When I was 15, I met Chris and we fell in love
Chris & I got married when I was 21
When I was 23, we found out that we were going to have a baby
We were SO excited!!!
At my 18 week ultrasound, we found out we were having a BOY!!
We were even MORE excited!!
We named him Christian :)
A week later, we got a phone call. Something was wrong with Christian
We were crushed.
As Christian grew, doctors became more and more unsure.
What was wrong? Would he live? Would he be mentally impaired?
On February 18th, 2011, Chris and I went to Vanderbilt to deliver Christian.
We didn't know if we would come home with Christian or not.
At 9:32am, Christian came into the world...Screaming!
He was ALIVE!!!
But it wasn't that simple...
Christian's condition was MUCH worse than we originally thought,
He was born with a Tessier cleft lip & palate, He couldn't even close his mouth
His condition is only 1 of 50 in the entire world
But it got worse...
Christian's eyes were also clefted. They just didn't form. They just weren't there.
Our baby boy was blind. We were heartbroken.
We didn't know what to do, or how to raise a child who couldn't see.
Christian has surgery at 4 days old, and stayed in the NICU for 4 weeks.
When we brought him home from the hospital, things were hard.
Anytime we took Christian out in public...
People would stare...
and whisper behind my back "Look at that baby"
Kids would ask their mom what was wrong with "that baby"
I couldn't go anywhere without someone doing something to point out Christian
Some people would even ask me "What's wrong with your kid?"
One girl even told me I was a horrible person for not aborting Christian in utero
I was Miserable :(
But as Christian got older, he started laughing and playing
And when people would stare, Christian would start giggling...
And they would giggle too.
People started finding me on Facebook...
or recognizing Christian from hearing about him.
And so we made a TON of new friends.
People started telling me how Christian inspired them.
And how beautiful he is.
And things got a little easier.
And Christian is growing and healthy!!
And anyone who meets Christian falls in love with him pretty quickly
Those judgmental glances & whispers don't really bother me anymore.
Because I know Christian is beautiful
Inside and Out
I also know that I did the right thing by not aborting Christian
He is the love of my life!
And he is a Miracle!
Christian 出生四天后就接受手术，在新生儿监护室住了四周。我们把他带回家时，一切都好艰难。每次带他出门，别人总是盯着看，在我背后小声说“看那个小孩”。有些人还会问我“你的小孩有什么问题？”小孩会问他们的妈妈“那个”宝宝怎么了。甚至有个女孩说我是可怕的人，因为我没有把Christian流产拿掉。