could handle anything! Of course I’m glad that what we heard was that the lip, palate (the palate is a little tricky to see, but she was pretty sure she saw tissue there), heart, brain, spine, kidneys, etc. all looked great! (It’s funny that most people would say that there baby looked “perfect,” but that word has a whole new meaning to me now. To me, Drew was perfect – just like he was – and this baby was going to be perfect too, no matter what!)
It was a glorious day! But as strange as this may sound, I couldn’t help but think of Drew and if one day he would wonder why he was born with a cleft lip, but his brother or sister wasn’t. I just always want him to know that we would not change a single thing about him. Everything we have went through together has just made us stronger and I can’t wait to see how his future turns out! There is a song that I just love the chorus to and it always makes me think of Drew…
Be strong in the Lord and,
Never give up hope,
You’re going to do great things,
I already know,
God’s got His Hand on you so,
Don’t live life in fear,
Forgive and forget,
But don’t forget why you’re here,
Take your time and pray,
These are the words I would say.
(Sidewalk Prophets – The Words I Would Say)
Words we could all live by!
OK – back to the ultrasound! So is the baby a boy or girl? Well, we don’t know! We chose not to find out – not right now at least. It may sound strange, but at that moment, knowing that our baby was healthy was enough! What we did do was have the lady write down what it was a put in into a sealed envelope. I’m sure we’ll open it soon!
7 comments:
That is wonderful news that everything is checking out with Baby #2. Your post had me crying in the middle of work. I am glad things are going well. Each baby is perfect in its own way.
That is so amazing! I know it must be so difficult waiting to find out. Were you surprised with Drew or did they see it in advance? It must have been a relief, just knowing you and the baby won't have to go through all of the surgeries again.
I can't believe you didn't find out what you're having! I think the envelope will be too tempting to leave sealed! I hope you let us know if and when you open it!
Your post made me cry. I'm so happy for you guys and the health of your new baby. I totally understand what you were saying about how it would be okay if the baby was cleft effected. But I know it must be a huge reliefe to know that he/she won't have to have hard ships in life.
Congrats!
Congratulations on the wonderful news! I'm sure it is such a relief knowing that tha baby's lip and palate look good in the u/s. And I give you mad props for not tearing that envelope open!
We had the tech seal ours in an envelope too.....when we got home Amelia opened it...did not stay sealed very long.
I love the song, we understand your thoughts and how hard it is to put into words when she told you the lip/pallett looked fine..what do you call it relief, happiness...who knows!!
What a great post! :) Exciting news. God has made each baby perfect in his or her on special way. We never found out what Aiden was going to be. We had the tech do the same thing and put the envelope in a safe place. Believe it or not I was never once tempted to open it and it was THE best surprise we could have ever asked for.
What a great post! You have much more will-power than I do because I could never keep that envelope sealed! Hee hee. That's great news - I'm sure it was a relief to hear that baby #2's lip and palate look intact. Just simply because as cleft mommies we know how hard it is for our little ones to go through surgery and how heart-breaking it is for us. Congrats!
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