Noah Ryan Shirah
Journey Thus Far:
Noah is almost 20 weeks in creation. I am overflowing with joy to have this miracle of life inside of me. I can't help but smile every time(which is very often) he kicks or punches. He is a VERY active baby which is confirmed every time we go in for an ultrasound. To me...he could not be more perfect or beautiful. I have been both lucky and unlucky in getting to see him so often(at least every 2 weeks thus far.) I'm lucky in the fact that I get to see my precious baby boy more often than other parents do and unlucky bc of the reasons for going.
It's been a bit of a difficult road since the beginning. After 2 years of marriage Chris and I were ready to have a baby that we have always dreamed about and wanted. Of course we thought it would happen right away and as the months went by, I was getting a little worried.
I have always had painful periods and Endometriosis was always a possibility. Combined with not getting pregnant so easily it seemed like a real possibility. So in Feb of 2011, I went in for surgery where they confirmed at I had it and that it had done some damage to my left side causing my Fallopian tube to be twisted giving me higher of a chance to have an ectopic pregnancy. As with many endometrial surgeries they help to remove it which helps with getting pregnant but unfortunately endometriosis comes back and usually worse after surgery and births.
Again I thought I would get pregnant right away and when 6 more months went by and my pain returned I became depressed and withdrawn. I remember going to the beach in July and late one night I sat out of the balcony and talked with God. A that point I just prayed. I asked him to please let me know whether or not I would carry my own baby. I could handle it if it was not a possibility but wanted to just know so that I was not always getting my hopes up. I begged for a sign and he gave me one. The most beautiful storm formed in the distance over the ocean and I just knew in my heart he was telling me he was in control and he had something great planned for me. I went to bed with peace for the first time that night in quite a while. It is that reminder that I hold on too through everything that has gone during this pregnancy.
2 months later Noah Ryan Shirah came to be. I told Chris on his birthday. We held each other, cried and thanked God for being true.
I had to go in right away to do tests every 2 days to make sure levels were good and had a ultrasound shortly after that confirmed that the baby was in the right place. Praise God!
Here he is at 9 weeks:
My family and I went to Helen during thanksgiving and on Nov.27 Chris and I celebrated 12 weeks with our precious one and that our risk of losing him has now gone way down. Ironically that same day on the way home is when I had a subcronic hemorrhage where the placenta had torn a bit from the uterine wall. Needless to say we had to stop at Emory. 3 hours later..YES 3 HOURS.. We finally were able to see that our precious baby boy was doing well. I admit that during thy time I cried to GOD for promising me something great and I was facing what I thought would be horrible news. He proved me wrong.
Here is Noah at 12 weeks:
I was proven wrong again 2 weeks later when I had 3 horrible nights of bleeding again. Ultrasound proved again that baby was doing great. After tests, we found out that it was due to the hemorrhage I had that they could not see or that I had lost a twin which would have caused the hemorrhage in the first place and would explain why my hcg levels were so high in the beginning. Noah was perfectly fine. Here he is at 14 weeks:
2 days after Christmas at 16 weeks and we found out we were having a baby BOY at our 4D ultrasound. He was so active and in boy fashion was showing off his boy parts the whole time. ( it was the first thing we saw as soon as the put the scan on my belly haha) He often kept his pinky up...something chris and I do often.
Noah:
1 in 700
1 in a million to me
4 weeks have passed since seeing him up close and 6 weeks without any problems. I thank God for every good day I have with him.
Monday morning we went in for my diagnostic ultrasound. It went really well and the nurse seemed to have nothing but positive things to say about what she was seeing. She left and said the doctor would be in to see us in a min. Chris and I gave each other a high five with big smiles. Then the doctor walked in.....
Turns out our precious baby boy has a definite cleft lip on his right side and possible cleft palate. We will not know for sure if its both until we hold his precious body in our arms and look at his beautiful face. As for other everything else...it looks positive now.
We will go back every three weeks to monitor and make sure everything is continuing to form correctly. I know some may think..well whats the big deal..it's just his lip now and that can be repaired. Well despite the uncertainty of what lies ahead, as a mom you want to take away anything that you think may cause pain or discomfort. I don't care what he looks like because to me he will always be beautiful and perfect.
I just ask that you please pray for Noah..that he stays strong and healthy and we have no more "surprises".
I rest and have peace in the fact that God has promised me something great. However, he did not promise the road would be the easy.
Here is Noah at 19 weeks:
Foot
Leg
Hand
I think you can see the unilateral cleft below his right nostril in this next photo:
This next photo is funny. When Chris and I went back and looked at our 4d video and pictures of him we noticed he always covered his cleft with his hand, arm or shoulder. Now that we finally got to see it...he flicks us off.
I want to thank our family and friends who have been there for us and know will continue to be during this pregnancy and after. We love you!
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