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Through The Eyes of Hope
The parents, Chris and Lacey Buchanan were thrilled to learn they would be parents, and the planning began with decorating the nursery and buying a layette for their baby. Lacey was careful during her pregnancy, eating right, exercising, all the usual things new moms do, and praying for a healthy baby.
At Lacey’s first ultrasound, she and her husband were told the baby had a cleft palate. Concerned, doctors told them they would keep an eye on the baby and scheduled her for an ultrasound every two weeks. On February 18, 2011, Christian Taylor Buchanan was born. Doctors told the parents they could carry to full term or abort. Not once did the Buchanans consider abortion. They left it in God’s hands.
Christian was born with a cleft palate so severe it caused other problems. Part of his skull was exposed, fissures isolated his nose from his face, and a mouth that couldn’t close.
The cleft plate extended from his mouth across his cheekbones, up to his eyes, which never developed, leaving him blind. When he was four days old, a feeding tube was placed for him to feed, and grafts were placed to cover his skull. Christian, at 4 1/2 years old, had seven major surgeries.
