Sunday, January 13, 2013

Open Letter to my Friends & Family...

My dearest family and friends.

I had my latest ultrasound today and baby is right on target, a little big but you’ve met Collin so you know that’s not surprising. They tell me she’s right on target and that she’s in the 84% for grown. Healthy and strong, and a wiggle-fritz as my mother likes to say.

I’m writing to ask for a little prayer. Some of you may already know that she is expected to have a cleft, but to what extent is still unclear. If it’s just a lip, it’s mostly cosmetic and she can have surgery at about 3 months and be done with it. If it’s a pallet, it means many more surgeries throughout her childhood to allow her to breathe and eat and speak properly. I would be eternally grateful if you did two things and both prayed for her healing while she’s still developing (God made the world in 7 days, in 9 weeks He can heal an unborn child). But the second is equally important to me. 

I ask that you take a little time and look at some images online of cleft lip children and infants, especially if you plan on attending me during labor or shortly after. It would brake my heart to see disappointment on any your faces and I want her to feel unconditional love from the moment she sets foot in this world. I want her to know that no matter what the challenges that face her, her family and friends will always love her.

This is hard for me to write because it’s so incredibly personal, and I’ve been down playing it. The truth is that this is a very very common thing in American births, 1 in 700 to be exact and it’s also incredibly treatable. It is typically hardest on the parents and family, and not the baby. She likely wont even know there’s anything wrong at all, just that we love her. So I ask you to pray for her, pray for us and prepare yourselves in case this is indeed a challenge that God wants us to face head on.

Love always,
Erin