Carter Luke Vermilyea - Part 4

I had to have a c-section on November 20. Minutes before his birth, Ryan and I chose a name for our son, Carter Luke Vermilyea. We loved it! While the c-section was taking place, I was asking Ryan what he was seeing. I could tell from the light in his eyes that he had seen our son! Within seconds, I thought about the hand/arm situation and asked, “Ryan, does he have both arms?” Ryan couldn’t see yet, but within seconds they were holding Carter up for us to see. Dr. Ralsten said, “Here’s Carter Luke! He is a beautiful baby boy!” They held him up and I saw right away that he was missing his left arm and hand. My heart stopped I think. I can still remember it like I was still there. I thought, “But wait, they saw his right arm. They said that it was all there.” Then I realized that it was his left hand/forearm that was missing, not the right as had been suspected originally.

Despite the shock, he was the most beautiful baby boy I had ever seen. I was excited, yet overcome with all kinds of emotions.

I held Ryan’s hand. We talked about how beautiful he was and briefly mentioned his missing arm. We thanked God for him. The doctor was so gentle and kind and the nurses couldn’t have been more wonderful. They were all talking about how beautiful he was. And he was. He is.