It had been awhile since I had thought about those conversations, but they all came flooding back last night. Kelsea had a follow-up with Dr. Kagumba in Quincy yesterday and we got to hear that beautiful heartbeat again. It was jumping around from 160 to 169....I think he was as nervous as we were! Dr. Kagumba went through the reports from Springfield and wanted to make sure we were all on the same page. One thing that caught us a little by surprise was when she told us that a baby with an Omphalocele this large stands a very good chance of not making it full term (we know Kelsea will have a planned C-Section early to try to prevent her from going through natural childbirth which carries many risks to our boy) but it was the first time we had heard there is a chance he could be stillborn. She said that the 2nd trimester is usually a good time for the baby, but once Kelsea enters into her third trimester, the chances of this occuring increase. Not what we wanted to hear, but at the same time, we want open communication and want to be armed with as much information as possible.
On the drive home, after we had to run a few more errands, I continuously thought I needed to hurry up, get home, and start doing more research on Large Omphaloceles and the risks/chances of stillbirths. However, my mind kept moving to the positive and I wanted to find stories of success! One story stuck out in my mind the last 7 minutes of the drive and I couldn't help myself. I know I shouldn't do it, but I pulled the story up on my phone. My sister Kelle had sent me a text message two weeks ago, after we got back from Springfield, with an amazing story about a couple in Texas who found out, almost two years ago exactly, that their unborn child had a large omphalocele. Kelle thought the crazy part was that their story was eerily similar to ours and she wanted to share it. I read the link she sent me. It was a story on ABC News Baby Born With Organs Outside Body Receives Rare Surgery and how they had given birth and gone with the "paint and wait" method. There was also a link to a blog she had started which I opened, but I didn't read a lot.
When I got home last night, I found the article again (actually there are articles all over the Internet regarding Kelly, her husband Cody, and baby Hayes) however this time, I finally went to the blog to read more. The more I read, the more tears started running down my cheeks. One thing that struck my sister Kelle was the similarity in names between my wife Kelsea, and Kelly. However, it didn't stop there. Kelly is a Special Education teacher, as is Kelsea! My sister (will leave her name out since it is Kelle also!!!) said in her e-mail, "Talk about God's work right there! I can't describe the feeling I have right now."
What little did she, and I know, that was only the beginning. As I continued to read last night (I started at the end and worked my way backwards since that is the way Blogger posts new posts and it is kind of hard to find the beginning!) I started to feel more and more hope. I felt God was sitting right next to me, leading my hands to the mouse to find the beginning. One thing I found out was that Kelsea and Kelly's blood type is the same and that the Omphalocele's in our two boys seem to be very similar in size. The next thing, which I already knew, but we haven't told the general public yet, is the names of our boys. I was wanting to wait until he was born (Kelsea wasn't...imagine that!!!), but I felt like I needed to share to explain just how God was working.
Hayden, our son's name is unbelievably close to Hayes. There I said it! It's out!
Hayden Owen Hoskins
Such a beautiful name! Ok, on with the story....
It doesn't stop there. There was one last thing that literally brought me to my knees. After I finally found her first post from October 15, 2010, I could not believe my eyes when I saw the title of her first post. I wasn't sure what I was doing, and now I don't even think it was my doing, but I titled my first post "Omphalo what???" on 9/19/12. Kelly's first post..... Omphalo-what?!?!
That put me over the edge. I yelled at Kelsea and could barely explain what I had read. It was such an amazing thing, I was completely overcome. Even if you do not have a relationship with Jesus, this is about as big of a sign as there is. This is like the huge spotlights that casinos have outside trying to draw customers in. It was God's way of saying, "Look at what I did here. Have faith in me. I will not lead you astray."
I wasn't sure what to do, but I felt God take control of my hands and start typing a letter to Kelly and Cody. I am not even sure what I wrote, but when I got a response last night at 9:04 p.m., my world became much brighter. I know God led us to this couple. It was not by chance. It was not a coincidence. It was all part of His Divine plan.
No comments:
Post a Comment