Katie and Josh Butler are like many other young couples. They were anxious to start a family, and so when they found out Katie was pregnant, they were more than excited. However, Katie’s pregnancy wasn’t a normal, healthy pregnancy. The couple got news at her 20 week ultrasound that would change their lives forever.

At the ultrasound, the couple was told that their baby wasn’t growing normally. The doctors weren’t sure what was wrong with baby Dewey, but they knew when he was born things wouldn’t be normal. When Dewey finally made his entrance into the world, he went straight to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).

The couple had made preparations to have a little one in their family. They had made the perfect nursery at home, and even bought a bigger dining room table so one day when their son had friends over for dinner they would have enough room. Sadly, their dreams were vanishing before their very eyes.

Dewey’s condition was very rare, and doctors weren’t sure what to expect. The tiny baby survived 132 days after his birth, but sadly passed away. He needed a feeding tube, but didn’t make it through the routine surgical procedure. His little heart just couldn’t take anymore.

Katie and Josh began to grieve at the loss of their son, but an NICU nurse pulled them aside and gave them news they’d never expected. She told them that they might not be going home alone after all. The couple couldn’t believe what they were hearing.

The nurse went on to explain that there was another baby boy named Brax that was 11 months old and had never left the hospital since he’d been born. He too, like Dewey, had some medical conditions, and was looking for a mom and dad to call his own.

Baby Brax was born prematurely and had chronic respiratory failure, pulmonary hypertension, and was trach-vent dependent. Unlike Dewey, however, there was a chance that Brax would get healthier as he grew up. Katie and Josh couldn’t wait to me him.

A few short days later the couple went to meet Brax at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital. They knew exactly what they were going to do. They brought Brax home and began to foster him until they could officially adopt him as their own.

Brax’s health began improving almost as soon as he came home with Katie and Josh. They say he still needed oxygen, but his feeding and movement had significant improvement. He knows who they are and smiles at them. Their families have taken to little Brax as well.

In the shadow of their darkest days came a little light known as Brax. When Katie and Josh least expected it, their prayers were answered in a way that they couldn’t ever have imagined and they couldn’t be more grateful for the little addition to their family.