Our Baby is FIVE!!

I am very behind in posting this, I know.  Someday, she will use this against me and the story will be ten times worse to include phrases like "She forgot my birthday completely".  I can already hear the girls giggling about it now!

What to say about our youngest daughter?  There is almost too much to say for this short little post.  She is a joy and a delight.  She keeps us in stitches everday with her thoughts and ideas.  God continually blesses me through her.

Especially since she wasn't going to happen.  You see, we were done after our third.  We were pretty content until we got pregnant and lost the baby.  Then I knew that I could not do that again and was really done even though I knew that we weren't all here yet.  I couldn't take the pain of losing another child. 

God had other plans.  The very next month we were preggo.  I was in shock and scared to death.  It was a time of crying and gnashing of teeth.  No, really it was!  I was terrified of being pregnant and losing it and then the thought of having four was beyond imagining. 

But God knew best.

The pregnancy went smoothly but her delivery was wild!  I went into labor while Steven was singing at church.  I had to call and have the welcome lady go get him.  She waited to long and I had a contraction while talking to her.  I started screaming that I was in labor and needed my husband!  She moved very quickly after that.  :-)

By the time he got home, I was unable to walk.  So, he called 911-seriously-for a police escort so that we could get to the hospital faster.  Well, they must have heard me shrieking in the background because they sent an ambulance and a fire truck to our house!!!  I'm not making this up.  Four fireman carried me out of our house, after the paramedic checked me for the baby's head coming out, and put me on the stretcher.  That was the longest ride of my life!

My sister, Robin, made it to the hospital in time; Bean was born about two hours later. 

She was amazing, right from the beginning.  We brought her home and life quickly normalized.  She fit right in and the girls fawned over her every need.  Life was good.

Then, our oldest asked me a question that made my heart stop.  I had noticed something but hadn't said anything because I assumed that I was being a paranoid momma.  Our daughter was very concerned and wouldn't let it drop.

 "Why won't Bean look at me?"

It was true.  She didn't really look at anyone or anything.  She just kind of stared into space.  I knew then that something was very wrong.

I took her to our doctor and his first reaction was to dismiss it, but he could see my concern so he proceeded to check her out.  He shined his little light into her eyes and nothing.  She had no reaction to the light.  She didn't squint or turn away.  Her pupils didn't react.  Nothing.

The doctor then said that, yes indeed we have a problem.  She appears to be blind.  There was no reaction to the light at all.  You need to see a specialist.

The next few months were a roller coaster of emotions.  We had to wait almost three months to see the specialist.  Those were pretty long months.  While we were waiting, our homeschool group gathered around me and whenever we were together, they would pass Bean around and pray over her.  It was an awesome experience to see these women pleading for my child.  I am still brought to tears by the thought of it.

By the time we got to the specialists office, he declared that there was nothing wrong with her and that by the time she was one, she would be seeing normally. 

GOD HEALED HER EYES!!  It was amazing!  It is amazing! 

To this day, she has a way of looking at you that seems to penetrate and go deeper than the surface.  She is such a smart child, wise beyond her years.  She is compassionate, loving, sweet, thoughtful, joyful, and has a laugh that is infectious.

We are so blessed that God sent her to us.  I can't imagine our lifes without her.