This is the day. The day our lives were turned upside down. The day our hearts exploded with love and anguish, joy and fear. The anniversary of the day our twins were born six years ago, March 20, 2017.
The arrival of twins is sure to turn anyone’s life upside down, no matter the circumstance, but this was different. Some twins arrive early, their premature lungs not quite ready to support them; ours were induced at 38 weeks exactly when we had prayed they would come. Some twins are born by emergency C-section; ours came by natural delivery as we had hoped they would. Some twins’ gender is a long-awaited surprise; our little boy and little girl came as expected, and we were finally able to place a face with a name.
So, what was so different about their arrival? It sounds as if everything went according to plan.
The difference was that our little boy in this twin pregnancy had received a prenatal diagnosis. We were told that he had something called Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia, and his chances of survival were slim to none. A large hole in his diaphragm muscle had allowed his liver and intestines to migrate into his chest cavity effectively crowding out his lungs until they were almost nonexistent. At birth, he would be unable to breathe; he would suffocate without any medical intervention or an act of God. We were given no hope. We were told that we should consider having a “reduction,” euphemism for taking the life of our little boy. If the doctors had had their way, he wouldn’t have been delivered that day six years ago.
We had no idea what the outcome of his birth would be, but we knew one thing: God was in control. This diagnosis was no surprise to him and he would decide what the outcome would be.
Stayed tuned for the next part of my story tomorrow.
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