Pregnancy is an exciting time, but it can also be terrifying. While there’s a ton of excitement surrounding a mother-to-be, there are also many unknowns and uncertainties.
When 28-year-old Lacey Buchanan found out she and her husband Charles were expecting a new baby, she was ecstatic.
During the following months, Lacey’s pregnancy progressed normally until the young mother arrived at the doctor’s office for her 18-week ultrasound.
There, the doctors told her she would be having a boy— but they also announced that he appeared to have a cleft lip and palate, naming rare conditions which may be a possibility.
Although the couple was worried about the baby’s health, Lacey never once considered terminating the pregnancy. She tells USA Today, “We were just thinking, ‘We are so in love with this baby. We just want him to be OK.'”
On February 18th, 2011, Lacey’s son Christian was born. Doctors had decided on a C-section because they weren’t sure if he would be able to breathe on his own.
Lacey describes the birth to USA Today, saying: “It was pretty fantastic from my perspective because he immediately started crying. It meant he wasn’t intubated and was breathing on his own. I’m super excited, ecstatic, crying, asking what color is his hair, eyes, who does he look like, is he OK. But nobody would really answer me. All the doctors were really quiet.”
Although Lacey got to steal a quick peek at her son, it wasn’t until after she recovered that she got the opportunity to hold and admire him.
When the nurses brought him back to her, she noticed he had white gauze over both of his eyes.
She tells USA Today, We knew there was something wrong with his eyes, but we didn’t know what. I don’t think I saw underneath the bandages for a day or two. Then a nurse asked me if I wanted her to remove them.”
When Lacey finally saw her son’s face for the first time, she was stunned.
Christian had been born without eyes.
Doctors told Lacey and her husband Charles that Christian had been born with a Tessier cleft affecting the “3, 4, 5 quadrant” of his face.
Since being born, Christian has undergone numerous medical procedures, many being traumatizing for both the tiny baby and his mother.
However, despite all of his health issues, Christian is now 5 years old and thriving better than anyone could have ever anticipated.
Although his ears, palate, and mouth have all been reconstructed, the most glaring physical abnormality— his eyes— have been left alone for the time being.
Lacey and Charles wanted to focus on Christian’s mouth— which affects his ability to speak and eat— before taking on more ‘cosmetic’ procedures, such as those that would be done on his eyes.
In 2012, Lacey and Christian went viral as a result of a video the young mother had uploaded to YouTube. In it, she tells their story, confirming:
“I did the right thing by not aborting Christian.”
As USA Today describes, Lacey “is determined for [Christian] to see life’s bright spots— no matter how hard it may be.” She tells them:
“I’ve learned how to trust God, that all things work together for good. In the moment, it was hard to see how I could deal with this, how it’s good. Now I look back, and I would go through that a million more times if it meant I got to have Christian.
I am so thankful I get to be his mom.”
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