One Perfect Little Bubble

When it all began...

In November of last year I found out that I was pregnant with my fifth child. I was in shock because I had a three month old. I did not go to the doctor for a long time because I was so Upset. I finally went in March. I had no idea how far along I was, so he had to do an ultra sound to see how far along I was. He said I was about 20 weeks, he also said you have number four (boy). I looked at him and said are you sure? He said yep it's right there. so because I was so far along, it was time for my regular ultra sound. I went in the next day. There was a student in with us learning how to read ultra sounds. The lady doing the ultra sound was kind of quiet while she was doing the ultra sound. She was just showing the student the main things to look for. At the end of it she said, "and usually we would see four chambers here" (as she was showing us the heart.) Then she proceeded to tell us that she was only seeing three chambers in the heart. she said "nothing to panic over. It might be the way your baby is laying or it might not be developed all the way yet. We will get these sent over to your doctor and he will probably want you to schedule another one in a couple of weeks." Then we left and I went home and Trent went to work. That night when we were crawling into bed I looked and Trent and started to cry and said "what if there is something wrong with him?" Trent said "everything will be alright." Then I remember praying and asking my Heavenly Father for the strength to get through what ever it was that was wrong with our baby. I also asked him to give me peace of mind so I could get some sleep. And I did get that peace, and was able to go to sleep. That was on a thursday. I went all weekend and had not heard anything from my Doctor, I was starting to feel relieved because they usually say "no news is good news," right? Monday I received a phone call from my Doctor. His first question to me was "What did they tell you when you had your ultra sound?" I said " that there was only three chambers in the heart and not four. She said it was nothing to worry about." He said "well they saw a couple of things. They saw clubbed feet on one foot possibly on both feet. only three chambers of the heart in stead of four. They also saw something wrong with his hands. They are not specialists so they can not tell for sure what is going on they just tell us what they see. Now I would like to have you go up to the U of U for another ultra sound. After that they will be able to tell you what it is and then we can go from there. Or we could just go on with the pregnancy like there was nothing wrong, it's up to you." I chose to go to the U.

We went up to the U for the ultra sound. We went in to the room and had the ultra sound done. She was very nice and talkative. When she was done she said," well I definitely see all the same things as the doctor saw but I do see a few ore as well. Let me go show these pictures to the doctor and make sure i got all that she wants. it usually takes about 30 minutes or so." I got up went to the bathroom came back and the doctor was in there. I knew there was something wrong. So the doc looked at me and she proceeded to tell m that i had a special child but there was some things that were wrong with him. We then went in a room with a genetics counselor where we found out what Ronnie had. She explained everything very well. She told us that our bodies are made up of 46 chromosomes. By what they saw in the ultra sound they were sure that it was a chromosome abnormality. Meaning he could have one missing or an extra or half of one. Thy were pretty sure that he has an extra # 18 chromosome. The only way to find out was to have an amnio done. Where they actually take out fluid and test the babies skins cells. We chose to have te test. They Counted 15 cells and 11 of them came back positive for an extra # 18 cell. The chances of him making it past his first birthday was 5%. The chances of him even being born alive was small as well. With a chromosome abnormality they have a lot of birth defects. Some have a lot of defects and some have few defects. Ronnie had club feet, strawberry shaped head, no thumb on his left hand, no radius bone on his left arm, (his hand grew off of his elbow), and he only had three chambers of the heart instead of four. After we found all this out. Trent had to go back to work, and I went home. It was a very long day. I had to call and have a friend pick up Alexander. When I went to pick him I fell ap in my friend. She is the very bet friend anyone ca have She came and took care of my kids for me so I could take a nap. She cleaned my kitchen for me. I don't know if she will ever know how much she helped me out. Thank you so much.

"Tribute To My Son"

On a special day in the Summer,
God sent me a wonderful gift.
The babe that I held in my arms
Gave joy of unspeakable lift.

As I gazed at this tiny infant,
I marveled at the power above
To trust me with this tiny creation,
To have, to hold to love.

As time sped by something happened,
And we knew he was a special child.
The things everyone takes for granted
Would be hard to learn for this child.

The talking and walking that's so natural,
For this one would come awfully slow
I prayed for understanding and patience
That I could help my child to grow.

He needed more time and attention,
Than normal children do.
But this I gave him gladly,
For God said,"This is my gift to you."

In my arms I cuddled him near,
And looked into his sweet innocent eyes
He seemed to say,
"Mother don't fear,
Have faith you will understand,
That we are all here for a purpose,
And mine is different from other men."

"God has given us all a body,
In order that we might progress.
Please understand that I am different,
I've come here to give you a test."

"So please accept me for what I am,
And not what you'd like me to be
Continue to love and protect me,
And always extend me your hand."

"Help me. and love me forever,
Give me the time that I need.
Find me a place in society,
That is filled with other men's greed."

With my hands reached out, I will help him
And love him with all of my heart.
For I know he is very special,
And God has trusted me to do my part.

And when this life is over,
And we are through with all trial and grief,
I hope I have proved myself worthy,
For this special spirit God has me bequeathed.

And when time comes for judgment,
I will see my son standing there,
His body erect and now perfect,
And standing by the side of God's chair.

He will smile and his eyes will twinkle,
To me he will extend a hand;
Saying-"Now it is my turn to help you, Mother.
See this is the way it was planned."

~Anonymous~