As you can see I am the proud Daddy to two little girls. My oldest's name is Adelynn and my youngest's name is Emersyn. They are both special in their own regard but Emersyn is especially special.
You see Emersyn was born with extra digits on her hands. What does this even mean?
That was my exact question in the delivery room when the nurse was handing my baby to me for the first time and she says, "aww look, she has an extra digit on each hand".
I am very pessimistic, so I typically go into situations thinking negatively, nothing wrong with that, just who I am. So going into delivery, I know and trust that God's will - will be done, and that no matter what happens, I have to accept the outcome, but you never expect to hear something different than you were expecting. Oxymoron much?
Anyways... So yeah, I was taken back when the nurse said that.
What?
How?
Who?
???
All that means is that she has an extra finger attached to each hand. In some cases, those extra fingers fully develop and are useful. In Emersyn's case, they are like large skin tags with a bone and a nail but useless.
So come to find out, this birth "defect" is rather common and once the baby is discharged from the hospital, their Pediatrician will simply tie them off and the extra digits will just fall off naturally.
Well of course, our pediatrician immediately said, "oh, I can't tie those off, they will need to be surgically removed".
Well dang.
So we make the appointment with the specialist, he states that they will not put a child under until the 9 month mark. So now, we just have to wait - and try our hardest to keep Emersyn from gnawing on her little bits of extra.
So here we are, July 2018, Emersyn will be 9 months on the 19th, and her surgery is scheduled for the 20th.
As a human being I can't help but be scared for my little girl. And with my pessimistic attitude, you know the negatives are running through my mind. But at the same time, I have an uncomfortable amount of peace in my mind that Emersyn will be just fine. Call it faith, call it hope, call it whatever you want to call it, but I got it.
I call it all of those things.
[box color="#683f47" align="center"]1 Peter 3:15
But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect,[/box]
I have faith is a gracious God. A God that takes my brokenness and makes beautiful things. A God that gives hope to the hopeless.
So yeah, Emersyn has surgery in a few days, and yeah I am a little nervous, but my struggles are God's struggles and as long as I believe that, I got nothing to worry about.
Thanks for reading,
Strahl.
**UPDATE**
Surgery went beyond well. Both Doctors were very pleased with the outcome and Emersyn did amazing! Total - both surgeries took about an hour and then she was in the PACU (Post Anesthesia Care Unit).
She is currently acting like nothing even happened to her! She is crawling all over the place, not even needing pain meds! Praise the Lord!
Once we are able to get her dressing (all the wraps and gauze protecting her hands) I will be sure to give you an update!