For Baby McDonald
Raised:
USD $163,373
Campaign funds will be received by Anthony McDonald
For Baby McDonald
Sometimes God gives us big crosses to train us to carry bigger ones. Sometimes He gives us big crosses to teach us that we can't always carry them alone. It's humbling to admit we need help - to reach the end of our power to fight, but to see the fight is not yet won. Dear friends, that is where my family stands right now.
My wife and I recently discovered that our sixth child, a baby girl (due in July), has myelomeningocele, the most severe form of spina bifida. Essentially, the baby's spine didn't develop properly in the earliest days of pregnancy, leaving the spinal cord and nerves open and exposed to ongoing damage in the womb. In our baby's case, brain development is also affected. Children born with this condition face tremendous health challenges from the beginning. I'll spare you a list, but our conversations with specialists in the past week have been very difficult to take. Our little girl's first days will look very different than we ever would have imagined. Sometimes the face of God is hard to recognize!
The months leading up to delivery will also be challenging. Next week we're heading to Cincinnati to be evaluated for a prenatal spinal repair surgery. Please pray that she qualifies! If she does, doctors will put the baby's spinal cord back inside her body and seal up her back so it isn't damaged more during her remaining months in the womb. While the long-term outlook for the baby is more promising with the surgery, it will be rough on my wife. She and the baby will need to stay in that area to recover till delivery; the rest of us will be traveling back and forth from Virginia as work and other obligations allow.
Many people have asked how they can help. First and foremost, pray! Pray for the baby, her doctors, and us. Pray that she be healed. Pray that God will show us all the path forward and give us the strength to walk it.
For those who are moved to contribute in a very practical way, please consider donating here. We face quite a few financial challenges at this point: a lot of unexpected travel, child care, loss of income, special resources for my wife and the baby, and countless unknowns. Our largest and most important expense, though, is a home to bring our baby girl to on the other end of all of this. We have been renting a house for five years, but the owners need to sell it. We would love to buy it; it's near our church, work, friends, doctors, and other such things we will need at hand when the baby comes home. However, the market where we live is not kind to those of us trying to support families on a teaching salary (or two). There is a $75,000 gap between what I can afford and what the owners need to sell it to us. Clearly that's a big number, but the difference that would make for us at this point is many times that. We are immensely grateful for any help you can offer!
May God reward you all for your prayers and support!
Recent Donations
Praying for baby Bridget and your whole family. May Christ and Our Lady be with you during this time!
Our prayers are with you and they will continue to be as long as this journey takes. We love you!
We are praying for you all!
We are praying for you!!
Praying for you all-
In union of prayer.
Praying for Bridget and your family.
Many prayers are being offered for your little girl and for your family.
Adeline & fam, As I began typing out what I wanted to say, I looked down at my Bible & I saw this: “Your eternal word, O Lord, stands firm in heaven. Your faithfulness extends to every generation, as enduring as the earth you created. Your regulations remain true to this day, for everything serves your plans” (Psalm 119: 89-91). I praise His Name & thank Him for His enduring faith in us.
Praying for you. God bless you!
Updates
Update #3 - Fiat mihi secundum verbum tuum.
March 26th, 2025
Yesterday we celebrated the feast of the Annunciation - the day the angel Gabriel announced to Mary that God would have her become the mother of the Divine Redeemer. With her consent, the eternal Word became flesh in her womb. The creator of all the universe entered into His creation as a tiny baby and began His work of saving all mankind. Christians rightly celebrate this day with immense joy.
And yet there is depth here that is easy to ignore on so joyous a feast. The King of Kings would, indeed, walk among His people, but they would reject and kill Him, and Mary would be there suffering with her son through it all.The gift of redemption was bought at a very dear price.
Mary certainly understood that the road ahead would be filled with pain at the Annunciation. She knew the prophecies concerning the savior - Isaiah said the redeemer would be a man of sorrows, that He would be wounded for our transgressions and led as a lamb to His slaughter. The thoughts that must have raced through Mary's mind when Gabriel made his offer could fill books. The path ahead would lead to the very summit of joy and happiness, but it would be filled with the greatest extremes of sorrow and pain, as well. For me the decision would be agonizing. I would want the end without paying the price, but that was not the offer. It was all or nothing, and Mary knew that.
"Fiat mihi secundum verbum tuum" -- may it be done to me according to thy word. Mary's response was one of perfect resignation to the will of God. She took on all the tremendous joys and sorrows that life as the mother of the Redeemer would bring her, and through that "fiat" came the redemption of man.
We've gained quite a bit of insight into Mary's response in the past week. The expected arrival of a new baby always brings a mix of joy and anxiety, but the revelation that the child will have extreme medical challenges radically changes the outlook. We have run the full range of response from terror to hope, and through it all we have tried to keep sight of the fact that this is somehow God's will, and we've struggled to follow up our "let this cup pass" with a "but thy will be done." But then there's the sobering reality of how that story goes from there: ultimately to the glorious ascent into heaven, but first through Golgotha.
"Fiat mihi secundum verbum tuum." I confess I've only been able to say it with any conviction when things seemed hopeful in this trial, and even then I'm not sure I was entirely sincere.
Those who have followed this story know that we've been hoping and praying that little Bridget would qualify for a prenatal spine surgery. If doctors can repair the spine now, fairly early in the pregnancy, the damage of the condition could be stopped where it is, and the prognosis would look entirely more hopeful. We came to Cincinnati this week to pursue that option for her.
Yesterday we got some painful news: they will not do the surgery. Bridget has a severe curve in the affected area of her spinal cord, and that would make the opening in the spine very difficult to close. It may take an orthopedic repair in the midst of the surgery, and that would take more time than they have in a fetal operation. They will have to wait till after birth when they can take however much time they need.
The news was devastating. Bridget was otherwise a great candidate for the surgery. The other tests checked out and the surgery seemed it could do her incredible good. And that's why the verdict is so painful: in the ultrasound on Monday we smiled as she sat with her little legs crossed, kicked them around, and pulled her toes to her mouth. By the time she's born the doctors think the ongoing damage to her spine will leave her paralyzed from the waist down.
"Fiat mihi secundum verbum tuum." Those are difficult words.
Pray that Our Lady will help us to say them with the generosity and resignation that she once did!
St. Bridget of Ireland, St. Rita of Cascia, and St. Mary the Mother of God, pray for us!
Update #2 - baby Bridget
March 25th, 2025
Your generosity is astounding! Thank you, and God bless you all!
One quick update: we decided to name the baby Bridget Rita Marie. Please keep praying for baby Bridget!
Also, please pray a few extra prayers today. This will probably be the most difficult day of the process. We will meet with various specialists to discuss what they found in the testing and what challenges await in the future. We have consultations all day long, and I think we will find out if they are willing to perform the prenatal surgery at the end of this.
Orate pro nobis!
Update #1
March 23rd, 2025
Wow! Your generosity is incredible! It is humbling to be on the receiving end of such an outpouring of mercy. We are profoundly grateful for the prayers, kind words, and contributions.
Your donations have allowed us to stay in our home. This is a great grace! Not only will we be able to welcome the new baby here where we have so many great memories, but we will also be spared the pain of moving in the midst of these difficult and chaotic times. Thank you very much!
Any further donations will help us pay for the additional medical and travel expenses we'll be facing in the coming months. Again, we thank you for your generosity!
Please keep praying! We are heading to Cincinnati today and the evaluation for surgery starts tomorrow morning.
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