Dec 2014 Newsletter - Foothill Pregnancy Center

NON PROFIT
U.S. POSTAGE PAID
PERMIT NO. 49
SONORA, CA
427 N. Hwy. 49, Suite 101
Sonora, CA 95370
Phone: 209-536-9262
Fax: 536-9634
Helpline: 209-536-9634
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: www.fpcsonora.com
Life Issues
Return Service Requested
2014 Board of
Directors
Mailing Address Line 1
Mailing Address Line 2
Board Chairman
Dave Bohnen
Mailing Address Line 3
Mailing Address Line 4
Vice-Chairman
Terri Luther
Secretary:
Jeanne Wheeler
Treasurer
Steve Arreguin
H.E.A.R.T. Director
Terri Luther
Board Members
Stephen Johnson
Chuck Miller
Helen Sparks
Nathan Renner
Showered with Gifts of Love
Throughout the year women’s ministries and community service
groups of Tuolumne County have continued to support the needs
of Foothill Pregnancy Center
Office hours:
Mon., Tues., Wed. & Fri. 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Thurs. Noon to 5 p.m.
All services are
FREE and CONFIDENTIAL
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Pregnancy testing and
verification
Limited ultrasound
Options information
Prenatal education
A very special thank you to the women of our local churches
for the wonderful baby showers given for our moms and
their new babies and to the talented women of the Golden
Needles and the Sierra Quilt Guild of Tuolumne County for
the beautiful handmade blankets and quilts. Your love and
generosity continues to shower love to our moms and babies
Parenting education
Forever in Our Hearts, A Memorial
Book of Life
Baby clothing and necessities
Abstinence information
STD information
H.E.A.R.T. Abortion Recovery
If you would like to partner with us by financially
supporting the life-saving ministry of Foothill
Pregnancy Center, please use the enclosed envelope.
Medical Director
Dr. Larry Brunel
Executive Director
Nicki Reeves
Financial Assistant
Denise Winnick
Director Client Adv.
Connie Kellogg
Administrative Assist.
Michele Billings
Affiliations
Heartbeat International
NIFLA
National Institute of
Family Life
Christmas is a wonderful time of year!
The most glorious gift of love was given
for you & for me!
“For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. The government
will rest on His shoulders. And He will be called: Wonderful
counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”
Isaiah 9:6
An amazing act of love was shown to each one of us as our
Heavenly Father sent His Son Jesus, the ultimate gift, the Savior! This Gift was sent through the heart of a loving God. It was
without question painful to see His Son go through all that
was purposed for Him on this earth. God gave selflessly because He knew that through this sacrifice we would be saved.
We encounter young men & women every day who must contemplate the decision of what to do with their unborn child!
*Will they choose to sacrifice their agenda to raise their baby?
*Will they place their baby in someone else’s loving home.
*Will they choose abortion?
They must make the decision which will end in life or death.
We here at Foothill Pregnancy Center pray they will choose life.
We see moms and dads every day who decide to give the gift of
life to their unborn babies. They choose to bring a little one
into the world despite their circumstances and fears. We commend these parents for their unselfish decision of love and
because of their life giving choice we have seen 171 babies
born this year! Love is defined as a profoundly tender, passionate affection for another person. These parents are committing
to show this affection and love to their babies. We are grateful
that the Lord is able to show His love through us to help those
that come in for guidance. It’s through God’s perfect love that
He can reach into the hearts of those that are faced with these
decisions. The greatest sacrifice of love was given to you & me,
the gift of Jesus. As Christmas time approaches may we revere
and celebrate this priceless gift.
Have a blessed Christmas season!
Love from all of us at FPC!
2014 Statistics
197
254
1257
929
2500
171
Pregnancy Test
Ultrasounds
Client Visits
Classes Taught
Lives Touched
Babies Born
We, who serve here at
Foothill Pregnancy
Center feel so blessed
to serve in this ministry
every day, encouraging
Life choices and sharing
the love of Jesus Christ
with all each of our
clients.
Thank you for your
continued prayer support
to this ministry.
What’s inside:
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The Gift of Life by
Pastor Dave Bush
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Foothill Family of
Volunteers
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Walk for Life
update
As we rejoice in the beauty
of that still, holy night, May
our hearts and minds be
filled with the wonder of
God’s gift of Life!
Nicki Reeves,
Executive Director
Could God’s Greatest Gift be considered
“Incompatible with Life”?
Looking back at a choice
Once confirmed that Jennifer was pregnant we took the typical
medical advice regarding neonatal vitamins and so forth. We
scheduled an ultrasound with Foothill Pregnancy Center when
Jennifer was 14 weeks pregnant. There with the family in tow,
our six children huddled around the bedside and our eyes were
fixed on the images on the monitor. It was that moment when we
witnessed those first pictures of our little baby Valor. He was
clearly all there, arms and legs and moving about like a child
happily frolicking in a pool of water.
By Pastor Dave Bush
How it all began
In Oct of 2006 I married my dear wife Jennifer and
two years later completed the adoption of her five
children. In Sept. of 2007 we had Peden
(pronounced Pay den), our first biological child
together. And this year God blessed us with a seventh child, a son. This is an account of his birth and
the valuable lessons we learned through God’s
amazing providence.
Our youngest daughter, Danielle, had begged us for
a brother or sister that she could take care of just as
her older sister, Charissa, had taken care of
Peden. Danielle prayed repeatedly to God for a
brother or sister. Appropriately on Thanksgiving
morning 2013 we shared the news with Danielle
and the rest of the family that Jennifer was pregnant. Danielle was so overwhelmed with joy that
she broke out in a gush of tears...Her prayers had
finally been answered.
In the early hours of Aug 2, 2014 my wife,
Jennifer, began to experience the pains of labor.
This was her 7th delivery and we chose to have the
birth at our home with the assistance of a local midwife. Everything proceeded according to schedule
and with all the expected discomfort promised and
experienced since the fall of man. (Gen 3, esp
3:16). At 5:12 A.M. our youngest boy, Valor,
made his entry into a world that lay outside all he
had experienced the previous nine and a half
months of his life. Now that the Lord’s perfected
work within the womb was accomplished our anticipation of seeing our little boy face to face was
here. When I say “little boy” that is no exaggeration. Valor was born weighing in at 4 lbs., 14 oz.
and just short of 18 inches long.
A few moments after birth that we began to notice a
few anomalies. Valor’s ears were not fully formed
and we noticed that the outside three fingers on
each hand were webbed. As the midwife attended
Jennifer she placed Valor into my arms and told me
to watch for retractions (heaving of the chest due to
labored breathing). “Oh you mean like this” I stated
pointing to Valor’s chest. In a calm tone the mid
wife responded “Yes, those are retractions....Jennifer you need to get dressed I think we
need to go to the emergency room - I just want to
make sure all is okay”
Jennifer with little Valor
To the hospital
Soon we were packed up and on our way to the ER at the local hospital. When we
arrived Valor’s body temperature had dropped to 94 degrees. An incubator was quickly
secured and valor’s temperature was slowly restored to normal. Several other assessments and a decision was made that Valor needed to be transported to a NICU as soon
as possible. We chose U. C. Davis based upon the hospital’s proximity to the residence
of Jennifer’s parents and the fine reputation of their NICU. A team was assembled and
within the hour had arrived at the hospital and whisked Valor off to U.C. Davis NICU.
We packed up a few things and began what can only be described as a “surreal” drive
to Sacramento. “What is happening?” “Is this really that serious?” “is it just an overreaction?” “What are we in for?” and a host of other questions raced through our minds
and conversation.
The next two weeks we observed teams of experts and had numerous tests performed
on Valor and still the often repeated question, “when can we take our son home?” could
not be answered clearly by the medical staff. I must say however that during these two
weeks we could not have asked for or expected more professionalism, compassion, or
charity from the hospital staff. Everyone in the U. C. Davis NICU was superbly gracious and willing to go the extra mile to make sure all our needs were met and made
sure that our access to Valor was uninhibited.
Medical test after medical test revealed another “defect” in Valor. The urologist reported “stage 5 bilateral reflux” - translation - both ureters back up into the kidneys
during urination. The cardiologist reported - that Valor has multiple heart defects including a moderate Ventricular Septal Defect (VSD)- translation a moderate hole
between the ventricles of the heart and a Patent Ductus Arterious (PDA), a hole between the pulmonary artery and the aorta and two minor defects of lessor concern. The
audiologist reported Valor is “legally deaf”. In addition Valor has restricted bronchial
tubes - causing difficulty in breathing and low muscle tone - the picture continued to
emerge that Valor and the Bush family have some very challenging days ahead.
The conference room
With five minutes left on my parking permit Jennifer and I, along with our three youngest children, were assembled into a “family conference room.” It was here that we
received our education on Trisomy 18 commonly called “Edward’s syndrome”. The
doctor in charge of the staff began the conference “Mr. and Mrs. Bush we have received the results from the chromosomal array...your son Valor has Trisomy 18....this is
known as Edwards syndrome... Trisomy is when the chromosome pair fails to separate
(nondisjunction) in one of the gametes during cell division. For Valor this has occurred
on the 18th pair of chromosomes. You may be familiar with Down’s Syndrome that is
known as trisomy 21...” So began our education. “What does this mean doctor?”
“Well Trisomy 18 is far more serious that Trisomy 21...your son will be severely mentally retarded... your son’s viability is very slim...most Trisomy 18 children do not
make it to birth...65% of those who make it to birth die before they are two months
old....90% die before their first birthday...”
At this news Danielle burst into another gush of tears...this time rather than joy, utter
sadness was behind her tears. Her long hoped for sibling would not be long with
us. This news was a shock to us all and certainly not what we had hoped for and yet
this would turn out to be the most exciting adventure of our lives.
Women over 35 years old are typically encouraged to get a second ultrasound during the second trimester. We chose to follow
that recommendation with our son Peden but this time we decided the 1 hr. drive to Modesto and what we perceived would be
gained by scheduling this second ultrasound was not worth the
sacrifice of time, gas, and energy. We are proud advocates of the
“pro-life” position. As we evaluated what was to be gained by
this second ultrasound we considered the merits of more extensive testing. We also knew it is often the result of those tests that
the recommendation for an abortion is often made. Our conviction is and was at that time “a person is a person no matter how
small” to quote Horton. It did not matter what the condition
Valor might be diagnosed with, we simply would NOT have
chosen to abort the pregnancy. Had we been given the news that
Valor had Trisomy 18 and all the “defects” and hardships he and
our family would be facing we still would NOT have chosen to
abort the pregnancy. However, there is one regret that I do have
in making the decision not to have the second ultrasound and that
is we would have chosen to have the birth at a hospital with a
NICU. That would have saved us a lot of time and rushing from
home to hospital to hospital.
Evaluating the statistics
Doing some research on the internet has revealed that the common view of Trisomy 18 children is that they are “incompatible
with life”. Over and over we read this phrase in connection with
Trisomy 18 and Trisomy 13 children. “Low viability”,
“incompatible with life” is that all we have to look forward
to? Thank God the answer to that question is NO! We have
found a website www.trisomy18.org to be extremely encouraging. This website is full of great help and many accounts of the
numbers of Trisomy children living quality lives.
I have no reason to dispute the statistics regarding the percentages of Trisomy 18 children that die before their 1st birthday. Facts and statistics need to be evaluated in order to make
sense. In our modern world abortion is often viewed as a convenient way to determine the make up of a family. Parents often
make the decision regarding abortion on the number of desired
boys vs girls, number of children in general, and certainly if a
child has birth defects. It is not surprising to find a significant
reduction in the number of Trisomy births in these United States
since the famous 1973 Roe v Wade decision. Roughly half as
many Trisomy births are recorded since Roe v Wade. This is due
to the elective decision to terminate the life of the child by the
parents rather than the ability of the Trisomy child to live outside
the womb. When one considers the fact that the reason 90% of
Trisomy 18 children do not live to their first year is due to the
parents decision to end their life rather than a diminished viability of these children, the outlook becomes far more encouraging. Certainly we cannot blame abortion for ALL the young
deaths of Trisomy children.
There most certainly are legitimate factors that lead to early deaths
in these children - you may want to watch a VERY moving video
here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=th6Njr-qkq0 - However,
it cannot be denied that abortion leads to an elevated percentage of
deaths because we have to factor in that some parents never gave
their child the opportunity to establish clear statistics.
Bad judges of children
I admit I am a poor judge of children. As I look at my son Valor I
can’t see “incompatible with life”. I don’t see the defects in my boy
that the doctor’s see. His ears are uniquely his. Ears are like finger
prints - no two are alike. Valor’s ears may vary a bit more by degree
but I see no “defect” in them. When I look into his eyes he seems so
normal to me. He is my son and he is as lovable as any of my other
children. He is just as “wanted” as all my other children. Every
child should be “wanted”, as it is often argued by pro abortionists, it
can only be due based on a view that determines what kind of child
deserved the title “wanted”. Perhaps the values we place upon
children, as a society, are sorely misaligned. Special needs children
are worthy of love and I can’t see why they should be viewed as
“unwanted”. I admit I am a poor judge of children ...at least from
this world’s perspective.
But then this world seems to me to be a poor judge of children as
well. Incompatible with life! Are you kidding me? How outrageously out of touch with reality that phrase seems to me. Valor
was born three months ago at the writing of this article - defying the
odds of the statistics so far. My life has been so enriched, our family
life has been enriched and Valor’s story has brought a quality of life
to all that have come to know him or his story. I find him very much
compatible with life. He does need a bit more vigilance but certainly very much compatible with life. He has increased the quality
of our family life and is very much wanted. How this world has
misjudged what kind of children they perceive people will want and
what constitutes life.
What has transpired since arriving home with Valor is nothing short
of a whirlwind journey of experiencing the love and mercy of God
displayed in so many wonderful ways. As we shared the news with
friends, family, and bothers and sisters in Christ. The outpouring of
love, the prayers and support from those who came to hear our story
makes me weak in the knees in recalling to mind. I thank God for
giving us the high privilege of caring for Valor EVEN IF it is only
for a short while. We take every day with Valor as a gift from
God...and we are reminded that we ought to be thankful for each day
He has granted to us in this life. And more importantly I thank God
for the greatest gift He has given us - His Son who was in all ways
without defect, and in whom is life and that more abundantly than
anything we have here on earth.