It seems like it was just yesterday that I brought Isaac into this world. While in fact it was 12 years ago. Wow. That time flew by!! There are moments when I think about MY plans...and then I just have to smile because God's plan always prevails! Had everything happened according to my plans, Isaac would never have been here...
The year was 2000. Chris' dad passed away in May. It was a rough time in our marriage. Life is hard for many couples but I think Chris and I often made life harder for each other than necessary. For one, we were both recovering drug addicts. It's hard to work your own program; i.e. going to AA meetings, meeting with your sponsor, working the steps to get better. Chris and I relentlessly tried to work each other's programs. Didn't usually work out very well for either of us. We had Chance, he turned 2 that year and was still having several surgeries a year. I had had two miscarriages. One before Chance and one after Chance. After much discussion, weighing in how very sick I was during my pregnancy with Chance and how ill he was because of my diabetes, we decided that the best choice for our family was for me to have my tubes tied. This was a hard decision. I was young...22 to be exact and I wasn't really sure that I wanted to give up the idea of another baby. But honestly, we repeatedly asked ourselves "Can we do this again? Can we risk having another baby with so many health needs? What if this one is perfectly healthy? Will they get the attention they need to thrive and grow up secure?" Finally, we thought it was better to not risk it at all. We made the appt to get my tubal done. I was on Depo Provera (the injection birth control) and lapsed by a couple weeks. When I went to get another shot, I was literally WEEKS away from my tubal appt. I took a pregnancy test as required to get the shot and was dismayed to find out I was indeed preggo! I wept! What was I going to do?!? I didn't feel like I could go through another miscarriage. But God made a way! My diabetes was in excellent control, thanks to the recent start of an insulin pump! I was in the best control of my life. Uncontrolled diabetes wreaks havoc on developing babies. The sugar gets passed through the umbilical cord, causing big babies but it also causes major damage to tiny organs that are trying to develop. My pregnancy progressed and we got passed the first trimester! We began to believe this one would stick! I was terrified during the ultrasounds...at 5 months they saw Chance's heart defect on sonogram. At 5 months, they found out Isaac had a kidney deformity. Something called Hydronephrosis. He had 2 collecting tubes coming from one kidney and they were both too large. I can remember how much I cried...no matter how hard I tried, I could not make a healthy baby. What a hard pill to swallow. Both my babies would be sick and have to go through surgeries and it was all my fault. These are hard feelings for a recovering drug addict. We like to numb those feelings and I couldn't. On Valentine's Day 2001, Chris, Chance and I got Chinese food. I then got a horrible case of food poisoning. The next day, the dr says "Better come in and get some fluids." So my mom came and picked up me and Chance, since Chris was working. Halfway over Poplar street bridge, my contractions began. They couldn't be stopped, no matter how many drugs they tried. I received 2 doses of steroids to get his lungs mature enough for the inevitable birth. After my lungs began filling with fluid from the magnesium, they said "Looks like you're having a baby today!" Isaac Andrew Cooper was born on February 16th at 4:58pm. He weighed 5lbs 11oz. and he was 18 inches long.
He was born almost 10 weeks early. He did great! He stayed in the Special Care Nursery for almost 3 1/2 weeks but he wasn't intubabted and was only there to grow and learn how to eat like a big baby should! The day he came home was such a glorious day!! He was so tiny! I am amazed at how God made our hearts! You never think you can love another baby as much as you do your first...and then when that baby is born, voila! It's like magic! Your heart just automatically grows to scoop them up into it and you DO love them just as much! Isaac was so unlike any other baby! 
He was little but he was such a fighter! He took Amoxicillan every day, 2 times a day, to prevent kidney and bladder infections until he was old enough to have his kidney repair done at 19 months. His name means laughter and he lives up to that name! He is smiley and happy go lucky but my gosh was he the most mischievous boy! Oh, the stories I could tell! Chris' mom used to say "Be thankful he wasn't twins!!" For all the mischief, he sure turned into a beautiful young man with a heart that wants to please, not just us but most importantly, Jesus. That boy LOVES Jesus!! And THAT'S the most important thing to me!
I will share my favorite Isaac moment with you before I sign out. Right after I came home from Teen Challenge, I was laying in bed with Isaac, who was 5 at the time. He was rubbing my back and I could hear those little wheels a turning. Quietly he whispers "I'm glad you went to live with those ladies, Mom, so you could let Jesus make you all better and you could be my Mom again." Me too Baby...me too. And I'm so glad that God's plans are different from MY plans. Happy 12th Birthday, my sweet, beautiful boy!
