Wednesday 

We get up early and pack a diaper bag. Mom and I dig through all the girly clothes and find one gender-neutral outfit. That is what we will bring our son home in. Vince installs the PINK car seat in my car. We ARE bringing him home. I am determined. Vince is determined. Mom is determined.  

As we prepare for our morning we name our child. Vincent Michael Sharpin was chosen. His name means Invincible Warrior. We call him Michael because he is our little warrior. We get Jake off to school and head to the hospital. 

Just our spending time with him completely turns him around. He begins eating and responding. He even smiles at me and my heart melts. We anxiously await the doctor's visit because we KNOW he will tell us to take him home. Mom leaves around lunchtime to get home in time for Jake to return from school. 

When the doctor arrives, he tells us we can go home, but it has to be the next day. The results of the spinal tap will not be in until Thursday at 4:00 p.m. We are disappointed, but we were okay. Our son is doing better. His life is turning around. 

This day also turns mine and Vince's life around. Now, I'm not a preachy person at all and I do not wear my faith on my sleeve (in fact, I haven't worn it at all in a very long time), but I have to share what happens next. 

A nurse comes into our room out of the blue and says she just had to meet us. She said our primary nurse and our doctor's told her that they had fallen in love with our family and our courage. (I'm thinking - what courage?) We chat for a few minutes about nothing and everything. We talk a lot about triathlons. After a while she asks if she can pray for us. We say yes.  

During the prayer something shifts. It changes from a "bless this family" type of prayer to a prophecy. Now, I've grown up in a very spiritual family and have grandparents that have delivered prophecy to thousands of people. My grandmother gave a prophecy to President Regan. I have personally witnessed it done hundreds of times but never believed it was real. 

God speaks to Vince and tells him that he IS good enough, which is something he has struggled with all his life. God then speaks to me and says that my sons will be like mighty oaks at the river and that they will bear fruit. My sons will have children! 

I'm crying now as I type this. 

There are many other things revealed to us in this brief time frame and I know that more will be revealed in the future. After the prayer ends our hearts are at peace and felt so light. It's like someone gave us a glimpse into the future and we can see our big family with lots of grandchildren. Everyone will be healthy and happy. 

Shortly after the prayer the urologist comes in with the endocrinologist to examine Michael’s genitalia so that the next steps can be defined. Vince and I stand at the end of the crib and watch the exam. We witness a miracle. 

On Saturday night when they showed us our baby's genitalia, we saw a mess. We saw an enlarged clitoris and a vagina with no opening. Our baby could pee, but would need corrective surgery to make everything work properly. I did not know how they were going to turn that into a functioning vagina, much less a functioning penis. 

What we see now is a boy with a penis to be proud of. Yes, it's a little crooked, and the urethra is not in the tip, but that is a VERY common problem that is easily corrected. In addition, his one testical that we know he has for sure is not descended, nor is the other gonad (which we think is an underdeveloped testical). Again, common problems. Bottom line, we went from having to build a skyscraper from scratch to putting a new coat of paint on an existing one. We are dumbfounded. We are overjoyed. We pray and thank God for the miracle he has given us. 

My mom returns with Jacob. She offers to spend the night with Michael to keep up the progress and to ensure he stays on track with eating. We think it is a great idea. After spending some more time with him we leave. Vince and I rest that night – better than we have in a long time. At the hospital our son thrives, putting away more food in an 8-hour period that he has his entire life.