TN couple is challenged on their pro life convictions

Update: Heather & Craig Plus 16 Legs  

Our c-section is scheduled for 12:30 today. As we leave for the hospital I wanted to say that we are overwhelmed by the love and support that has been shown to us. Great strength and peaces comes from knowing so many believers are lifting us up to the Most High. Today we celebrate life and the Author of Life!

Isaiah's Story

Above pix taken in 2009 after birth of 8th child. Please pray for Heather and Baby Isaiah. He will be born on Jan. 5th. 2011

by Heather & Craig Plus 16 Legs on Monday, January 3, 2011 at 1:17pm

    At my very first doctor's appointment, when our baby was only ten weeks old, the doctor alerted me that something was wrong.  She said there was an abnormality on the baby's head.  She was pretty sure it was something called an encephelocele, but she wanted me to come back in two weeks, when the baby was older, for more tests.  We prayed for two weeks and then returned.  The results confirmed that the baby did have an encephelocele, basically a sac that forms outside the skull due to an opening where the skull did not completely close when it was forming.  Brain matter and fluid move through the opening and create sort of a balloon effect outside the skull.  We were told that babies with these rarely make it to birth and if they do, they are severely disabled.  Our doctor said most people terminate the pregnancy because of the probable negative outcome.  We believe that only God has the right to number a person's days;  so we opted for pursuing all possible ways to help our baby if God chose for it to live.  We saw a team of specialists at Vanderbilt- obstetricians who deal with high risk pregnancies, a neurosurgeon who discussed the possibilities of removing the sac at birth, and pediatric specialists who would care for the baby at birth- if it lived that long.  Their findings were bleak.  They told us that our baby had a sac that was large- about the same size as the head itself.  This meant a greater mortality rate and more severe brain damage.  The neurosurgeon said, "I can do the surgery, but whatever is in that sac will have to be removed and the baby will likely be neurologically devastated."  They asked us if we still wanted to continue the pregnancy.  We answered yes again- we would take whatever God gave us.  This began a pattern of going to different doctors every week.  Five different doctors were working together monitoring the progress.  Ultrasounds every other week revealed more and more each time.  One of the first of these showed that the baby had clubbed feet.  Again the team sat down with us and explained that a physical marker such as this indicated severe brain damage.  Once again they asked if we wanted to continue.  More emphatically this time, we explained that we did not want to get in God's way.  We are not afraid of having a handicapped child and we believe all people have a purpose.  We would not terminate the pregnancy for any reason (we would be tested on this later).  

At this point, I think they began to take us more seriously.  They seemed encouraged that we wanted to continue- as if they had hoped this all along, but had to give us the straight facts and all the options anyway.  We asked our friends and family to pray, and nine days later, the next ultrasound left the technician speechless.  She looked at the feet of the baby and finally said, "I know this baby had clubbed feet last time, but I cannot find any evidence of this now.  His feet are perfect."  A miracle.  The next ultrasound, however, revealed more bad news.  They found that I had a complete placenta previa.  This is where the placenta is below the baby, and the mother is at risk of hemorrhaging as she carries the baby.  This new development would mean a change of lifestyle at the Bitterling house.  I would have to be on bed rest part of the time, and that rest would increase as time went on.  They told us one last time that we had the option to terminate the pregnancy.  Did we want to risk my life for a baby that probably wouldn't make it anyway?   Our resolve was being tested.  This was going to be difficult, but we were determined to leave it in God's hands. 

    Many doctor appointments later, we see that our baby is a healthy baby boy, except for the large sac.  The doctors admit that they do not know what is in the sac and how he will be affected at birth.  If there is only fluid, he may survive.  If there is brain stem, he will not be able to breathe on his own, and will likely die.  They say that one of the reasons they do not know what will happen is that most of these babies are aborted long before the baby develops enough to be born.  We don't know God's purpose in all of this, but we trust that He will bring good from it.  We have decided to name him Isaiah Samuel.  Isaiah means "the Lord Saves" and Samuel means "the Lord heard me."  We are asking God to hear our prayers and heal him physically, but if He chooses not to, we have peace that He will save him spiritually. 

    My placenta previa is still complete, and the doctors have continued to increase my bedrest.  With the help of family and friends, we are making it.  Spelling tests, tea parties, and heart to heart conversations on my bed have become the norm.  It has drawn our family ever closer to each other and to Christ.  It seems that God blesses us daily as we try to do His will and trust Him.  We all love this baby more every minute.  Craig and I are both talking to the other children on a daily basis about this.  We pray with them and discuss things with them one on one.  We try to know their hearts and make sure that we have answered any questions that they have.  I am amazed at their depth of understanding.  Our culture underestimates children.  They are capable of great sensitivity, love, and faith.  I guess that's why Jesus said we must become like them. 

    The doctors have decided to deliver the baby by c-section on Wednesday, January 5th.  The c-section is necessary, both because of the baby's encephelocele and because of my placenta previa.  Isaiah will only be 34 weeks on January 5th, but they have decided that this is sort of the middle of a teeter totter.  It is the point when the least amount of risk to either life occurs.  Waiting longer threatens my life, and being born any earlier threatens Isaiah's survival.  Even at this point, there are risks.  We joke that we don't need one miracle, but a whole string of them.  So - we are humbly asking our friends and family to pray for health, wisdom, and peace for our family.  And, may God's glory continue to be revealed through the life of Isaiah.

Heather

"For you created my inmost being, you knit me together in my mother's womb.  I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well."   Psalm 139:13-14