Micah's Hope

My name is Jessica Haynes and I am currently expecting a bouncy little boy, Micah Gabriel, with my husband Josh on November 13th. Micah will be our first child and we are so excited to bring him into our family. However we have run into some significant problems with our son. During our 19 week ultrasound my husband and I were given news no new parent should ever have to hear. We were excited to learn the gender but were told Micah has a rare birth defect known as Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia. This defect only occurs in about 1 in 2500 live births (about .04%) and has a varying range of survival. This defect means our son's diaphragm never formed completely and has allowed a large amount of his intestines, both large and small, and his stomach to move into his chest where his lungs and heart are. That in turn has pushed his heart to the far right of his chest, and has stunted the growth of his lungs greatly. Through the course of our pregnancy I have had many ultrasounds to confirm and monitor our son's progress, an echocardiogram to check for heart defects, a blood test to try to find any genetic problems such as Down syndrome, and an MRI to look at his lungs in a better way. Through all this testing we have learned Micah has a severe hole in the left side of his diaphragm, and only one visible lung that is very small to what it needs to be, and two holes within his heart that will allow too much blood flow to the only lung he has. My husband and I will actually have to travel Charlotte to deliver Micah at Levines Children's Hospital as the hospital in our home city is not equipped enough to save our sons life. After he is born Micah will be immediately taken to NICU to be intubated and put on a ventilator to help him breathe properly and put on special IVs to give him nutrients as he will not be able to eat normally. He will need some surgeries after he is stabilized to remove the intestines and stomach from his chest, put the heart and lung back into normal positions, patch the hole in the diaphragm to keep everything from returning, and to close the two holes in his heart. He will more than likely be in the NICU for a couple of months until he can eat and breathe on his own. His survival is not guaranteed and we have been offered to terminate the pregnancy on several occasions as doctors know his battle will be hard. But my husband and I have great faith that the Lord will use our son for good and he has worked great miracles for him thus far. At this point Micah is growing at a normal rate and every other organ in his body including his brain are in perfect condition. Our son is such a little fighter and we both feel this as he continues to grow and kick within me everyday. God can work great miracles and we will do everything to give Micah the fighting chance he deserves. Many stories of other CDH babies survival have been shared with us and given us great encouragement. Our friends, family, and many churches have extended support in as many ways as possible. Unfortunately we have been informed that even in our situation both my husband and I are not eligible for any sort of paid leave to be with our son during this time and although we continue to save everywhere we can, bills are still piling up with the care of our son. So we come to ask for support to help continue to ensure the help for our son needs is given and that we will still be able to provide him with the home he deserves after a long fight. Thank you everyone for everything in advance and for the continued prayers our little family needs! God bless you all!
http://www.chop.edu/conditions-diseases/congenital-diaphragmatic-hernia-cdh
https://www.tinyhero.org/