Yes, I can hardly believe 6 weeks ago Camilla Joy was born! How fast these past 6 weeks went compared to the 6 weeks prior to her arrival! I can hardly believe it has been that long since I posted last; now Christmas has come and gone already. We have been busy adjusting to life on little sleep and how to juggle attention between three blessings instead of just two. I am loving every second!
Many of you who follow have been wondering and asking how Camilla is doing. She is doing so good so far and showing no signs of anything at all being wrong. While we were in the hospital they did an ultrasound and a MRI of her brain. The ventricles were the same as our appointment in September and this was very good news! No blockage or progressing hydrocephalus...and no surgery! Praise God! The MRI did show that she was missing her septum pellucidum, though, has a thinned corpus callosum, and it showed mildly thinned optical nerves. The septum pellucidum is a small membrane inside of her brain that, because it was missing, was likely the cause of her ventricle enlargement throughout the pregnancy. The pediatrician spoke to us about this and said that this may or may not ever mean a visual impairment for our sweet little girl. When he evaluated her on the last day in the hospital I made sure to ask whether he thought she could see as of then and he said she was doing everything with her eyes she should at two days old and that YES he believed she was seeing things! So, very thankfully we headed home later that day and settled into our new routine with baby Cami!
In the weeks that followed, she had a few appointments, one being a pediatric opthamology appointment. The nurse dilated her eyes and flashed a light all around inside. She (the nurse) seemed frustrated; so I started to get nervous as I observed her. I asked her what she was looking for or wanting Camilla's eyes to do, and she simply said, "A blink would be nice." From there we had to go to another waiting room and wait for the doctor to call us back to further examine her eyes. All the while, here I was clutching Camilla and all of my bags to my body, and shaking with fear. How fast fear can grip you; I HATE that! I have posted before right here about fear and how I struggle and defeat it. Fear is not from the Lord; and I know that. By the time I was called in the examination room, I was sweating to death and getting even more nervous. Thoughts were running wild in my head that she was blind and she would never see us, never see God's beautiful, colorful creation.....STOP! I stopped my thoughts, glanced at my face in the mirror behind the examination chair and realized that I was letting Satan fill me with fear. It was SO apparent on my face in that crystal clear mirror on the wall. I quickly ran my thoughts back to this post here specifically the end, and realized it didn't matter anyway. Here I am holding my beautiful, precious daughter; feeling her breath on my cheek in this room and nothing else really mattered in that moment.
She is here.
She is thriving and she is right here.
I prayed over her in that dark little room, praying for her to someday fight her own fears with the truth of her Savior. What a priviledge to have this little girl in my arms and to pray for her while looking into her eyes. I should tell you, too, that the opthomalogist wasn't worried at all about the blinking thing. She said, in fact, her optic nerves are only "mildly" thinned. Praise God again!
With the help of Him, I am not worried! I am just NOT going to worry myself sick over potential problems that may or may not EVER affect things Camilla can do. If I did that, I would be giving in to the Enemy and he would be all too pleased about it. Not to mention, I would be missing all the wonderful, exciting things Camilla CAN do; which right now are everything she should to be on target for her age! So, I think I'll put the pen down for now, or rather-give my fingertips a break, to go and enjoy some 6 week old smirks, coos, and snuggles. Oh, and to breathe in the scent only a newborn has to offer!
We thank each and every one of you for your continued prayers. Thank you doesn't seem even enough; we are so grateful for every minute you have spent praying on our behalf, you are AMAZING! May God pour his blessings upon all of you!
