MINOT, North Dakota, June 14, 2016 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Sharlotte and Jim Grote of Minot North Dakota were told, 20 weeks into their unborn daughter’s gestation, that she had Encephalocele, a defect causing part of her brain to grow outside her skull and was likely to be permanently disabled if he lived past a week.
Isabella is now a happy, healthy four-year-old who has beaten all the odds thanks to parents who gave her the chance.
“Abortion was never an option for us,” she is quoted as saying in the British Express newspaper. So the stay-at-home mother of two and her husband Jim chose to carry their daughter to term even if she had only a 25% chance of survival. “Even if I could spend just a few minutes with my little girl I would be happy.”
Sharlotte admits she and Jim were happy with two – Landon, 7, and Caleb, 5 – but “when I found out I was pregnant with Isabella we were thrilled.”
Then came the results of the 20-week ultrasound scan. Instead of making decorating plans for the baby’s room, Mrs. Grote called a funeral home. Still, to give her daughter the best chance at life, the family moved to Minnesota to be near a hospital specializing in early surgery. And only three days after Isabella was born, a month prematurely, the specialists operated.
Most of the brain sac that was outside the baby’s skull when she was born only contained fluid and what little brain tissue there was doctors were able to tuck back into Isabella’s head. Still, Sharlotte told reporters, the sight of her daughter with her brain sac outside her skull was “terrifying.” Nonetheless, “despite not knowing if Isabella would have learning difficulties in the future, we felt so lucky that our little girl was alive.”
After 13 days in intensive care, the Grotes took their daughter home, knowing she had no apparent disabilities, but also not knowing whether she would develop at a normal pace.
Those questions have been answered. Her speech came slowly at first but progressed swiftly once she joined a pre-school. She needed several operations on her eyes but is now healthy and, her mother reports, “She is like any other four-year-old. She loves to play with her dolls and is so loving and caring. She is such a fighter.”