Happy Birthday Miss K

Twelve years ago a baby girl was born in Taiwan. Twelve years ago we became parents. Twelve years ago began a journey that would bring laughter, smiles, joy along with tears at times, and lots of prayers.

Recently I found our newsletter from September 2004. I will share what we wrote.

On July 12 at 2:25 am, Miss K entered the world weighting 6 pounds, 1 ounce and measuring 19-1/4 inches long. The excitement of becoming parents was quickly replaced with emotions of concern. Kylie was moved the NICU because of neonatal apnea. The x-rays of her lungs showed that there was a blockage between her stomach and small intestine. A little bit more than 72 hours after Miss K was born she was having surgery. The hours of sitting and waiting were long and difficult for her parents. Following surgery, she had to remain in the hospital for a week to ensure that there was no leakage from her stomach. The next Wednesday we were beginning to get excited about her recovery and anticipated bringing her home that weekend. During our morning visit, however, we were told that doctors wanted to do a heart catheterization because of a heart murmur. The prospects of bringing her home that weekend began to grow dim.

On Thursday we spent most of the day waiting for the procedure to be performed. Late hat afternoon they did it and we learned that there was a heart imbalance, but, ever more serious, there was a constriction in her aorta. There had been some complication from the heart catheterisation and she had required a blood transfusion. Things did no look good that evening. One doctor told us "prepare to face the facts." Our prayer during her entire time in the NICU had been that she would be a light in that ward. But we went home hat evening not expecting Miss K to live through the night. Our co-workers, Ron and Elinda West, as well as our pastor, sat together in our living room and prayed, committing Miss K to God's care. Meanwhile in the USA Beth's parents were working frantically to try to get tickets to come and visit.

Miss K did make it through the night. On Friday morning we met with the heart surgeon. He gave us a thorough explanation of the surge that was scheduled for Monday morning.

On Friday afternoon we received a phone call which gave us the answer as to why Miss K had the medical problems that she did. Miss K has Down Syndrome. This news was a shock to us, and caused us to wrestle with difficult emotions as we worked through changing our expectations of all the things Miss K might do in life.

Beth's parents arrived on Saturday evening. It was a blessing to have them here, visiting with us and going to the hospital. They were here for the heart surgery. "Everything is okay," were the words of the heart surgeon as they brought Miss K back to the NICU for recovery.

On August 7 Miss K was finally discharged. The nurses and staff there were all sad to see her leave. We were looking forward to finally having her home!

We saw a number of demonstrations of God's faithfulness during this difficult time:

• We met a Christian nurse in the NICU. We visited her Christian cell group there at the hospital, since they were praying for Miss K.
• We had opportunities to share God's love. One of the nurses told Beth, "Miss K is lucky to have you as parents as most of them are given up during pregnancy." That is very true here. Most of the babies with Down Syndrome are aborted.
• After the heart surgery, we learned that, for child of Miss K's size, the mortality rate is 50 percent. Her survival was really an answer to prayer.
• Through a friend at church over hospital bill was reduced more than 90 percent.
• We are so thankful for the notes and prayer of so many people. God has been faithful in meeting our needs.

Now 12 years later Miss K has continued to show that she has determination. She keeps us laughing. She continues to learn and grow. She loves life and those around her. 

Happy 12th birthday, Miss K. Tomorrow you can begin counting down to your next birthday.


Beth