Children are our most valued treasures, or they should be. And when something is amiss with one of them, as parents, it breaks our hearts. As such, I’ve got to admit that having life resume a more normal tempo is a huge relief after the stress we’ve been living with for months now.
The day I learned that there might be something seriously wrong with my unborn granddaughter was an emotionally tough one. Not because I didn’t think our family could embrace a special needs child—I knew we could. But having to watch the stress it caused my daughter, not being able to do anything to alleviate that, was one of the toughest things I’ve had to watch.
Though my daughter was strong, and just a determined as the rest of us to embrace her unborn child—no matter what—anxiety levels rose. And why wouldn’t they? The reality we were being asked to face was a tough one.
As the months progressed and more ultrasounds concurred that the baby might have CF, each of us sought to educate ourselves as to what that involved. What the future would hold for the as-of-yet unborn child. Her parents. The rest of the family. What we learned was that the CF journey is an uphill one.
Armed with our new knowledge my family prepared, as best it could, for what might be. We carried on in the manner we always do, as a strong family unit, offering one another space when needed and surrounding ourselves with a protective shield of our family’s strength.
In the days since Kai was born, each new symptom she showed, began to tear down our resolve, and we grew impatient with not receiving the test results within the one-week time period we’d been promised at the hospital. We hated having to see Kai endure and suffer, wondering if those test results could pave an easier path for her, arming doctors with knowledge as to why she was having such trouble. (If you’ve never had to witness a newborn in near constant discomfort, I don’t recommend it, as it’s heartbreaking.)
As the days progressed, and Kai’s aliments began being diagnosed, we became hopeful that her suffering might soon be resoled. And when it became apparent that she needed to have her tongue-tie snipped, we eagerly agreed, anxious to bring her peace.
It’s been over twenty-four hours since that procedure was done, and I’m thrilled to say that Kai is almost completely symptom-free. And the fact that her test results came back negative—an added bonus.
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