Baby Dominic

Those of you who have followed this blog closely may remember that at the same time that we have been preparing to receive Alex, my sister and her family have been preparing to receive their newest family member, too...a baby named Dominic. Baby Dominic was diagnosed in utero with severe cleft palette that basically split his face in two; he had no nose, was missing his left eye (so they said), and worse, part of his brain was supposed to be missing and part of it protruding from his skull.

Baby Dominic came into the world the same day that Alex was given over to our care -- both of them kicking and screaming! So Dominic has a special place in our heart as a sort of soul brother to Alex. Like Alex, he is a survivor and a fighter. Not only was he not missing his left eye, not only was he breathing on his own, but he ended up doing much, much better than anyone predicted. My sister wrote a beautiful post updating us about Dominic's condition, and the beautiful way in which he has been welcomed into the world. Here it is:

I have finally found time to update; my week has been happily filled with feeding, pumping, and doctors visits, over and over again.  I say happily, because I in no way had ever envisioned myself doing these things with Dominic, I had fully expected to have my baby and hand him off to the doctors and nurses and that would be it, my role would be over. 
As so many of you know Dominic came out screaming and kicking and we were overjoyed, having been prepped for a silent baby that needed intubation to be able to breathe.  When Mark heard him crying on the other side he started sobbing tears of joy and relief which made me cry too.  He then brought him to me to be baptized (another gift, since I had fully expected the baptism to take place in the other room).  Mark kept on saying, "Honey, it's really good, he's doing so well!"  There was joy and relief! 
Since his birth we have had to completely change gears from what we had thought or had been prepared for.  Since his birth they have told us, "he is a healthy, robust little guy", words I never dreamed I would hear about my son.  We have been told his apgar was 9.9.  He did not need any tubes except the iv which was taken out soon afterwards. We were told by the geneticist that his case is sporadic, having nothing to do with my age or our gene pool.  We were told, even with the corpus callosum missing, they expect normal intelligence.  Again, we  had expected severly disabled to not making it, remember that?  I have had every doctor come in to say they are thrilled and amazed at how he is doing and last of all, to the amazement of everyone, he is feeding from a bottle, and very well I might add!  They are calling him a "rock star" around here. The doctors come in and say, "Well, would you look at that!".
  As much as I wish I was home (and I desperately do, I miss my children so much!),  the time here has been a real gift.  I have spent all of my time with my new son, getting to know him and enjoying every. single. second.  I love watching him hold on to the bottle with his strong hands, he loves being in control!  I love it when he is awake and listening to me talking to him, he is so far, a very peaceful baby.  I love hearing his husky little voice that sounds just like his brother Augustine's. I love looking over every single inch of him right down to his cute swirl of hair on the top of his forehead.  Speaking of the doctors and nurses, I have to say they have been absolutely wonderful!  The nurses have been so sweet about him and positive.  They have allowed me to enjoy all of his sweetness, and all they do is focus on that.  Sometimes they will come in and say they just need a snuggle, they truly have made the first week with my son, filled with wonderful memories.
A part of me wishes I could stay here where it is safe and secure with people who understand and he won't be hurt by the world.  I know that we have been blessed with such a wonderful support of friends that will also embrace and love him, I thank God for that!  I am trying to figure out how we will deal with the rest of the world, who will not understand and may say and do things that are hurtful.  I am going to have to rely on God for this strength, as I know I do not have it in me.  If anyone says anything, I absolutely will crumble, please pray that I may somehow get a thicker skin or some kind of way to cope with this. This is what I wish I could tell the world, and I would put it on a big sign and carry it around with him if I could:
This child is fiercely loved; please respect him.
This child has not made me sad, in fact, he has brought more joy than I could ever imagine.
This child is a true gift, not less of a gift in any way because of his health problems, he is an absolute gift.
I am not burdened by this child, in fact he lifts me up to a higher place than I ever imagined. 
Do not feel pity for him or our family, you have no idea what he brings to our lives.
I am not sad about my child, I am so grateful God saw me fit to be his mother, I am honored.
I love this child so much...
Again, thank you so much for the prayers, I do believe there are miracles happening every day with Dominic.  If all goes well, and it seems to be, I will get to bring him home on Thursday.  If you could, please pray for the rest of the children, they are struggling a bit as this goes on without Mom home.  I cannot wait to get home to them!  And thank you to everyone for all that you have done for us, as Dominic feeds I tell him about all of you and all of the love he has been shown. As I hold Dominc, I love watching him dream and do his practice laughing and smiling.  Please join me in praying that all of the little dreams he is having may come true :)