Hope for Charlie

2 days and 3 hours

In the past 55 hours I have witnessed the birth of a miracle child. A baby that has defied the odds many times in his short life. I also saw a beautiful baby that fought to be with his family. And I also saw a beautiful angel find his place in heaven.

Today at 11:00 am "Little" Charlie left our world to go sit by Jesus. I know that he is watching over his family and is very thankful for all the prayers and love that he received in his short life.

Last night was a rough night. We thought we lost him so many times but he kept fighting to be with his family. He had a hard time breathing and would turn colors, but he had made it through the night (which we all thought was not going to happen). At 7:47 am we sang happy birthday to him again because he turned a whopping 2 days old. He spent the morning taking naps with mommy and making beautiful noises and faces to his Grandparents and Godparents.

While laying in his Mommy's arm, with Daddy laying next to them, "Little" Charlie fell a sleep. He left peacefully and did not struggle. It was his time to go.

The family is doing ok. They are very emotional and tired. They understand that it was his time, but still want more time with their precious baby. At this point all we can do is pray for their strength and give them all our love.

Again I want to thank you for all of your support, love, and prayers. 

"For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them."

-Psalm 139:13-16

God Bless,

Brenda

Day 2

I am sorry I didn't blog earlier today but it has a busy and emotional day. This morning "Little" Charlie was doing great. He was a beautiful pink color and was responding to all kinds of sounds. He seems to recognize Hannah's, Daddy's, and Mommy's voice. All the doctors and nurses was very impressed that he made it through the 24 hours. We had many beautiful moments of his smiles and adorable faces. Today we also had several visitors that got to see the Joy in "Little" Charlie.
Tonight we had several scares. He is having a hard time breathing and has moments were he would stop breathing and Daddy would be quick on his toes to get "Little" Charlie breathing again. "Little" Charlie is so strong and he is not going to go without a fight. We don't know how much time we have with him but we are letting him know that he is loved every moment he is with us.
I wish I could tell you more but at this moment the doctors are just telling us to just give him unconditional love and enjoy every moment with him and this is what we are doing.
I have witnessed a lot today and I believe that the Deebs are wonderful parents and I am blessed to be a part of their lives and a part of precious "Little" Charlie's life. I know that he has and is going to touch so many people's lives.
Again thank you for your prayers and support. The Deebs need it and thrive off of it.

God Bless,
Brenda

Day 1

I just came back from the hospital and it was such a joyous day. He is truly a gift from God. Dawn went into surgery at 7:30 this morning and "Little" Charlie was here by 7:47 and Charlie, Dawn, and the beautiful baby met us back in the room by 8:15. The surgery went smooth and Dawn is looking great. We baptized the baby almost immediately after they came back into the room. Annie, Justin, and I were blessed to be the God Parents of such a miracle of God. After we baptized "Little" Charlie the photographer came in and began to take pictures. Poor baby Charlie was changed several times and tossed from place to place and person to person while he was having the flash from the camera going off every five seconds. But it was a great time and I know we will have beautiful pictures to capture the moment. Hannah was a GREAT big sister and she held "Little" Charlie lots of times and sang to him when he was restless. It was a beautiful day and tonight the grandparents are taking shifts to be with them so that "Little" Charlie will always be held and fill the love of his family all day and night long.

Many people are asking me what is the prognosis of "Little" Charlie and honestly I am still not sure. All I know is that the first 24 hours is very critical and they say that after the 24 hours they will be able to tell us more. What I do know is that he is a fighter and when I left he was breathing on his own and his heart was beating strong. The Deeb family are taking it minute by minute, hour by hour, and day by day. They are enjoying every moment they get to have with him and is having a beautiful time being a family of four.

They wanted me to thank you all for your prayers and continuos love. It is very nice to have such a great support team.

"Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!" 2 Corinthians 9:15

God Bless,

Brenda

Happy Birthday "Little Charlie"

This morning at 7:47am "Little Charlie" was born. He is 3lbs 11oz and 17 inches long!! He is gorgeous and has beautiful red hair. Thank you for all your prayers. I do not know a lot more. I just know that the Deeb family is enjoying every moment they can have with him. I will keep you all updated as I find out more.
Brenda

Day before "Little" Charlie's Birthday...

I can't believe we made it... our son with all of his strength and determination is about to be welcomed into this world - if for only a short time.  Today has been an emotional one as we prepare for "Little" Charlie's birth, I know that shortly he will be perfect and in peace; while we look forward to holding our little man, I will miss his energetic ways... We know he likes plane rides, Lucky Dogs from New Orleans, In-N-Out cheeseburgers, and Star Trek... we know he loves his big sister and his daddy!  His responses and the fact that he made it through 37 weeks are part of the blessings that we count.

Tomorrow I will be handing over the blog to Brenda, one of his Godmothers to update until I am able.  We will be delivering C-section very early in the am (have to be at the hospital at 5:30 am) and should have him delivered by 8:30 am. 

We cannot thank all of you enough for your support, prayers, and love through our journey, I know that many of us had not heard of Trisomy 18 before "Little" Charlie came into this world and he has had such impact in so many ways than are bigger than him.

"For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face.  Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known.  And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love."  ~ 1 Corinthians 13:12-13

All of our love,

Charlie, Dawn (Alise), Hannah and "Little" Charlie 

The Deebs

Week 36.5

Well - today is my birthday and I can tell you that when I turned 40 a year ago, I never thought I would get pregnant.  I had never heard of Trisomy 18 and when I looked forward to my 40th year I had never thought that my heart could burst with joy and break at the same time.  I also had never experienced or understood in my 39 years of truly leaning and depending on my husband, daughter, family, friends, and faith.  I have never had my faith or strength tested as much as I have this year, and did not fully value one day at a time or what was really important.  So as I celebrate the day of my birth and look forward to the birth of our son; I realize that the most important gift did not come wrapped, but in the form of a little boy that could not be loved more but will live less than most.  He has touched many lives but as I felt him grow I know that I will always be changed for the better... a better person, mother, wife, friend, and child of God.  I may not understand the whys, and as a mother, I of course, wish for more time on earth... but I do know that as we look forward to "Little" Charlie's arrival it will be a blessed day and a treasured gift. (Dawn Alise)

Love to all and Merry Christmas ~ The Deebs

Week 36

A busy week for all of us... we had our last official appointment with Dr. Jacoby's office (our OBGYN), the team there has been so amazing and supportive and we cannot thank them enough for helping us celebrate "Little" Charlie's birthday and showing such joy and compassion every week. (Natalie we were sorry we missed you - thank you!) 

We also had our pregnancy pictures on Saturday with Jill who will also be with us on 12/28... we had a lot of fun taking pictures and cannot wait to see how they turn out. 

Also received a call from hospice, the nurse who contacted us, was also supporting the family who was documented in "Choosing Thomas", a Dallas Morning News piece that featured a story about the journey of a family who gave birth to a son with Trisomy 13.  We consider her a blessing as she has understanding of our time and decisions.  This story of this family was also incredible in its timing, as it came out weeks after "Little" Charlie was diagnosed and I believe helped many understand our situation when we couldn't yet explain it.

We are in our last week and I feel that we have battled the impossible by getting to our due date, 12/28.  I will tell you this week gets harder, as I wish for what I can't have and every day is a "last".  We go in at 5:30 am to Baylor Frisco and after that I have no idea what to expect.  I do have other authors for the blog if needed and will keep everyone up to date more frequently.

Again, we cannot thank everyone enough for their love, prayers, support, and faith... I know in my heart that we were given time that we otherwise wouldn't have had.

Have a Merry & Blessed Christmas this week and rejoice in the birth of Christ... it is with His birth, that we believe our son has a perfect life.  ~The Deebs

"Every good and perfect gift is from above..." James 1:17

Week 35

A week of miracles... when we saw our OBGYN, my belly had shrunk a few centimeters and based on how I was feeling (was much more mobile) had known that the medicine was working and the amniotic fluid had become less.  We then visited our Perinatal doctor for our ultrasound and we measured at an amazing 25 AFI vs the 40 that I was two weeks ago (25 is normal) and "Little" Charlie had also gained some weight and is now at 3 lbs. 12 oz. Also wonderful - while watching the ultrasound, we were treated to a rare occurance for Charlie, we saw him blink and smile when Daddy and I were talking to him - he was beautiful! During previous visits he usually faced toward my back, hiding his face from the ultrasound. Fortunately we were recording and have watched the DVD several times already ...

We are determined that we will make it to 12/28! I pray that we are able to have more than minutes and hope that I am not being greedy, but he has a strong heartbeat and he has made it so far that I want hours and days... what a blessing it would be to bring him home!

He is still breech and kicking a lot (I get the quick jolt) - but love it as he is constantly showing his energy and how full of life he is.

We cannot thank everyone enough for their thoughts and prayers for our son, we know that it isn't without strength and faith that is beyond us as we try to live day to day.

All of our love ~ The Deebs

Week 34

Thanksgiving and all of the family proved to be a good distraction, I was able to get my second wind and am feeling like I can keep up with my "little man".  Either the amniotic fluid has stabilized or my body is just getting used to it... I still get breathless and uncomfortable, but with all the activity going on in the belly - how can I give up?  For "Baby" Charlie, he is Michael Phelps in an Olympic size pool just doing laps (with back flips) :)...

This week we met with some of the team at Christ Church (Reverends David Roseberry, Jeff Rawn, and Carol Brooks) and we were able to plan for our birth and after.  We have decided to have our son placed in the Columbarium at Christ Church and we had Hannah choose his niche after service today.  We are all at peace knowing that we have a resting place for "Baby" Charlie behind the alter in a place that we have been able to worship, have faith, and receive strength. 

We also celebrated the holidays with friends and I was able to speak with someone who's sister-in-law also had a child with Trisomy 18, she was also born during the holiday season and her name was Faith.  Faith lived for 3 days and was also a blessing and miracle for that family.  I have passed on talking with other mothers who have experienced this only because I am so focused on the here and now and that fact that my son lets me know often that he is alive and with us on earth.  I do however have read and heard of many stories of love and hope from others and am thankful that other mothers have chosen the journey of life.

On this upcoming Friday we will get another look and measure and determine if we are good to make it to our 12/28 birth date.  Our OBGYN is on vacation for the holidays, so if it is doubtful - we will schedule a date next week. I still feel like I have so little time... I am probably the only pregnant woman I know that could be pregnant for another month or so... :)

Keep us in your prayers for 12/28... thank you again and much love, The Deebs

"It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect." ~ Psalm 18:32