Jan 18, 2021
Dear Diary,
21 years ago yesterday, January 17th, my life changed forever. I became a mom to a very delicate little boy. I didn t even get to see him until the next day. He was on a respirator with tubes and wires sticking out of everywhere. Even though he was red and swollen and not breathing on his own, my mother s instinct, intuition, whatever you want to call it, took over and I knew he d be ok.
Charlie was born with a birth defect called an Omphalocele. It occurs in 1 of every 4000 births. The mortality rate is fairly high. It s when the infant s intestines, liver, and other organs stick outside the belly through the belly button. The organs are covered in a thin sac. In Charlie s case, his liver was almost too far out to save. He came out just in time. He was also diagnosed with Beckwith-Weidemann Syndrome. It s basically an overgrowth of the body. Babies with an Omphalocele sometimes have this. Charlie was just over 7lbs when he was born.and he