Thankful Thursday

I'm thankful for Small Fry and Tater Tot - they are the best 2 things

that have ever happened to this Hautemama

I have a lot to be thankful for on this Thursday.  I recently read about a wonderful blogger that just found out some heartwrenching news about her baby that she's expecting in a couple of months.  Please pray for Megan and keep her in your prayers as she carries her baby that may have many medical problems when born.

I feel especially sad for her because I too went through a heartbreaking situation with my first born.  My son got stuck in the birth canal while being born.  His hand was cupping his face and his arm and nerves from his spinal cord were damaged during the birthing process.  He suffered a brachial plexus injury, also known as Erb's Palsy or Brachial Plexus Birth Palsy.  His right arm and even the right side of his face were completely paralyzed until he was five months old.  He started physical therapy when he was four days old.  The sheer sadness and absolute heartbreak of having a child with a life-long injury is something I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy.  It destroyed me for quite a while; insomnia, depression and just utter confusion as to what went wrong. 

This was in 1999, when the internet had only been around for what seemed like a couple of years.  I remember bringing him home and sitting up every night, all night long researching on the internet anything I could find that would help him.  There wasn't very much information, and blogs definitely weren't an option.  What a wonderful tool that would have been to reach family and friends about news on my little Tater Tot.

I consider him an absolute miracle.  His great-grandma put him on a prayer chain at her church one Sunday and called to tell me about it.  I politely thanked her and told her I really appreciated it, hung up the phone and thought that it was sweet, but I wasn't getting my hopes up.  That's the point I was at...I was beaten and spent every moment questioning myself.  Did I do something to cause it? Did I do something wrong while pushing?  Was it something I didn't do while I was pregnant???

The next morning after the prayer chain went out, I got up to feed my little sweetie, while his Daddy was getting dressed for work.  I finished nursing him and I laid him down on the bed and turned to tell my husband something.  When I turned back around, our baby had his paralyzed arm straight up in the air.  I remember blinking and turning to my husband but I couldn't say a word.  My jaw dropped.  I looked back at his arm and it was still in the air. 

I turned to his Daddy and said, "Do you see that?"

He replied, "I do, but I don't believe it!"

I think we must have stood there for what seemed like 30 minutes. 

My little baby was lowering and raising his arm up in the sky.

It was more than I could have ever asked for.  He was moving his arm.

I immediately called my Mom, my mother-in-law and the great-grandma that had put him on the prayer list.  They were so happy and grateful!  His great-grandma told me, "See honey, prayer does work!"  I told her it definitely did and I would always tell anyone that asked about my little miracle that he was healed by a prayer chain, so don't ever doubt that they work. 

God has a plan and he listens to everything we ask of him. Sometimes, the plan may not be clear, but eventually it will become clear.

I have to say that I am most thankful for that one moment in my life.  Granted, Tater Tot had to continue therapy and he will never have 100% movement in that arm, but he is considered by many of the Brachial Plexus doctors to be an extremely blessed child to even be able to move his arm at all.  His only challenge now at 11 years old is that he can't straighten his arm or lift it up in the air correctly, but people hardly even notice his "lucky fin", as we call it. (If you have a child, you will know about the lucky fin that Nemo had in Finding Nemo).

What I didn't realize then is that by having Tater Tot in therapy all these years with kids who have cerebral palsy, down's syndrome and a host of other challenges, he has learned the great gift of sensitivity and humility.  He never stares or comments when he sees anyone with a disability or a challenge.  That's a wonderful gift to learn at such a young age.

Tater Tot at the Shriner's Hospital in Philadelphia with his wonderful Doctors and Therapist

When I was a single mom, we had a new neighbor move in one day and he stopped in the backyard and talked to us across the fence.  About 30 minutes after we introduced ourselves and started talking, Steve, our new neighbor said to both of my sons, "Why haven't you guys asked about my leg that's missing?" He was walking on his crutches and didn't have his prothesis on that day.

Tater Tot piped up, "We didn't ask about it because just 'cause you're missing a leg doesn't mean you aren't a good person." 

Our neighbor smiled really big and said, "That's a good little guy you've got there!" 

At that moment, it all became clear in my mind.  I had a little boy (who was 5 at the time), that never saw disabilities.  He understood that people are the same, no matter what they look like or what they may be facing.  He has compassion and that's one of the greatest gifts he could've ever learned.  For that, I am very forever thankful.

  Hautemama