Birth Story...

[shiri 0]

Do you ever remember some of the thoughts you had as a child? I was one who played pretend often. I remember being up at camp as a staff kid and was on the rope bridge and I would pretend I was in the middle of the Amazon jungle walking over a big ravine. I remember learning about history in school and wishing I was able to live back when the Pilgrims came to America. I also remember contemplating what it would be like if I had lived in one of the stories from the bible or what the story would be like if it were about my life.

I never really thought that the story of my life could be like a bible story. I won't go into my whole life story right now, but I wanted to take the time to sit down and update you with my birth story and how my son is.

Well, my husband made it across the border, which by human reasoning didn't look so good (long story). God gave us both visions showing he would be here for the birth of the baby and he was. That was awesome to see and experience God's promise being fufilled. Well, the 19th of August came and I had to go in for my amnio to see if my baby's lungs were mature enough for delivery. Here is a picture of Richard and I as we were waiting for the result:

We got word back that we were on for the delivery. We had our nurse try to draw blood and she stabbed my hand and yet was shocked when there was no blood flow. So she called in her supervisor, who stuck me, but not as hard or deep, but still no cigar. They finally called in the man from anesthesia and he gave me a tiny shot of lanocane and then was able to get the needle into a good vein and start the IV. Anyways... as far as shots for me, I seriously was stuck at least 20 times in the first 48 hours we were in the hospital.

The spinal didn't work for my ceserean and I could feel the pain of the slicing and cutting, so they were forced to put me to sleep for the remainder of the surgery. When I woke up, my throat was sore and my head hurt and I was in recovery. The nurse explained to me that they had to put a breathing tube down my throat while I was asleep. The neat thing is that nurse's middle name was Elizabeth, like mine and she was CANADIAN, from Windsor, Ontario, which is where Richard and I stayed the night in that hotel next to the drug dealer when Richard was denied entry into the United States back in March.

As soon as I was a little more stable, they let my husband and my baby come and visit me in recovery. I was amazed as mothers are when they meet their children for the first time. He was so beautiful! I remember having said, everything was worth it as long as he was born healthy and had 10 fingers and ten toes. I sort of had to eat my words a little because my son didn't have 10 fingers and 10 toes. He had 10 fingers and 7 toes, two of which were fused together. They told me that something was wrong with him, but they didn't know what it was and were trying to get specialists in to find out what exactly he had.

As you can expect, I was a bit sad and scared at first. That didn't last long. Once I was able to hold my little man and spend any time with him, I knew that he was absolutely perfect. The only thing that made me sad was thinking about how hard it would be on him emotionally to have to grow up being crippled. Then something happened that is unusual for me, I felt like we needed to pray for a miracle and knew that his life and his healing was going to be used to glorify God. From that point on, I had peace.

In the hospital, after they took the ex-rays and had a special doctor look at them, she wanted a different specialist to look at him. I was told that his bones ended before his ankle. We were almost let home and then he got jaundice and had to go into the NICU for a few days. One day as Richard and I walked over to the NICU to visit the baby, I looked out the window and said, "Wow! Is that a dove?" Richard looked at me and said, "yes it is." And then we saw another one fly past. Richard and I were both reminded of peace. I had never seen a dove like that before. I told that to my daughter Kaylee and she said, "See momma, that is God's way of saying that everything is going to be ok and he was in control."

On that Monday, we went to an orthopedic specialist and she told us that she didn't see the ex-rays yet and because the system was down, we would need to do have more ex-rays. After the exrays and evaluating him, she told us his condition was called fibular hemimelia. She said his tibia bone (the shin bone) was bowed and that the fibula was underdeveloped and that half the ankles and feet didn't develope either. So on his little ankels, he has one ankle bone and on the other side he doesn't and he is missing toes on each foot. She also recommended amputating his little feet. Neither Richard or I, are comfortable with the amputation. She told us not to make a decision yet, but that we should get a second opinion from the Denver Children's Hospital and the Shriners in Utah. We have seen another specialist who says we need to get really educated to make sure we are making the decision we really want.

We have had a lot of people tell us they believe that God is going to heal this sweet little guy, but none of us are sure of the timing. I may put together the responses we have gotten so far from friends about this later. But I wanted to share a poem with you that has to do with not being given what we want right away, but rather having to WAIT.

Wait (author unknown)

Desperately, helplessly, longingly, I cried:
Quietly, patiently, lovingly God replied.
I pled and I wept for a clue to my fate,
And the Master so gently said, "Child, you must wait".

"Wait? You say, wait! " my indignant reply.
"Lord, I need answers, I need to know why!
Is your hand shortened? Or have you not heard?
By Faith, I have asked, and am claiming your Word.
My future and all to which I can relate
hangs in the balance, and YOU tell me to WAIT?

I'm needing a 'yes', a go-ahead sign,
or even a 'no' to which I can resign.
And Lord, You promised that if we believe
we need but to ask, and we shall receive.
And Lord, I've been asking, and this is my cry:
I'm weary of asking! I need a reply!"

Then quietly, softly, I learned of my fate
As my Master replied once again, "You must wait."
So, I slumped in my chair, defeated and taut
and grumbled to God, "So, I'm waiting.... for what?"

He seemed, then, to kneel, and His eyes wept with mine,
And he tenderly said, "I could give you a sign.
I could shake the heavens, and darken the sun.
I could raise the dead, and cause mountains to run.
All you seek, I could give, and pleased you would be.
You would have what you want~~But, you wouldn't know Me.

You'd not know the depth of My love for each saint;
You'd not know the power that I give to the faint;
You'd not learn to see through the clouds of despair;
You'd not learn to trust just by knowing I'm there;
You'd not know the joy of resting in Me
When darkness and silence were all you could see.

You'd never experience that fullness of love
As the peace of My Spirit descends like a dove;
You'd know that I give and I save.... (for a start),
But you'd not know the depth of the beat of My heart.

The glow of My comfort late into the night,
The faith that I give when you walk without sight,
The depth that's beyond getting just what you asked
Of an infinite God, who makes what you have LAST.

You'd never know, should your pain quickly flee,
What it means that "My grace is sufficient for Thee."
Yes, your dreams for your loved one overnight would come true,
But, Oh, the Loss! If I lost what I'm doing in you!

So, be silent, My Child, and in time you will see
That the greatest of gifts is to get to know Me.
And though oft' may My answers seem terribly late,
My most precious answer of all is still, "WAIT."

So why did you bring up your life as being like a bible story? Well because God has really began to promise us things and talk to us and change us through the Holy Spirit. It feels like a new era, so to speak of the bible story. The old testament talked a lot about the father, the new testament talked a lot about the son and what we are living shows a lot of the Holy Spirit. I am very curious to see what will happen and how it happens!

I hope this finds you all blessed today.

<3 Shirley

[Carlawarla 1]

Shirley thank you so much for sharing the birth story of your son. Congratulations on his arrival! He's adorable! I'm so glad your husband got to be at his birth as well! It sounds from your posting that you have much strength from your children, your husband, and God.

I hope we can offer you some strength and support along the way as well. Thank you for sharing.

[Emancipation 2]

Oh your family is precious. Congrads on the new addition.

I pray answers come to you quickly... and that no matter what is the outcome or result- you will all be a closer family as a result.

[shiri 0]

Carlawala and Emancipation~

Thank you both so much for your encouragement and kind words!

[Autumnchik 6]

Shirley,

I am so impressed by you after reading your son's birth story. He is blessed to have you as a mother. I understand the emotions that come from having a child with health problems. My son, at 2 months, was found to have a hole in his diaphragm and his stomach was in his chest cavity which pushed his heart out of place and his lung was not inflated. It was a miracle that this was found where we were (traveling back from visiting family in another state, he ended up in a children's hospital rather than in the little community hospital in our small town). He had surgery and is doing well now. At the time he was in the hospital, it was overwhelming, but then a sense of peace did come from realizing that everything happens for a reason (and it was discovered where it was because he was able to get the best medical care then). I hope that, whatever decision you and your husband make regarding your child's surgery, you feel connected and supported by his doctors. Much love to you

BTW, your son is adorable! My son had the same jacket that your son was wearing in the picture, he just outgrew his.

[Muh and me 18]

What an emotional uplifting story. And a beautiful baby!

[aravis227 1]

Shiri-Congratulations on your beautiful child! As you said, all children are perfect and with such a strong and loving mother and family he is certain to be happy regardless of his health problems. Your family will be in my prayers.

[mrsartis 10]

Shirley thank you so much for sharing the birth story of your son. Congratulations on his arrival! He's adorable! I'm so glad your husband got to be at his birth as well! It sounds from your posting that you have much strength from your children, your husband, and God.

I hope we can offer you some strength and support along the way as well. Thank you for sharing.

ahhhh that is sooo cute.. congratulations!

[brown_eyes 0]

You have a wonderful family -- thank you for sharing your story about your baby boy. You are an amazingly strong woman!

[KarenCee 3]

Wow...what an incredible story. Thanks for sharing it and pictures of your sweet family.

[shiri 0]

Shirley,

I am so impressed by you after reading your son's birth story. He is blessed to have you as a mother. I understand the emotions that come from having a child with health problems. My son, at 2 months, was found to have a hole in his diaphragm and his stomach was in his chest cavity which pushed his heart out of place and his lung was not inflated. It was a miracle that this was found where we were (traveling back from visiting family in another state, he ended up in a children's hospital rather than in the little community hospital in our small town). He had surgery and is doing well now. At the time he was in the hospital, it was overwhelming, but then a sense of peace did come from realizing that everything happens for a reason (and it was discovered where it was because he was able to get the best medical care then). I hope that, whatever decision you and your husband make regarding your child's surgery, you feel connected and supported by his doctors. Much love to you

BTW, your son is adorable! My son had the same jacket that your son was wearing in the picture, he just outgrew his.

Thank you and your son is adorable as well! I am glad your son is doing better.

Thank you to all of you who responded. Your words have been very encouraging. He is almost 8 months old now and he is such a joy. When he starts pulling up and walking on furniture, the doctors will be making him braces for his legs.... there is no more talk of amputation... which I am thankful for. He loves his little feet and he plays with them often!

[Carlawarla 1]

Shirley,

I am so impressed by you after reading your son's birth story. He is blessed to have you as a mother. I understand the emotions that come from having a child with health problems. My son, at 2 months, was found to have a hole in his diaphragm and his stomach was in his chest cavity which pushed his heart out of place and his lung was not inflated. It was a miracle that this was found where we were (traveling back from visiting family in another state, he ended up in a children's hospital rather than in the little community hospital in our small town). He had surgery and is doing well now. At the time he was in the hospital, it was overwhelming, but then a sense of peace did come from realizing that everything happens for a reason (and it was discovered where it was because he was able to get the best medical care then). I hope that, whatever decision you and your husband make regarding your child's surgery, you feel connected and supported by his doctors. Much love to you

BTW, your son is adorable! My son had the same jacket that your son was wearing in the picture, he just outgrew his.

Thank you and your son is adorable as well! I am glad your son is doing better.

Thank you to all of you who responded. Your words have been very encouraging. He is almost 8 months old now and he is such a joy. When he starts pulling up and walking on furniture, the doctors will be making him braces for his legs.... there is no more talk of amputation... which I am thankful for. He loves his little feet and he plays with them often!

Awwwww Thanks for the update! He'll be up and about in no time!

[antda 13]

Hi Shiri,

Congratulations on your baby boy!!! I especially liked how you shared your story with us, and compared it to "life being like a bible story". Yes, it's such a beautiful way to read about your life in this way, indeed. I'm glad that your son overcame his health obstacles, and is doing well now.

Hmmmm...makes me want to write something like this in the next few months or so.....Thanks for the creative inspiration there...

Best wishes to you and your family, Shiri. Enjoy your "blessing", and the "childhood memories" that come with having such a "precious gift" as him. And yes, do keep on writing those stories and updating us about your life too...

Ant (Still waiting for I-751, Still waiting for Baby...)

Do you ever remember some of the thoughts you had as a child? I was one who played pretend often. I remember being up at camp as a staff kid and was on the rope bridge and I would pretend I was in the middle of the Amazon jungle walking over a big ravine. I remember learning about history in school and wishing I was able to live back when the Pilgrims came to America. I also remember contemplating what it would be like if I had lived in one of the stories from the bible or what the story would be like if it were about my life.

I never really thought that the story of my life could be like a bible story. I won't go into my whole life story right now, but I wanted to take the time to sit down and update you with my birth story and how my son is.

Well, my husband made it across the border, which by human reasoning didn't look so good (long story). God gave us both visions showing he would be here for the birth of the baby and he was. That was awesome to see and experience God's promise being fufilled. Well, the 19th of August came and I had to go in for my amnio to see if my baby's lungs were mature enough for delivery. Here is a picture of Richard and I as we were waiting for the result:

We got word back that we were on for the delivery. We had our nurse try to draw blood and she stabbed my hand and yet was shocked when there was no blood flow. So she called in her supervisor, who stuck me, but not as hard or deep, but still no cigar. They finally called in the man from anesthesia and he gave me a tiny shot of lanocane and then was able to get the needle into a good vein and start the IV. Anyways... as far as shots for me, I seriously was stuck at least 20 times in the first 48 hours we were in the hospital.

The spinal didn't work for my ceserean and I could feel the pain of the slicing and cutting, so they were forced to put me to sleep for the remainder of the surgery. When I woke up, my throat was sore and my head hurt and I was in recovery. The nurse explained to me that they had to put a breathing tube down my throat while I was asleep. The neat thing is that nurse's middle name was Elizabeth, like mine and she was CANADIAN, from Windsor, Ontario, which is where Richard and I stayed the night in that hotel next to the drug dealer when Richard was denied entry into the United States back in March.

As soon as I was a little more stable, they let my husband and my baby come and visit me in recovery. I was amazed as mothers are when they meet their children for the first time. He was so beautiful! I remember having said, everything was worth it as long as he was born healthy and had 10 fingers and ten toes. I sort of had to eat my words a little because my son didn't have 10 fingers and 10 toes. He had 10 fingers and 7 toes, two of which were fused together. They told me that something was wrong with him, but they didn't know what it was and were trying to get specialists in to find out what exactly he had.

As you can expect, I was a bit sad and scared at first. That didn't last long. Once I was able to hold my little man and spend any time with him, I knew that he was absolutely perfect. The only thing that made me sad was thinking about how hard it would be on him emotionally to have to grow up being crippled. Then something happened that is unusual for me, I felt like we needed to pray for a miracle and knew that his life and his healing was going to be used to glorify God. From that point on, I had peace.

In the hospital, after they took the ex-rays and had a special doctor look at them, she wanted a different specialist to look at him. I was told that his bones ended before his ankle. We were almost let home and then he got jaundice and had to go into the NICU for a few days. One day as Richard and I walked over to the NICU to visit the baby, I looked out the window and said, "Wow! Is that a dove?" Richard looked at me and said, "yes it is." And then we saw another one fly past. Richard and I were both reminded of peace. I had never seen a dove like that before. I told that to my daughter Kaylee and she said, "See momma, that is God's way of saying that everything is going to be ok and he was in control."

On that Monday, we went to an orthopedic specialist and she told us that she didn't see the ex-rays yet and because the system was down, we would need to do have more ex-rays. After the exrays and evaluating him, she told us his condition was called fibular hemimelia. She said his tibia bone (the shin bone) was bowed and that the fibula was underdeveloped and that half the ankles and feet didn't develope either. So on his little ankels, he has one ankle bone and on the other side he doesn't and he is missing toes on each foot. She also recommended amputating his little feet. Neither Richard or I, are comfortable with the amputation. She told us not to make a decision yet, but that we should get a second opinion from the Denver Children's Hospital and the Shriners in Utah. We have seen another specialist who says we need to get really educated to make sure we are making the decision we really want.

We have had a lot of people tell us they believe that God is going to heal this sweet little guy, but none of us are sure of the timing. I may put together the responses we have gotten so far from friends about this later. But I wanted to share a poem with you that has to do with not being given what we want right away, but rather having to WAIT.

Wait (author unknown)

Desperately, helplessly, longingly, I cried:

Quietly, patiently, lovingly God replied.

I pled and I wept for a clue to my fate,

And the Master so gently said, "Child, you must wait".

"Wait? You say, wait! " my indignant reply.

"Lord, I need answers, I need to know why!

Is your hand shortened? Or have you not heard?

By Faith, I have asked, and am claiming your Word.

My future and all to which I can relate

hangs in the balance, and YOU tell me to WAIT?

I'm needing a 'yes', a go-ahead sign,

or even a 'no' to which I can resign.

And Lord, You promised that if we believe

we need but to ask, and we shall receive.

And Lord, I've been asking, and this is my cry:

I'm weary of asking! I need a reply!"

Then quietly, softly, I learned of my fate

As my Master replied once again, "You must wait."

So, I slumped in my chair, defeated and taut

and grumbled to God, "So, I'm waiting.... for what?"

He seemed, then, to kneel, and His eyes wept with mine,

And he tenderly said, "I could give you a sign.

I could shake the heavens, and darken the sun.

I could raise the dead, and cause mountains to run.

All you seek, I could give, and pleased you would be.

You would have what you want~~But, you wouldn't know Me.

You'd not know the depth of My love for each saint;

You'd not know the power that I give to the faint;

You'd not learn to see through the clouds of despair;

You'd not learn to trust just by knowing I'm there;

You'd not know the joy of resting in Me

When darkness and silence were all you could see.

You'd never experience that fullness of love

As the peace of My Spirit descends like a dove;

You'd know that I give and I save.... (for a start),

But you'd not know the depth of the beat of My heart.

The glow of My comfort late into the night,

The faith that I give when you walk without sight,

The depth that's beyond getting just what you asked

Of an infinite God, who makes what you have LAST.

You'd never know, should your pain quickly flee,

What it means that "My grace is sufficient for Thee."

Yes, your dreams for your loved one overnight would come true,

But, Oh, the Loss! If I lost what I'm doing in you!

So, be silent, My Child, and in time you will see

That the greatest of gifts is to get to know Me.

And though oft' may My answers seem terribly late,

My most precious answer of all is still, "WAIT."

So why did you bring up your life as being like a bible story? Well because God has really began to promise us things and talk to us and change us through the Holy Spirit. It feels like a new era, so to speak of the bible story. The old testament talked a lot about the father, the new testament talked a lot about the son and what we are living shows a lot of the Holy Spirit. I am very curious to see what will happen and how it happens!

I hope this finds you all blessed today.

<3 Shirley

Edited April 15, 2009 by AntandD

[MrsCat 6]

Congrats Shiri. Lovely story.

[Autumnchik 6]

Thank you for the update Shiri I have thought of you often and was actually just wondering how you were doing the other day. Your story and your attitude has been an inspiration for me this year. It's been a challenging year, I know I shared about my son's surgery at 2 months. He had another different surgery at 7 months. Now, his doctor just set us up to start PT for another issue. Sometimes I have gotten overwhelmed that it seems like they keep finding more health problems .... but then I look at my son and realize how truly amazing he is and how blessed I am. Your story has helped me stop focusing on the negative (I'm not always good at that! ).

Please keep us posted on how he is doing .... and post more pics!