Lindsay and Tommy Cronmiller of East Concord, NY are the proud parents of three children – four years old and younger – and they have been blessed with a family foundation made of love, strength and faith.
When Lindsay discovered that she was pregnant with their fourth child, the entire family was elated, celebrating with much excitement. Everything was going well with the pregnancy.
That was until the 19-week sonogram.
“The doctor was brought in after our scan and talked about ‘lemon head’ – basically the back side of the head wasn’t forming properly,” says Tommy.
What the doctor talked about next had the Cronmiller’s sending prayers up for understanding and healing.
“He talked about Myelomeningocele, which is the most severe form of Spina Bifida. This is a birth defect where our baby’s spine and spinal cord were not forming properly.”
Abortion was thrown out as an option by doctor’s, due to the earlier stage of pregnancy that Lindsay was in, but Tommy says that word was chilling.
“We are a family of faith with a strong relationship with God,” Tommy says. “God gave us this gift and abortion was absolutely not even an option.”
The family received a referral to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia for further exploration, and continued options for their unborn baby.
“My wife and our baby qualified for fetal surgery to try and repair our baby’s spine while still in the womb,” Tommy explains. “This improves their chance of having more function and ability after birth, and also allows the baby to heal while still in the womb.”
With treatment in Philadelphia, the family has been uprooted from their home near Buffalo. This, of course, causes many expenses including housing in Philly, gas for back and forth travel, plus staggering medical bills.
A GoFundMe has been started that has generated thousands of dollars. To make a donation, you can click here.
Tommy and Lindsay both stressed that while donations are so appreciated, the most powerful gift is the gift of prayer. They are asking for prayers for their sweet, unborn gift.
“God is present everywhere, through all of this,” Lindsay exclaims.
UPDATE:Hope Rises received an update from Tommy that his wife and baby received the miraculous surgery:
“Dr. Heuer (neurosurgeon) spoke to me at 840 am and said the baby’s back was repaired and they did not need to use the extra membrane to close the defect. Baby remained stable the entire time. Just spoke with Dr. Adzick (lead surgeon) and he said everything went flawlessly.
It’s a big defect but it’s now closed and there is so much to be gained with the surgery. He said the real work begins now with recovery. Midwife repeated same thing. Flawless surgery everything was stable the entire time.
Thank you Lord! Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary Pray for Us!”
