By God's Grace

The last time I wrote a blog entry, we had just received some news from my 32 week ultrasound that was unsettling. The tech had noticed enlarged ventricles in the brain as well as some other issues that we did not find out about until later. We were anxious and frightened at what this might mean for our new baby, but after prayer and reading God's Word, the Lord helped me to remember that I do not need to be anxious about anything. We went to a larger facility for more testing the next week, and the doctors told us those concerns that the tech had noticed were not really something they were too concerned about. They were concerned however about our baby's heart. This was very unexpected, but the Lord gave us a great amount of peace. We visited a pediatric cardiologist who said he believed our baby had a narrowed aorta. He explained what would happen if this was the case when our baby was born, and once again the Lord gave us peace. It was difficult over the next few weeks to go to one or more ultrasounds a week and have them check those earlier issues over and over. Sometimes it was easy to grow anxious and lose focus again, but the Lord continually reminded us that He is in control. The weeks finally passed, and I had my C-section on May 3rd. our baby Trenton came out looking healthy. We were able to hold him, and then he was taken for testing. When they checked his heart they found that he did have a narrow aorta. It was not the normal simple narrowing however. His was so narrow it was only allowing a small trickle of blood through.Because of this, the doctors had to change their plan and go in through his chest and actually replace a portion of the aorta. The aorta takes blood to the rest of the body. Because of this condition, if they had not known he had this problem and started him on medication right away, he would have died. It is sobering and encouraging to know this. God has been in full control of the situation from the start. He knew what would happen all along. He knew that when Braydon was born early due to low fluid that the situation back then would cause the doctors during this pregnancy to do an extra ultrasound at 32 weeks. He knew that He could test our faith and give us peace with those simpler issues at that point so that the heart issue would not be so difficult to handle. He knew that Trenton needed that medication immediately in order to live. This gives us the assurance and encouragement that God has a plan for this situation whether it is to do something great through Trenton or to teach us what we need to learn at this point in our lives. We have known God's sovereignty first-hand in this situation. Though it is difficult to see our little baby going through the healing process after surgery. We can look at him and be thankful that he is with us because it is only by God's grace that he is.