Praying For A Miracle....The Story Of Josh and Rebecca Chandler

Meet Josh and Rebecca Chandler…..

Josh and Rebecca are a young, sweet and amazing couple. They have been married almost seven years and have two children, Caleb 4 and Havanna who is 2. They are expecting their third child, a little boy, in mid July.

Josh is an officer with the Georgia State Patrol. He also works a second job at Hartsfield International airport to help make ends meet. After their second child was born, Rebecca gave up her career in the dental field in order to stay at home with their children.

Josh and Rebecca are having to face something that no young couple should have to deal with….This past February, during an OBGYN visit at Rebecca’s 18^th week, doctors discovered that the baby’s kidneys’ were enlarged and that the amniotic fluid surrounding him was dangerously low. Rebecca was put into the hospital for Valentine’s Day where she stayed for four days. Doctors performed tests and procedures to try and find out what was wrong. The diagnosis was that their baby has Autosomal Recessive Polycystic Kidney Disease (ARPKD)….a parent’s worst nightmare.

Autosomal recessive polycystic kidney disease, ARPKD, is a rare genetic disorder, occurring in approximately 1 in 20,000 individuals. It affects boys and girls equally and often causes significant mortality in the first month of life.
 
If the child survives the newborn period, the chances of survival are good. For these children, approximately one-third will need dialysis or transplantation by the age of 10. However, doctors have told Josh and Rebecca that their baby has only a 1% chance of survival at birth.

Hearing this news was devastating to this young couple. They sought out second opinions from many doctors and specialists throughout Atlanta. Most doctors offered them little to no hope and recommended that they terminate the pregnancy. However, this was not an option for Josh and Rebecca. They made the decision to look at this from a hopeful, positive perspective. They found a wonderful group of doctors out of Northside who have been very upfront with them about PKD, but who are also very supportive at the same time.

They have found help and support through the PKD foundation (www.pkdcure.org) and have met an amazing woman named Julia Roberts, who is the Atlanta liaison for the PKD foundation. Julia has been a tremendous help and support to Josh and Rebecca, providing them with informational and emotional support and with friendship.

Josh and Rebecca continue to choose to look at this situation from the perspective that the “glass is half full” instead of half empty. Although this journey has taken an emotional and financial toll on them, they can already see good things that have come from this:

They have made a life-long friend in Julia from the PKD foundation…and have met countless, wonderful and supportive people along the way.

Caleb’s preschool teacher at Temple Methodist Church has also been tremendously helpful and supportive. Josh and Rebecca, who both come from very different religious upbringings, have begun attending Temple Methodist and are amazed at how people have reached out to them to offer prayer and support to their family.

Good friends have been their pillar of strength.

And of course, Josh and Rebecca have each other to lean on. They say that their two children, Caleb and Havanna, coupled with their love for each other, are what keep them going.

Josh and Rebecca have chosen to name their baby “Nolan”, which means “fighter”. Every day Rebecca counts the number of movements she feels with Nolan….and with every kick and movement she feels, she is hopeful for a miracle.

Josh and Rebecca were referred to us through a friend who told them about our affiliation with the Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep Foundation and with the Littlest Heroes Project. Through the Littlest Heroes Project, we give back to the community by providing complimentary photography sessions and prints to families who have children with terminal illness and/or life altering disabilities. Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep (NILMDTS) is another non-profit organization we are proud and honored to be a part of. Through this organization, we provide complimentary photography to families of infants who will never leave the hospital.

Josh and Rebecca are thankful for the photography services that will be provided to them through the Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep Foundation. We are honored that they have selected us to accompany them to Northside Hospital and to be there to photograph the 1-2 hours that they hope to have with Nolan after he is born.

Beverly recently traveled to Temple to meet Josh, Rebecca, Caleb and Havanna. They wanted us to do a family photo session with them, capturing images of the four of them together while Rebecca is still pregnant. We started out by doing come candid photos of the kids getting ready. Havanna showed me a little silver monogrammed bracelet that she was wearing…I photographed Josh and Rebecca helping the children put on their shoes and did some other candid shots before we headed out.

We started our photo session by traveling just down the road in Temple, to the house where Josh grew up. Coming back to the house brought back many memories for Josh. The house is empty now….but his childhood memories still linger. Caleb and Havanna were drawn to an old tree house where their Daddy used to play. It was fun photographing this loving family together.

We have put together a photography music video of the time I spent getting to know this amazing family. As each day passes, we are all Praying for A Miracle…..

Click Here To View the Video

To learn more about PKD and the PKD Foundation, Click HERE

To learn more about Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep, Click HERE