The Usual Suspects- Last Night! This picture is pretty funny because it was the only one where most of us (sorry Josh and Ryan) were looking/smiling and/or a child was not running in the way, if only you could hear how loud it was during these two pictures. : )
And here's the whole family! Kelli my dear friend that I also attended college with, even taught school with, went to church with, but really became friends over the years through small group and being mommies together. Which brings me to her story. I wrote this story about her first baby (who is now over 2 years old) to enter a photo contest, which in my opinion I should have won, not due to my fabulous writing skills (hmpf, hardly!), but just because their story is sweet, heart wrenching, inspiring, and will make you believe in miracles (and not to mention God's amazing power)!
I have a story of hope, love, faith, and a miracle. The hope and encouragement that the belief in miracles brings is diminishing more and more. Although my writing ability will not do this story justice, I pray that it will bring hope to those who read it. And maybe, just maybe you’ll believe in miracles again! This story is about a young couple whose names are Kelli and Josh. Kelli and Josh met 4 years ago where they were neighbors in an apartment building. From the moment Josh met Kelli he was determined to make her, his. Well it didn’t take Kelli long to fall madly in love with Josh. After marrying and spending four year in wedded bliss Josh and Kelli decided to start a family. By God’s grace it happened very quickly for Josh and Kelli and before they knew it they were expecting their first bundle of joy. At 10 weeks the elated couple got to go in for their first ultrasound. A couple of days after the ultrasound Kelli received a message that the doctor’s office would like her to call back and it was concerning her ultrasound. I remember Kelli calling me and asking if this was normal. Although I tried to assure her that it could be anything, like you may be farther along than they thought, etc, I immediately began to pray. When Kelli called back she was informed that they had found something abnormal on the ultrasound. It turned out that their little one had a membrane from its head down to it’s bottom and it was filled with fluid. The doctors informed Josh and Kelli that this membrane was proof that the baby’s heart was undeveloped and most likely has a chromosomal disorder. Josh and Kelli were given several possibilities or outcomes and each one of them seemed more difficult to swallow than the first. Some of the possibilities were (that Kelli would miscarry, one was that she might make it to term but the baby wouldn’t survive child birth, and one was that the baby would be born with severe Down Syndrome or some other severe disorder.) Josh, Kelli, and all of us involved were heart broken with the news. The doctors seem to paint such a bleak picture. In the midst of this darkness all we knew to do, was pray. All we could do was pray to the one person that we knew could do something about it if He chose to. I will say that one of the most precious parts of this story was how this baby’s dad never had any doubt that he would one day be holding a healthy baby. Kelli and Josh had to head over to Northwestern Hospital for more extensive testing. The doctors at Northwestern said that their baby’s membrane was a more severe case than they usually see. While there, they tested for the more severe chromosomal disorders- Down Syndrome, Trisomy 13 or 18, and Turners. Now it was a waiting game. We all just seemed to hold our breath and continued to pray as the days past. What seemed like weeks, but was only days later, Josh and Kelli got the call that all the tests had come back negative! Along with that bit of positive news, Josh and Kelli also got the opportunity to learn that they were having a baby girl! They were so excited to be having a little girl. They decided right then and there they wanted her middle name to be Grace because of God’s amazing grace. Although we were all so thankful for the wonderful news, the doctors informed them that there were still possibilities of less common chromosomal disorders. So the testing continued. (During this time of testing Josh and Kelli had asked the doctors their chances of having this membrane be nothing? The doctor told them in her 11years of working she had only seen two cases where it turned out to be nothing.) Although some might see this as a devastating chance, Josh and Kelli saw it as a hopeful chance. So more testing was done and even more waiting. The next set of test results also revealed negative results for the other chromosomal disorders. After this round of results it was determined that the baby was in fact free of chromosomal disorders but her heart was still undeveloped so she would need heart surgery to correct this shortly after birth. Although heart surgery on a brand new baby is terrifying, after what they were up against before, heart surgery sounded like a hopeful alternative. After this most recent test result Kelli and Josh began researching heart surgeons to find one perfect for their little girl. The next step, was having a level 2 ultrasound to find out more about the heart condition. On December 20th, Kelli was at 21 weeks and they went in for the level 2 ultrasound. The doctor took a good look at their precious baby girl and determined that the membrane she had was now actually appropriately sized for her age and that everything looked perfectly healthy! Can you believe it?! One of the nurses told Josh and Kelli it was just one of those “unexplainable cases.” Although, we knew it was more than that. And now we anxiously await the arrival of Mackenzie Grace McMahon on May 6th!
Here is Kelli and me the day Mackenzie came into this world, completely healthy!
And here's Mackenzie Grace today. : )
P.S. I must mention she just had her second baby girl in June, Stephanie, all natural (she's my hero)!
1 comment:
This is an incredible story!! Thank you so much for sharing it. Prayer and God can change anything and even dumbfound the doctor's. He is so good!
Have a wonderful day!
Kelly
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