Alanna, Tanner & Baby Beckham

I would personally like to introduce, Tanner and Alanna Blythe who are like my “bonus kids”. They are expecting their first son ANY day now and are ecstatic. However, we know their journey will be different than most. Baby Beckham was diagnosed in with Spina Bifida and unfortunately, due to other issues, was unable to have corrective surgery in utero. So this will happen after delivery. Alanna is a teacher in NC where it blows my mind, but for every day she takes of personal leave she is required to pay $50 for her substitute. Of course she and Tanner will want to spend every moment they can in the NICU with Beckham and this fund is to allow them to do this. Any additional donations will go to medical, travel and personal expenses over the next several months. They would never ask anyone for help, but I see the burdens weighing on these soon to be parents minds. If you can donate, it’s appreciated. But just as much we welcome prayers for healing, patience and understanding!

In Alanna & Tanners words:

We were so blessed this year to find out that we were expecting our first son! As you can imagine, all the emotions ran through our heads when we found out the big news….excitement, shock, and nervousness.

We went through the first part of pregnancy with ease, it wasn’t until my 17 week blood work that our world started to spin. I received a notification that my AFP levels from my 17 week blood work were abnormally high...they reassured me that this could be a false spike in AFP and wanted me to come in for an in depth anatomy scan the next week. Like any worried mom, I started Googling...everything you would think of came up on that search. I prayed and prayed for everything to be normal.

When I went in for my 18 week anatomy scan they told me my worst fear…”Your son has myelomeningocele spina bifida and when he is born he may not be able to walk.” During this appointment was the first time I was asked if I wanted to terminate my son. I knew God had bigger plans for this sweet miracle but, my husband and I couldn’t believe it, why us? Why our son? We then got referred to a specialist up in Chapel Hill that specializes in spina bifida.

At my 20 week appointment was our first visit at UNC and we were going to talk to the doctor about having in utero surgery to close his back. We thought we were going to come up to UNC, schedule the surgery and be on our way, but again plans changed. Our baby was diagnosed with hydrops, a disease that could potentially kill him. He had fluid under his scalp and around his lungs, and doctors had no hope and gave him weeks to live if the fluid continued to increase. He was also measuring smaller than he should be, which didn’t make me or him a good candidate for the in utero surgery. At the appointment it was the second time I was asked if I wanted to terminate our baby, and I again answered…”Absolutely not, it will never be an option.” At this appointment I ended up having an amniocentesis done to start getting some answers!

As the weeks went on and the fluid was not increasing or decreasing we were cherishing every moment with our little one. When my 23 week ultrasound came, my test results from the amniocentesis were not what we expected. On the 13th chromosome the bottom was broken off and the top part of the chromosome was duplicated. The doctors told us that they had never seen anything like it before, but that it could take on the effect that Trisomy 13 does. The doctors kept saying to “Prepare for the worst” but I knew my God would guide us through this time. At this appointment, I was asked for the third time if I wanted to terminate my pregnancy.

As weeks pass and many doctors appointments later, the fluid on his lungs and head have since depleted and they do not see any. Our sweet Beckham is now head down, when they told us that he would probably never be because of the spina bifida affecting his legs...and all of his organs, ventricles, kidneys, and heart look great! We are counting down the days until we get to meet our sweet boy.

God has made Himself completely and totally evident to us during this pregnancy. The different trials we have had to overcome have grown our faith and our relationship with each other and God more than we could ever imagine. We wouldn’t have it any other way!"