content

Someone mentioned to me awhile back how content my baby was when he was with me. I thought, well, ya i suppose he would be since I do everything for him - right? It seemed obvious since I was his mama. Shortly after God reminded me of that moment when I got some news....

Back in December my baby boy went in for his 4 month check. As I assumed, I had a very healthy thriving boy and all was going great. Then I mentioned to the doc that one side of him seemed a little fatter than the other. I chuckled saying i think it's cuz I nurse him on one side more than the other and gravity has it out of wack. He investigated quietly and did not entertain my poor joke attempt. He mentioned something about the possibility of Hemihypertrophy. So he recommended we go to children's hospital for further analysis. (My stomach and my wheels are now turning and you can bet I was online researching what this was as soon as i could)

Hemihypertrophy in summary is a genetic disorder where there is an enlargement (5% or greater in width and or length) on one side of the body or just a body part. The scary part is that Hemi is often linked with other syndromes that are not good, as well as there being a risk kidney or liver tumors which grow very rapidly.

Finding all this out had me so worried and anxious. Then God reminded me that I needed to be content in Him, as my son is content in my arms. So I let myself mentally climb up into my Father's arms and as I remained there close to the one who holds our every breath, He filled me with contentment, peace and a calm. I did not know the outcome, but everything was ok in the arms of my God.

Come January and we finally get to children's. Prognosis is 3 possibilities. Completely normal, Isolated Hemihypertrophy or Neurofibromatosis (NF). Long story short since we can not rule out the hemihypertrophy we must follow the protocol in checking for tumors every 3 months for the next 8 years. And as they confirmed something we did not want to hear, we were THANKFUL!

How can we not be thankful for so many reasons? First, we were in Children's Hospital and if you ever want a reminder of why things are not so bad in your life, just go there and see all these precious children with terrible illnesses. My heart and prayers go out to those families! Second, my baby will live a normal life and may be only his wife will ever notice his small differences. Third, if he does get a tumor, while scary, the success rate is high in removing it with full recovery.

In all this, I am so reminded that our children are a gift to be treasured everyday since we do not know what tomorrow may bring. And in that daily unknown I have a God who I can trust to make me content.