Thank you so much for checking in on Raphael!  I am pleased to announce that Raphael is thriving, and we bless the name of the Lord Jesus for that! You see, Raphael was spoken into my spirit in January 2019. At the time I had an IUD and 5 other children. 4 of them biologically (We're blended)! So I had no intention of getting pregnant. However, the Lord told me I would have a son and I were to name him Raphael. This was strange yet refreshing news because I DID want one more baby. I looked this name up and found out that in Hebrew, Raphael means- the LORD has healed. It is a derivative of one of God's many names, Jehovah Rapha- the LORD of healing. I journeyed through this pregnancy receiving many revelations of what Raphael would become. The time came for me to go into labor, and everything was normal until it wasn't... After several hours of labor, my dilation went backward. I went form 8cm to 6cm for several hours. My doctor realized something was wrong and ordered an ultrasound. I later found out that what was displayed on the ultrasound were the baby's limbs protruding out of my uterus. An emergency c-section was ordered that resulted in an unresponsive Raphael and a partial hysterectomy for me. Raphael was stabilized and put on life support initiating only a few breaths per minute. He was later diagnosing a severe brain injury called Hypoxic Ischemic Encephalopathy, also referred to as HIE. It's when the brain losses oxygen and blood flow and in our case, due to a uterine rupture.  Raphael lost his ability to function as a typical infant. All the things he learned in my womb were lost, but God restores. So we spent 3 months in the NICU and I lost a lot of time with my other family members but I saw them several times a week. The quality was not strong though and that is being restored as well. The LORD put it on our hearts to get a tracheostomy for Raphael. At the time it did not make sense because the idea of a trach isn't sexy. You just want your child to pull through miraculously. It just didn't make sense but I knew just as well as my husband knew, the tracheostomy was what God said. We obeyed. He also had a feeding tube surgically placed. Now that we've been home, Raphael receives several therapy services and  Early Intervention. We'd love for you to check in every week to see how the LORD is fulfilling what HE spoke into my spirit! Raphael- the LORD has healed!