The Story of Wes...

This is one of those times that I wish I could write like my Mom..or even like my sister kelly..who are BOTH talented writers in our fam....but my blog will certainly never be known for its TALENTED author...but i pray it IS known by the stories and miracles of God working in our life. Because God has certainly worked another MIRACLE in our life that has come to LIGHT most recently...... Here is the story of our Wes:

***You see...God had placed on my heart that we had a son all the way back to the time I came home with Lucy lane...I can't explain it but that I JUST KNEW!!! My husband thought 5 young kids was PLENTY..and who could blame him :)!! I prayed for my hubby's heart to change...and my kids prayed too!! It was their talking constantly about their baby brother (that didn't exist as far as they knew) and their putting an extra PUMPKIN out at Halloween, and even Hal adding him to EVERY kindergarten family picture he made all this past year. And, even the day after Thanksgiving, Hal hung an extra stocking for baby "wes" (as he called him) and TOLD DADDY TO COME AND LOOK!! Daddy's response: "I guess it's time I give up on 5 kids being it..huh??" :) I always tell Hal now..."You helped in YOUR OWN WAY to bring Wes home!" :)

**God answered my prayers by Daddy surprising me and sending me on a mission trip in December...Daddy gave me his blessing before I left that IF i came across a waiting child WITH NO FAMILY that he'd be open to #6...he felt a peace about it!! I would be visiting several orphanages with "waiting children" ....I had no idea what would happen as I packed up and flew across the world!!!

**On day ONE of our trip..I not only met my daughter's birth family which goes down as one of the most amazing experiences EVER.....but I traveled further down the road...something like 7 or 8 hours outside the city......and there he was:

A precious little boy...WAITING....WAITING because he had several special needs.....his most life threatening at that point was the fact that he was SEVERELY malnourished. He was basically starving to death....I held him as I heard his story...his body shook, he couldn't smile, and he showed no expression. He was so weak that he'd have to lower his head to rest from time to time....I truly didn't' know IF he'd survive!! If I moved forward with adopting him, I'd have to KNOW that there are no guarantees on brain development when the body goes with out food its entire first year of life.....God gave me peace as I held his tiny frail body....I just didn't care!!!

**But ONE thing I noticed right away from his freshly shaven head...was the fact that his head was "misshapen" !! Everyone on our trip noticed it right away too. He had funny lumps and strange flat spots...it just "wasnt' right"!! A nanny that spoke English tapped me on the shoulder and said, "Something is wrong with his head!" I said, "yes, i know!"
I spent two days in this particular orphanage!! As I learned he was at least 12 months old...and considered special needs for several reasons...it became very clear that he met no one's criteria on the wait list. He was a WAITING CHILD!! I had to sit him down out of my arms at one point to assist with another child..and he literally PULLED himself back across the floor to my legs "moaning" the entire way over...it literally HURT for him to move...BUT he was going to get back to me!! The nanny said, " he already likes you"!! I answered, " yes, because he's my son!" AND...I KNEW HE WAS MINE....Handing him back over was painful...but I just wanted to get back home quickly to get the ball rolling with this little guy!! But before I left there was an American dr. passing through and I stopped her and asked her IF she'd take a look at this baby in my arms....I asked her immediately WHAT she thought was wrong with his head...She made an awful face and started throwing out ALL these awful diseases that could be causing his head to be misshapen!! I'm sure my eyes grew WIDE...but again, a peace came over me..and I KNEW it didn't matter...he was my son!!I have no explanation for the next steps in our adoption besides the fact that I prayed around the clock for my son's survival..and things were moving quickly!! I had friend's visit my Wes while they were in country....and the reports were usually that of FEAR that he wouldn't survive..he was TOO malnourished!!

My son couldn't drink from a bottle...friends and family would report that he seemed "slow" when they met him....his body couldn't accept food...so he was hospitalized where he was given Unicef's life saving formula for infants and children that are basically dying!! It was then, from my understanding, that he started to turn around....

He started growing hair and we worried LESS about his head and more just about the fact that he was beating the odds and starting to grow!! My agency, CCI, was wonderful with updates and kept us in the KNOW on everything...every step of the way!!

I couldn't understand WHY my adoption was going so quickly....and smoothly...but everyone kept saying, " God wants this boy HOME!!" AND HE DID....

**And...so he CAME HOME....4 1/2 months after meeting him....He was in my arms again....and HEADED HOME:

He didn't even look like the same boy I had left in December....It felt like a miracle AGAIN!! How did this happen? How am I so blessed that I got a "short' and "fast" adoption this time around!! The only thing i knew to do was to KEEP THANKING GOD!!!

**I knew once we got him home...we'd address the " head" issues right away.....and we did...immediately!! We prayed that he might just get a helmet...or maybe since he was too old he would just have to LIVE with his "misshapen" head...but only a CT scan would be able to tell us WHY his head was "continuing" to look "misshapen"!!

In the mean time....our sweet Wes has been growing and changing each and every day since being home.....And, he's certainly ALWAYS getting lots of attention:

He's certainly not packing the pounds on very quickly...but he's on a specialized formula with extra junk in it to HELP him get what he needs.....And...He's not "slow"..he's quite smart actually...he just needed a family...

As Xrays showed his rickets to be gone...it also showed the "signs" of severe malnutrition in his bones....his history is still there whether we like it or not....but again, he's improving so that's all the drs care about.....

Finally, last Thursday we went for his CT scan....assuming we'd probably end up with some type of helmet for his head...or something along those lines.....We were meeting with the Head Specialist today (wednesday) to discuss the results from the CT scan...BUT my pediatrician went ahead and called yesterday to let me know that he had the report in hand...and he wanted me to be prepared for my dr. appt today....

The CT scan revealed that my son has a birth defect called something like Craniosyntosis...it is where the sutures on your skull FUSE shut prematurely and basically your brain has no where to grow....these sutures should be OPEN!! Wes's are closed...resulting in his brain growing out his forehead!! A pretty intense surgery is his ONLY OPTION!! My pediatrician told me yesterday about it on the phone..and the specialist/surgeon confirmed it all today and went over the details of the surgery!! Yes, it was slightly shocking to hear...but even more than that IS THE MIRACLE THAT MY SON IS HERE...NOW....AND ABLE TO GET THIS SURGERY!! In a third world country, my son would have died from this defect. It would have grossly deformed his face..and eventually taken his life!! The MIRACLE is: my son needs surgery NOW...HE is HOME NOW!! Most adoptions can take a year OR MORE...and yet mine took only 4 months....God KNEW HE NEEDED HEALING...HIS TIMING IS ALWAYS PERFECT!!

His surgery is already scheduled...it will be on July 26th!! NOTE: Surgery has been rescheduled for August 16th!!!! UPDATE: Surgery was moved up and completed on July 14th, 2011!! The surgery will take 6 to 8 hours..and we'll be in the hospital for a week afterwards for healing!! Then 3 more weeks of "inactiveness" to allow the head to heal!! The details and risks just went on and on as the specialist talked!! I started to feel like i was hearing the Charlie Brown teacher talking...it was just all blending together!! He showed me the 3D CT scan which clearly showed the problem...and I just sat there in an amazed shock!! Shock that my son is ABLE to get this surgery.....what if there was NO adoption...I can't bare to think of WHAT my son's future would have looked like!!

I got home and told my husband....HOW can people NOT believe in God...How is it that I was in that remote orphanage WHEN i was...that God gave me PEACE and clearly told me HE WAS MY SON...and miraculously, 4 months later he is home and his birth defect is FOUND and surgery is already scheduled!!! God is certainly in EVERY detail!!

** I certainly feel in my heart that God worked through my agency to get our son home....I'll be forever grateful to them for saving my son's life....They NOT only brought him back from the lowest points of starvation...but they were able to get him home in time to receive a surgery he couldn't have survived with out!!! Yes, i'm nervous...I'm sick that my son will have to face such pain...I'm petrified that he'll have to go through such a surgery at such a young age....but I KNOW WE HAVE NO CHOICE!! If God brought him this far...I know he'll see him through!!!

**So there you have it...We're going to try to make the best of the summer we have before surgery...The kids know they won't be able to "carry" him around after surgery...and we'll have to come up with some plan to be SUPER careful once Wes is back home...Yes, that makes me nervous too!!!! We're going to get some family pics made before then too....we're going to hit a few fun mini vacation spots and attempt to live it up before surgery!!

***We SOOOO appreciate your prayers for a successful and SAFE surgery!! I want those drs covered in prayer and the whole world praying for my boy!! Cause...we LOVE HIM!!! We love him more than words can say!! He's MY BABY....HE'S MY SON!!!! All Glory be to God!!! Happy Thursday to you all, kj