The Blessing of a Miracle! Sweet Baby Jane Madelynn!

To say that the last year feels like a whirlwind would be an understatement.  

I have set out so many times to write this blog but have never been able to complete it.  

I want to share this story from the very beginning mainly 

so that I can look back in 10 years and remember how much 

God has done for us during this time and to be able to sit and count my many blessings!

This past February I started feeling funny (as I have two other February birthdays).

 I decided to take a pregnancy test and sure enough it was the funny feeling.  

It was not until later that I saw the doctor. He confirmed that we were 

expecting our 5^th (6^th-  as we have a sweet little one waiting in heaven) child.  

The funniest part was that by all calculations, it looked as if this little 

one would share her two older sister's due date.  I told the doctor 

that Mark was talented!  There was a light problem with the placenta 

but the doctor thought that is would work itself out.  At this point, 

I had not even told Mark about the pregnancy.  To surprise Mark I 

made a picture frame of the kids holding a number.  In the last frame, 

I put a onsie with a big 5 on it.  Unfortunately, 

JohnMark Jr figured out what I was doing and so I guess he was 

the first to know.  On Valentines Day, I gave the news to Mark.  He was super excited.  

We decided though not to tell many people until we made sure everything would be ok. 

(and to give me some time to mentally prepare for the “Really?” 

“Did you plan this?” “How many kids do you have?”  Etc…) 

I actually thought about making a shirt that said, “Yes! I know how this happens!” 

or “No, we are not on welfare!”  But that seemed a bit much.

Mark and I never set out to have 20 kids.  We have actually 

never said a certain number.  We just really believe that 

children are a gift of God, a blessing!  We are trusting God to let 

us know when our family is complete. (I think Mark is there!)  

We love our large family. Yes there are hardships but there is also 

joy multiplied!!! And so we rejoiced at the thought of another little one.

 

While being a little sick early in the pregnancy, everything 

progressed well.  My placenta corrected itself and I was 

good to go.  The kids were super excited and began telling 

everyone. They were split on if this would be a girl 

or a boy!  I debated not finding out but my controlling 

personality trait got the best of me.  On a visit to my sisters, 

her sweet neighbor and my dear friend, Nicole, helped me to 

make the gender reveal extra special.  She went with me to 

have an ultrasound.  I didn’t look and she found out.  I was 

fairly certain it was a boy as was JohnMark.  Nicole went and 

got balloons and put them  in a box.  We had a fun photo 

session to find out.  The video is priceless. However, moms 

who try this – make sure you either explain that the balloons 

are going to fly away or tie some to the bottom of the box.  

My 3 year old cried for a while cause she thought she was getting a balloon.  

 

So we opened the box and out popped the PINK balloons….. God had 

blessed us with our 4^th baby girl!  We were all excited. Johnmark 

only because he said he was getting a dog. (mom never agreed to that!)  

Thus, the planning began.  Many of you know my girls love to match!  

It was fun trying to find them matching clothes. 

(although increasing difficult and expensive). 

The remaining part of the pregnancy really flew by.  There were 

never any concerns from the doctor.  We greatly anticipated the 

arrival of our little one.  Finally, the date was set. Since I already 

had a birthday on October 1 and October 2, we picked October 3.  

This was just a few days before her due date so I felt good 

about inducing.  Toward the end of the pregnancy, I had to have 

a few ultrasounds. The only comment was that she was small 

and had lots of hair.  I always graciously smiled at the tech 

but was really thinking, “Lady you are crazy, I have had 4 bald babies!”   

However, there was never any other concerns.

Sure enough the big day arrived, Jane Madelynn Pool arrived weighing

 in at only 6 pounds. (my smallest baby yet)  The biggest surprise

 was when her little head popped out and she indeed had a full 

head of DARK hair.  I would have thought they gave me the 

wrong baby except it looked just like Aunt Juju's girls.  We were 

so in love at first sight.  I thought immediately that she looked a lot 

like Jennaleigh and JohnMark with dark hair!  We had a great time 

that first day introducing her to her siblings and letting her meet 

all her grandparents.  I did notice that I could not get her to latch 

on. However, I didn’t think too much about it.  We were just having 

fun putting bows in the hair and letting everyone see her.

Here are some of the first pictures!

 Just look at all that hair!

That night everyone went home and we were left with our sweet baby girl.  

I tried to nurse her several times with no success. However, the nurses 

said to just keep trying. (Man, I was missing Baylor!)  We had a good 

first night and actually got a little sleep.

The next morning everything changed. Since we were at a new 

hospital, my pediatrician could not come see her. We had decided 

to just let staff see her and then go to see Dr. Nale the next week. 

I remember being up just waiting for them to bring her back

 from the nursery.  Mark and I had been having a good conversation

 and just enjoying a few minutes of calmness before the kids came back to see their sister.   

And then in walks the staff pediatrician.  His first words to 

us were, “Let’s talk about what’s wrong with her.” 

 Immediately, I was thinking “Oh, she isn’t nursing.  There must be

 something going on with that.”  As my mind wondered, he began 

rattling off a bunch of stuff that I didn’t understand or remember.  

I picked up a few words, “physical abnormality”  - again I thought 

nothing more than her nursing issues.  However, I looked over to 

Mark and I could tell he was growing angrier and angrier at this 

doctor.  I couldn’t really understand why at first but the more the two of 

them talked I began to realize that something more was going on.   

Basically, what had happened was that someone supposedly had 

told the doctor we were aware of the news he so untactfully unloaded on us.  

When he realized we didn’t know anything, he got very defensive 

and accusatory.  It ended with Mark basically asking him to leave. 

So there we were left with the news that our precious little baby 

who in all ways looked absolutely perfect to us may have 

had a chromosomal disorder that may or may not have 

been life threatening.  Tests had been ordered and the 

doctor had suggested that nothing else could be done. We 

should take her home and love on her.  And that was that. 

To say the next few days were absolutely horrific 

would have been an understatement.  I just sat and held her and cried. 

Over the next few days, we talked to more doctors and learned that she 

had about 5-10 indicators of a Trisomy 18 disorder.  We also learned that most babies with this syndrome only live a week, maybe a month. They also told us that 

babies with as few as 3 indicators had a high risk of a major 

organ not working correctly. We were in disbelief. 

 Here I held this perfect little baby. From all I could tell, nothing was wrong with her.  She wouldn’t nurse but we had gotten her to eat from a syringe and within

 a week found a bottle she could take.  However, our pediatrician told 

us that with Edward’s syndrome, the babies typically died without

 a real cause.  They just fail to thrive.  I could not fathom finding

 my little girl dead. I just sat and held her as much as I could.  

Since my parents were here, we had already decided to 

dedicate her at church that Sunday. (She was born on Wednesday)  We debated

 whether or not to do it.  I knew I would not be able to hold it together. However, we 

are so glad that we did.  Our whole church poured out their 

love and support to us.  The pastor had people come and pray over 

our little one.  I truly believe God answered our prayers. 

Early the next week, we got the call that her test had come back

 NORMAL. She did not carry an extra chromosome!  PRAISE GOD!   

While I wish that was the end of the story, it wasn’t.  We had ruled out 

the life threatening conditions but not life-altering.  The doctors 

ordered more test and the wait had begun.  Over the past year, it 

has been a roller coaster.  The famous phrase we get from doctors 

and therapist is, “We will have to wait and see.” So now, we wait.  

(and I will fill in more of those details in another post) 

Despite the ups and downs of the last year, we have felt the 

constant love of Christ being poured out among us.  We have been so 

blessed by all the love and support from friends and family.   

  As Mark and I look to the future, we wonder what is God’s plan 

for Jane Madelynn’s life. We are trusting in Him, together.  

We want to say "thank you, for praying for our sweet baby girl!" and "Don't stop!"

I feel certain that when I get to heaven God is going to tell me that 

He healed our baby girl on that Sunday when our church 

lifted her up in prayer.  Sure, she still has some physical limitations. 

But maybe he just left those as a reminder of His great grace and 

abundant love. So that we would never forget the blessing of His

 miracle and our sweet baby Jane Maddy!

The following pics were taken the week we were waiting to hear back from the genetic testing.