Lacey Buchanan
By Suzanne O'Keeffe, 700 Club Interactive
CBN.com –Lacey is a 28 year old mother who loves her son as any mother does. She is currently a day care teacher and also a second year law student at Nashville School of Law. Lacey became pregnant in 2011 and at her 18th week, her first ultra sound was performed. The test revealed a boy; Lacey and her husband Chris were ecstatic. They decided to give him the name Christian. A week later they received a phone call that the doctor was concerned and requesting another ultra sound; and then, another. The report was that their son had a bilateral cleft pallet, which does not allow the mouth to close. Therefore Lacey began going to weekly and bi-weekly doctor appointments with doctors advising her that her "child may not live outside the womb" and most likely a mental disability would occur.
Amniotic Band Syndrome
As Lacey had to reconcile this would not be a "normal" pregnancy filled with the typical joy and anticipation of the average pregnancy, she drew close to the Lord. Unknown to Lacey and Chris as well as the medical providers, there was a lack of eye development as Christian was developing. This was because of the position he was in utero and they were unable to see it by ultrasound. This was due to a rare condition called Amniotic Band Syndrome. When there is a partial rupture of the amniotic sac there are floating tissues (bands) that become entangled with the fetus. These bands float in the fluid and can attach to the fetus. While the fetus grows and develops the bands begin to constrict the blood circulation to the area they are attached to and disfigurement and abnormalities develop.
Christian's Birth
Because of the cleft pallet there were concerns about Christian's ability to breathe when he was born. A C-section was scheduled with a team of surgeons standing by ready to cut an airway and put trach tubes in place. Fortunately the procedure was not necessary as Christian was born screaming and he was healthy. As thankful as they were of his screams, there was now the unexpected news of the non-development of his eyes. Lacey said that it was very hard to deal with on top of the cleft pallet. At one point her thoughts were,"This is all a dream. I'm going to wake up any second." Thus began a process of realizing her son would never see her face, see the world around him with all the colors, shapes and sizes and most likely having to depend on others during his life to "help him accomplish things."
Pain and the Lord
The surgeries he has had to go through have been the most excruciating times for Lacey but they have caused her to gain a deep appreciation of her time with him. She shares the depth of her pain watching him wake up with eyes blackened, bleeding gasping for breath and moaning in pain. Through these moments she has come to realize that when he is "super fussy" and she does not get sleep, it is not important. Loving her son and taking care of him is what matters. As he has learned to smile, laugh and say mama, Lacey knows how much she has and will depend on the Lord to raise him. The scripture Lacey stands on for the future of her son and her ability to raise him is that we walk by faith and not by sight. It excites her to think of the time when her son will know this himself and be able to quote those words as his own.
Viral Video
On March 9 of this year, Lacey made a Youtube video entitled Mother's Inspirational Video of Blind Baby Boy. "This is my plea to anyone considering abortion. Rethink your decision, no matter the circumstances. I am so glad I chose life!" Since posting the video has gone viral with the national media asking for interviews, several internet news sites and the video has been viewed over 6 million times.
Not all responses to her video have been positive. One message came when Christian was just a few months old from a girl saying Lacey was "a horrible mother for not aborting Christian because he will have a miserable and pathetic life because he can't see. She also said that the only reason I didn't abort was for my own selfish want to be a mother." Abortion was never a choice for Lacey and she further explained that she truly had never even thought about one until this girl brought it up.
On the other hand, she has received an overwhelming positive response from others. Lacey mentioned one in particular, "I thought my child was perfect because she has ten fingers and ten toes, but you showed me that my child is perfect because she is a child of God." Lacey's thoughts are that Christian was a child of God's "long before the world began" and that the Lord has shown her how to see beyond the natural love and know His love and trust Him for what He has in mind for her and her son.
Today as Lacey attends law school her area of expertise will be in being an advocate for those with disabilities and special-ed needs.