The House That Jade Built: Ollie Faith

Raising Ollie Faith

The Saturday before Father's Day in 2010 I had the best surprise for Jade ever. He was going to become a father again. We were having a third child!

He thought I was joking, and finally realized that no we really were having a baby. We had debated it for awhile previous to this and decided that we thought we wanted a third, but it happened a bit sooner than we had anticipated. We were both over the moon happy!

On October 4th, 2010, after a routine ultrasound, we were sent to a level II ultrasound. My quad screening for Trisomy 21, Down Syndrome, came back & they thought we should see a specialist.

Jade & I drove to Champaign, IL, fully expecting nothing to come from this appointment. We took the day off of work & planned to go to lunch & maybe even a movie. It was going to be a date day. We were just sure everything was fine.

Ironically a month before this I dreamt I was having a down syndrome baby girl. I shrugged it off as nothing.

We left the appointment with shocking news. We walked down the hall to the elevator. Jade tried to talk and all I could say was not now, not now. You see I don't like to publicly cry. We took the elevator to the first floor, walked thru the lobby, outside, took the elevator to the 3rd floor of the parking garage, walked to the van, and once inside the van. I sobbed. Sometimes the big plans we have don't work out as we plan. They say, make a plan and God laughs. I was heart broken...for awhile. I wanted to take it away - rewind time, but I couldn't. We were to follow up in a few weeks to evaluate our babies heart.

That day we broke our agreement to be surprised with this third baby & learned our baby was a girl, Miss Ollie Faith.

After much research, Jade & I thought we knew what we were up against with Ollie's heart. Again, we were wrong. We had figured she had a much more simple heart defect than she truly had. We later found out the truth about Ollie's heart after seeing two pediatric cardiologists, and picking St. Louis as our surgery & delivery site..

From then, all we could do was pray for a miracle. And pray we did. Our community prayed, blog followers prayed, people across this country prayed. Some knew us, some did not. A love bomb was dropped on my blog, and Jade & I sat teary eyed as we read hundreds of comments from strangers. The out pouring of love was never ending. Jade & I were transformed. Our faith was strengthened, our marriage which was strong to start, has become something I never dreamed of. Ollie Faith, still inside my womb, had changed people in dramatic ways. She was more than special. So we continued to pray & waited to meet our precious daughter. It was a long wait, full of anxiety and anticipation.

On Thursday, February 10th, 2011, I was induced. It was a long day that took awhile to get started. Once the doctors got me going around noon - things went fast. It was a relatively easy day, and all of my family was present. It was incredible to say the least.

That day God moved. It was a perfect day! Sweet baby Ollie arrived at 8:23 PM a whopping 7 pounds 10.8 ounces and 20 inches long. The moment I saw her chubby face, I knew she had Trisomy 21. My heart broke. Then, Jade said honey she has it. I cried, but not much. I just watched her, and wanted her so bad. I finally got her in my arms and she was perfect. She was THE miracle I had prayed for. She has a flirty sweet smile, and I fell in love, just like I did with Aubrie and Everett. Our family was complete & we were blessed!

I don't know what our future holds, but I do know that Ollie has changed perspectives already. My small town of 5,000 people know all about her. They prayed for her, celebrated her, and rejoiced with my family. She has touched so many & will continue to do so as she grows.

Our future is bright & Jade & I couldn't be any happier with the blessings that God has given us. His plans are perfect as is she. We remain nervous about Ollie's future open heart surgery, but we trust in God. Our faith is strong & the surgeons hands are able. God will move again, and will continue to bless my sweet sweet family.

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Ollie's Open Heart Surgery Journey
At one day shy of 4 months of age, Ollie had open heart surgery to repair a complete balanced AV canal defect.

Dr. Huddleston performed her repair & is our walking angel. He has been blessed with such a god given talent! Her surgery started at 7:30, we were talking with her surgeon by 11:45, and finally at 1:30 we got to see her.

She now has a heart that works effectively. Her heart beat is no longer sloshing like a washing machine, but it sounds like it should. That is the best thing ever!