Jeremy, Liam and I were snug little bugs in our new house. Between the new house smell and new baby smell, happiness was abounding in the Dunn Home! Not too long after the Jeremy Dunn household and the Aaron Dunn household got settled, we all decided to get on with what we felt called to do. We started a church. Our first service was held next door at Aaron and Michelle’s house with about 12 people. As Jeremy and I lead worship that spring morning, I remember looking over at my mom singing and swaying with my son in her arms - I felt so complete. I was doing what I felt called to do with my husband, and our family was there by our side. Saying that I was blessed did not begin to describe the bliss that I was living in.
We quickly outgrew Aaron and Michelle’s living room, and moved into the Glendale Community Center. It was so exciting - we were buying sound equipment, chairs, and children’s church curriculum. We were getting the wonderful opportunity to set up, and the big chore of tearing down every week. Our faithful congregation helped in every aspect. A very short time later we moved into an old bank in West Phoenix. We got to set up once and leave it up, with the exception of our sound equipment which got locked up in the enormous bank vault every week. Our first Sunday meeting there we had a visitor and we all freaked out!!! This was someone that none of us knew! We crowded her, introduced ourselves, gushed over her and she didn’t come back - lesson learned, be cool.
As we were faithful to this new community, God added people to us. One exciting new addition was my midwife, Connie and her sweet family. They started attending a few weeks before we held our first big community outreach event - a Harvest Festival. Our little Liam was now 8 months old. It was such a pleasure to watch the woman who helped me bring him into the world snuggle and ooh and awe over him. I was honored when she told Jeremy and I what a great job we were doing.
Midweek following Connie’s visit, Aaron and Michelle came over because they said they wanted to button down those last minute details for the Harvest Party. Brace yourself, that roller coaster car is about to head on down the steep free fall. They came in and sat on the couch, I grabbed my notebook ready to take directions. Aaron sat fidgeting, not looking us in the eye - “Um, hey guys, before we go over the games, we need to talk to you about something.” Not good. “Connie called us and shared some concerns about Liam.” Mouth goes dry. “She doesn’t think he has very good control of his head, and he might be a little behind in his development.” Stomach and heart drop. “She told us because, well, she thought it might be better coming from us” Mind reeling - oh no, I took a tylenol in my first trimester, I drank a few diet sodas when I was about 6 months along, I fell down in mom and dad’s front yard when I was almost through my last trimester. I have done this. It is all my fault. Tears flow. Panic grips.
Did I notice Liam’s big head? Of course I did, I had been calling him Brainiac for Pete’s sake! I honestly didn’t think a thing of it. My handsome Jeremy has an enormous noggin! As a matter of fact his huge forehead is one of the things I adore about him. There is this little crease right above his brow that my head rests on perfectly. Come to think of it, larger heads just kinda run in his family.
First, I called Connie with a barrage of questions - the biggest one being did I do this to my baby? She assured me one thousand times over, no - this was not caused by one single tylenol or a few glasses of diet soda, certainly not the spill I took on the front lawn. Second, we called on our people who would pray. Last, but not least, the doctor for an appointment. He had seen Liam a number of times when he was first born and was happy with how he was progressing so Liam had only been back for his 6 month check up.
They got us in pretty quickly, the doctor looked him over - yep - his head was up there in those big number percentiles but the rest of him wasn’t. He recommended we head over to the pediatric neurosurgeon. When I was able to scrape my heart off the floor, we called to make the appointment. With the MRI and follow-up appointment scheduled we waited. When the day came, I was terrified! They had to put him under to keep him still in the MRI machine. That was the first time that I stepped out of my Mommy role and steeled myself to handle what was happening around me and what was happening to Liam, to be able to be there with him and to advocate for him without being a puddle on the ground.
When he came to and was cleared by the nurses, we headed over to find out the results. It was surreal, sitting in a room looking at pictures of Liam’s brain. How in the world did we get here? Just a few short weeks ago our biggest concern was when to introduce new foods to him, now we’re looking at cross sections of Liam’s head. It was nuts. This amazing doctor sat us down, told us that it looked like Liam’s ventricles were enlarged, however, he was not alarmed. He was confident that Liam would grow into his head, and that we could just keep an eye on it, no shunts were needed.
Now we needed to address the delays, but where do you start? I sure didn’t know. Good thing God had my back. I was at my Aunt Terri’s showing off my sweet boy, when Judy, my childhood best friend’s mom, who happened to be my aunt’s next door neighbor, popped in. I was telling them about what was going on, enlisting them to pray with us. Judy told me that Kim, my friend, had recently moved back to Phoenix and was a pediatric occupational therapist. She said I should get back in touch with her and maybe she could help walk me through getting things set up. I gave Kim a jingle, and we set up a time for her to come and talk to me and meet Liam.
Looking back I am so thankful to God for the people that He so carefully selected to place along my path. Looking back now I see just how He handled me with kid gloves. I wasn’t just dropped into an ice bath, I was able to wade into the chilly water holding God’s hand. It was just a little bit at a time, all the while being surrounded by people who knew me, loved me, and were willing to walk it out with me. It felt like a lot to take in at the time, but I know now, I was wrapped up in a warm blanket of abundant mercy, grace and love.
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