Christian’s story
Written by: Chelsea Stearns
Our story began in 2017. Getting excited about an unplanned pregnancy, I was scheduled to have my first ultrasound. Thinking this will be routine, the excitement was overwhelming as we waited for that late afternoon appointment. My six-year-old biological daughter and my sixteen-year-old stepdaughter came along, they were excited to see the baby.
During this long-awaited ultrasound, I heard words and explanations unknown to me. “Omphalocele. What on earth is an Omphalocele?! I’ve worked in health care for over a decade, what on earth could this be?” I remember thinking to myself. My girls were both looking at me with worry and concern on their faces as they picked up on my own anxiety and worry of what we just heard. The doctor came in and explained a little bit better what this meant.
Fast forward to the next few days, his father and I did as much research as we could possibly handle on our own. We learned that an omphalocele isn’t as scary as it sounds. Organs growing on the outside of the body. Eekk, what on earth (there’s that expression again..) are we supposed to do? Oh, okay! A few surgeries, we can do this! (Please note, I am not downplaying omphalocele by any means, you’ll understand as Christian’s story unfolds in the next few paragraphs) When we learned a few surgeries would be a fix to this new information, we felt a little relaxation. Compared to other health complications, this didn’t seem so bad. I suppose I am writing this after our whole experience. During the pregnancy, I can remember feeling much differently than this.
Christian made his grand arrival on October 12, 2017, exactly one month early. The sac that encased his organs ruptured, causing early labor. Having a new little bundle of joy is a time to celebrate and embrace the moment. Unfortunately, for our family, it was different. If you’ve made it this far, thank you! I will prepare you to brace yourself, our ending isn’t as happy as most stories.
Right after Christian was born via c-section, I waited, “IT’S A BOY” (we didn’t know before), still waiting, it’s quiet. Why don’t I hear anything other than these darn machines? “Why isn’t he crying, I don’t hear him crying, is he okay, where is my baby?” “he’s with the NICU team, they’re taking care of him, we need you to relax”. Christian’s omphalocele was so large the weight of the organs twisted his spine causing severe scoliosis-like curves in his spine. This in turn caused his ribs to be twisted, preventing his lungs from growing past 12 weeks gestation. My son wasn’t crying because, my son couldn’t breathe on his own, he was put on a ventilator.
Christian was kept alive on that ventilator for six sweet, short, precious days. Passing away on October 18, 2017, his father and I had to make the decision to remove the ventilator and allow him to pass on. We did not make this decision easily. Many meetings, questions, tears, fights, and a lot of denial before that decision was made. We had an amazing NICU team.
We knew almost immediately Christian was sent to this earth to make a difference. Christian’s purpose was formulated. Christian’s father dedicated a lot of time to building a non-profit in our son’s honor. Christian’s purpose provided funeral costs for newborn babies and children under 16, urns, caskets, casting molds to the NICU for hands and feet, blankets to the NICU, and many other services. Christian’s purpose held fundraising events and helped roughly 100 families, possibly more, his father did the bookkeeping on this information. I pumped and donated over 2,000 ounces of breastmilk. Unfortunately, Christian’s Purpose is no longer a running non-profit. Christian did make a huge impact on our local community and became a very common topic amongst our community. We still honor him in other ways, and he still lives on through our unique ways of remembering him. Christian had a purpose and that was to fulfill our lives with new perspective and love.
You can make a difference in an O Warrior’s life.