Maks River was born on July 5th, 2011, but his story began long before that day. At my routine 20-week ultrasound, we were told we were having a BOY! We were over the moon excited. They took us into an exam room to wait on the doctor. As the doctor entered the room with a huge medical book in her hands, I knew something was wrong. She flipped to the page entitled “Omphalocele”. What I heard and saw after that took my breath away. Our baby’s liver and small intestine were outside his body covered by a thin membrane. We were speechless and confused. On the ride home I began to ask “why”. I had done everything right. I was healthy. I didn’t drink or do drugs. I exercised, took vitamins, and so desperately wanted this baby. My husband stopped me and reminded me that it didn’t matter why; we just had to have faith that God would make it right. From that point on we turned all our focus on God.
We were told to be prepared for heart defects, under-developed lungs, digestion troubles, genetic abnormalities, pre-term labor, and lots of other possibilities. I read from a book titled, “ Prayers and Promises of Supernatural Childbirth” every night. This book put words to my thoughts to speak over my baby. My husband, our daughter, and I read one certain passage every night. It said, “ your heart is strong and healthy; your lungs are strong and healthy; your digestive system will function properly; your bones are strong and healthy; your vision is perfect; your hearing is perfect….and many more promises. It was important to me to have my daughter speak health over Maks. It built all of our faith a little more every night. Our families rallied and built a wall of hope and support around us. We were bombarded with prayers and encouraging words from the very first day we found out about the omphalocele. These prayers and encouragement threw a wrench in the devil’s plan. We drew amazing strength just knowing the incredible number of people praying for our unborn son and us. The devil expected us to be so weak and give in, but we are winners. Standing firm on God’s promises, we did not accept defeat!
Realizing we had a long 20 weeks ahead of us with lots of obstacles, we decided to take one battle at a time. We believed God for good news on each visit and good results for each test. I was referred to UAMS in Little Rock, AR for more extensive testing. In the following weeks we underwent several ultrasounds, an amniocentesis, a fetal echocardiogram, and genetic counseling. We spoke only positive words over our unborn son. As the appointments and tests came, they were all followed by good news and positive results. Maks had an isolated problem. It was not accompanied by any other defects or genetic abnormalities. (Praise the Lord) Maks broke all the rules and statistics for omphaloceles
When people would get their courage up to ask us questions about Maks River’s prognosis, we would always respond with, “he is PERFECT”. This confused most people. They could not figure out how we could be so happy. In their minds our son had a problem, and we should be devastated and feeling sorry for ourselves. We always had a smile on our faces and positive words to share about his development.
Maks arrived on July 5th, 2011. His cry was the most beautiful sound I had ever heard. The Angel One team from Arkansas Children’s Hospital took him from the delivery room and stabilized him. They brought him to see us before transporting him to ACH. They are an amazing group of men and women! They took Maks to the NICU. His daddy and other family members went with him. I did not want him to be alone. It was very hard for me to stay at UAMS while my baby was being treated at ACH. Forty-eight hours later I literally ran out of the hospital and to his bedside. Emotions flooded me when I saw him.
We had been prepared for Maks to be taken directly to surgery to repair the omphalocele. His surgeons decided to wait for his body to grow and let his organs fall naturally back into place. This method is called “paint and wait”. They “painted” the omphalocele with silvadene cream once a day and wrapped it with gauze. This decision was not by chance… I had been praying daily for all the doctors to be lead by God in caring for Maks. I also prayed for them to have wisdom when making decisions about his care. We got wisdom for sure; Maks River’s neonatologist was the founder of the NICU at ACH! That is not luck. That is God’s FAVOR!
The medical team made a plan for Maks and he marched right through it with ease. His total stay at ACH was 20 days. That is miraculous, and the doctors reminded us of that daily. His progress went as follows:
July 5th - Born 7lbs 7oz 20”
July 9th - Taken off the vent
July 10th - Arterial Line was removed and we held Maks for the first time
July 11th - Taken off all supplemental oxygen
July 12th - The drain tube was taken out of his stomach
July 13th - He had his first breast milk (5ml)
July 24th - PICC line was removed
July 25th - We took Maks HOME!
When we took Maks home there were many responsibilities that came with him. We were taught in the hospital how to change his dressing, and we did this daily when we got home. He had a hard “helmet” that covered the omphalocele when he was in his carseat. He had to take vitamins and a reflux medicine once a day. All in all his care was minimal and we took to it with ease. I feel like Maks River’s healing really began once we got home. He was eating only breast milk, which I think is a huge benefit to his growth and development. He was gaining approximately 1 oz a day. The pictures show his progress from birth and every month after. In the hospital you could see through the membrane that covered his organs. As he healed, the membrane became thicker and stronger. The silvadene caused the skin to scab over. Then when the scabs came off his skin was healthy underneath. The size of the omphalocele did not change very much the first couple of months. Then, all of a sudden, it began to shrink very quickly. You can see from the pictures how the shape and texture changed also. After 4 months, we began using a smaller amount of gauze. Then by 5 months, we could wrap his belly almost completely flat. It has been amazing to watch his body absorb the omphalocele. I always say, “If you don’t believe in God, let me introduce you to my son”.
Today Maks is a strong, happy, and healthy 6-month-old baby boy. He has not been delayed in any aspect except rolling over. The bump made it difficult for him to get all the way over.
We continue to go back to ACH for routine appointments with his surgeons. They are always amazed and encouraged by his progress. They have said he will have surgery to make him a belly button before he turns 1. All the praise and glory goes to our heavenly Father who makes all things possible and keeps his promises!
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