JOY Stories
Kaeti
A Light in this World
“We thank you and praise you as we know you have a plan greater than we can ever fathom…you know this baby…your touch can transform, heal and restore…just one touch from your eternal hand of healing is all that we need”
My name is Kaeti, I am Wynnie’s mom, and these are just a few words from the prayer cards made for Wynnie before she came into this world as a healthy baby girl with down syndrome.
Everyone’s story is different in regard to how they learned their child would have special needs. We found out Wynnie had down syndrome when I was 16 weeks pregnant. We were also hit with the fact that she had 3 large cystic hygromas that likely were going to inhibit her from making it into this world. Cystic hygromas are fluid-filled sacs that result from a blockage in the lymphatic system. The survival rate for fetal cystic hygromas is 10% and Wynnie’s rate was even less. Because of this news, our prayers quickly shifted from “God please help me understand why our baby has down syndrome” to “please send a miracle to erase these hygromas.”
Three days later, our baby girl had a name, Merritt Wynn, and we started asking for prayers to get our girl here. Old friends and new gathered and prayed healing prayer over Wynnie and for hope and peace for our family in the waiting. And boy did those prayers work! We had hope! And peace! I even had the courage to visit Java Joy (a mobile coffee cart run by individuals with different needs and special abilities) for the first time. There I met some of the most loving individuals I’ll ever meet. None of them knew I was pregnant, let alone pregnant with a baby who shared a diagnosis with 3 of the Joyristas! I left with even more hope that someday my girl would be serving coffee with a hug, just as they had!
Fast forward 3 years. Wynnie is here with us as a healthy, loving a joyful 2-year-old. This has been a beautiful journey for our family. Not to say that we haven’t have moments of realization that Wynnie may face challenges in her lifetime, but as Nick and I continue to educate ourselves on Down syndrome and the opportunities ahead, our perspective has completely shifted.
The sky is the limit for Wynnie. We would not have come this far without the outpouring of love from God and our community. It is our passion to pay that forward by showing others how gifts like Wynnie can be such lights in this world!
Photos for Kaeti
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