Pray for Michael Zechariah Clements

Our 6th child is due in April. Michael is facing several serious health issues. Many of the things he is facing is connected with a disorder called Trisomy 18 although he has not been officially diagnosed with it. An actual diagnosis would require an amniocentesis, which would add another risk to what he is facing. From our visits with the perinatologist and the neonatal cardiologist we have seen that Michael has an omphalocele (a portion of his intestines and possibly some of his liver are growing out into his umbilical cord), heart defects-a DORV (double outlet right ventrical) and an AV canal, his right foot is turned in, and his hands are clenched. The heart defect can be corrected with surgery after he is born at about 3-6 months of age. The omphalocele can also be corrected with surgery. 95% of the children with Trisomy 18 don't carry to term and if they do, many don't survive the first year. As you can imagine, we are saddened that our son facing such insurmountable odds, but we also believe that God is still in control and can heal our son, if He so chooses.

We are just asking that everyone that can and will to pray for our son, pray that God's will be done, that He would give us grace to face this situation, and that He would receive honor and glory through it all.

Thank you for your prayers and for sharing our prayer request with others.

Below are the updates that I have on our Facebook prayer page:

April 2, 2009
We are trying to get all of the last minute things done before we go to Atl. tonight. We will check in after midnight. The c-section was scheduled for 3:45 tomorrow afternoon, we received a call from the OB this morning and they have moved it up to 10:15 tomorrow morning. Thank you again for all of your prayers. We will continue to keep you updated.

March 31, 2009
We met with the OB and the perinatalogist again today and now have a change in plans. Michael is still stable and very active with no signs of stress. Since our last 3 children came early, they don't want to take too many chances so they have moved our c-section to this Fri. Kim is having some contractions and has started to dialate some. Please pray that Michael will hang in there until Fri. and not get over anxious to get here any sooner.

March 24, 2009
We had another ultrasound today. The news was discouraging, Michael is not weighing what he should at this time. He is about 3 lbs 10 oz and should be about 5 lbs 4 oz. This is a characteristic of trisomy 18. We were hoping and praying that he would have gained more weight. We have 2 more weeks before delivery and want him to be as big as possible to give him a greater chance. We are still concerned with the heart issues and the chances that he will have respiratory troubles are increased because of the c section combined with the possibility of the trisomy 18. Again, we are grateful for all of your prayers.

March 18, 2009
We had 3 appt. back to back yesterday. One was for another ultrasound. One was with the OB and the 3rd was with the neonatalogist. We discussed what they would do after Michael is born and how they will care for him. The biggest concern will be breathing issues, especially if he has trisomy 18. Please pray that Michael won't have any breathing issues. There is still a slight possibility that he does not have the trisomy 18 and we are praying that God would touch and heal our son, but nevertheless not our will but God's will be done.

March 15, 2009
We go for 3 Dr. appt. in Atl. on Tues. the 17th. We will go back for another ultrasound, meet with the OB that will deliver Michael, and we will meet the neonatalogist. This will be the first time we meet with the neonatalogist. Please pray that we will like them and more importantly that God will give us the right Dr. to care for Michael after he is born.

March 5, 2009
Thank you for all of your prayers. We went for another ultrasound yesterday(everything still about the same) and then met with the OB that will be delivering Michael. We have a c-section scheduled for April 6th at Northside Hospital. We will keep you updated as we go.