Chung Family Update | Preparing for Jacob’s Birth
As a family, we have been preparing for the birth of our second child, Jacob. As some of you may know, our son was diagnosed with a genetic disorder called “Trisomy 18” as of twelve week gestation. Knowing the life-limiting diagnosis, David and I decided to carry our son’s life as long as the Lord allowed and have been amazed at the little guy’s resilience to make it to 33 weeks as of today.
It has been a wild journey trying to learn new terminology, navigate mixed emotions, embracing new rhythms with weekly doctor's appointments and welcoming prayer and help from our friends and family.
One of the most interesting things to navigate has been the extent to which we share and update our community with the pregnancy. It has been by far one of the greatest joys to share about our son, calling him by his name and seeing others ask about him and pray for him. On the other hand, it may possibly be one of the areas that needed the most intentional boundaries. Sometimes it feels like we are sharing too much and most of the time it feels like we aren’t sharing enough.
We are learning to find peace in the loneliness of the journey as well as comfort in the extravagant generosity of our community as we approach the birth of our son. And one of the things we felt we needed to do leading up to this upcoming Monday is ask for prayer and support.
Prayer Request #1: Perinatal Palliative Care Program Meeting this Thursday, March 10
By the kindness of God, we were introduced to Dr. A, who is an incredible ob-gyn that is heavily involved in the perinatal palliative care program at St. Joseph. This program and team ensures that the best of the mommy champions and baby champions are on the same page to make sure that families with kiddos with life-limiting diagnosis have the best experience, care and memories as possible. David and I will be having a multi-disciplinary conference call with the entire team. Would you pray that we would be unified in philosophy, value and spirit to honor God, Jacob’s life and care for mommy’s recovery?
This is Dr. A - our ob-gyn, team member of the palliative care program at St. Joseph and shepherding elder at Mariners Church. He has been one of the greatest gifts to us during this journey. This was him praying for David and I at our very first appointment with him.
Prayer Request #2: C-Section on Monday, March 14
We have a birth date for the little man. We have a scheduled c-section this upcoming Monday to meet Jacob. Due to Jacob’s brain condition as well as an increasing amount of amniotic fluid in his brain, our perinatologist as well as our ob-gyn thought it best to welcome him via c-section at an earlier gestation. Would you please pray with us for a smooth surgery as well as our son to be able to endure the procedure? Would you pray with us for God’s Presence and peace to be ever so present in the operation room? Would you pray a covering over every doctor, nurse, specialist, social worker, etc. we will be interacting with?
Prayer Request #3: Wisdom for Mommy and Daddy
We would be lying if we said that we weren’t scared of the unknown. The other day, we went in for a check up and as David prayed he said, “God, help us to make every decision for your glory.” Would you come alongside our family as David and I have many decisions we are facing ahead of us? We believe there will be moments we need to make decisions fast and/or will be overwhelmed by the pressure of certain decisions that need to be made. Would you pray for wisdom and discernment as we step into unknown territory? For God to place the right doctors and nurses alongside us and for us to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus?
Feb. 26 - I was in a lot of discomfort and pain so we called Dr. A and he had us come in to the hospital.
Prayer Request #4: For Worship to Never Cease
There are many other prayer requests we can ask for. However, we ask that you pray that our hearts do not waiver from giving God worship and glory in the midst of it all. We know He welcomes our tears and we welcome His compassion. We have felt so broken and weary but have experienced His comfort and leading in all of this. Would you pray for a devotion that honors Him in the midst of many unknowns?
On behalf of our family, I want to say thank you so much. Thank you for leaning in to our son’s story and for coming alongside our family. Thank you for asking about how we are doing, for asking me how David and Kinsley are doing. Thank you for asking if we need anything and for calling our son by his name. David and I are unfamiliar being on the recipient side of meal and prayer trains but we sense the Holy Spirit encouraging us to receive in this season. Thank you for your generosity and kindness towards our little family. Whether we have known you for a long time or a few months, we are thankful for you.