The Story of the birth of our son: 10 years ago
Today I will share a personal testimony of a time I know the Lord was at work in my life and in my family’s life, it was at the time of our oldest son’s birth, 10 years ago..
I was passed the estimated due date ( by almost 2 weeks) There had been a fire in the maternity ward and they were only accepting emergency child birth cases and therefore allowing almost 2 weeks after the due date before inducing labour. I was to be induced on Tuesday 9:00am. God had other plans. On Monday evening at approximately, 7:00pm, I went into labour on my own without induction.
During the hours that followed, it was determined that the baby was head down but was coming out by face presentation instead of the ideal crown presentation. Baby was in breach position and I was told I may have to go in for ceasarean. We were relying on the specialist who insisted that the baby could be born naturally with no extra risk to the baby or myself.
At approximately, 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday, our son was born by face presentation.
Among the crowd of nurses, Dr.’s and assistants, 20 people or so in the room to witness the face presentation birth, there was a paediatric cardiologist who was working on our son. I remember being concerned as I could not hear the baby crying. I repeatedly asked the nurses who were at my bedside, why isn’t he crying? They tried to reassure me that it was because of being born face first, his tongue and throat, etc, were very swollen. Still it seemed the Dr.’s and nurses were fussing over the baby so much and I was uneasy.
I recall my husband being calm and assured things would be fine, at the time I didn’t know where he got this confidence from. I remember the looks on the faces of the strangers in the room. There was not a smile among them. Again, I asked the nurses, “Why won’t they let me hold him? What is wrong?” I remember hearing one of nurses call out, “ Mom wants to hold the baby!” Even as I recall the events, it brings tears to my eyes, for at the time I had no concept of how great a miracle was unfolding before my eyes.
The nurses explained to me that he would be swollen and bruised and that he needed oxygen to assist with his breathing. I mumbled something, meant to sound like “ I understand”
They placed him in my arms, he had an oxygen mask on his face, his face was swollen and bruised. Yet I could see him trying to open his eyes. I was much more relaxed having been able to see and hold him. It was brief and then they took him away to the Neo Natal ICU.
He remained there for a week. A few days after his birth we mentioned to the nurses that we had not yet met the paediatric cardiologist who was present at his birth and we would very much like to. We had no idea, in fact, the Dr. would want to speak with us too.
It turned out the Dr. had already performed an ultrasound ( which we thought was to check the baby’s spine & neck) The ultrasound was actually to check his heart.
He told us the baby had 2 holes in his heart and 2 floppy valves. He had a Mitro Valve pro-lapse and a Tricuspid Valve pro-lapse. The latter being rare. He advised us that our son may need surgery. I was devastated, scared and dizzy. I don’t recall all the details of the remainder of the talk. Dr. drew a diagram of the baby;s heart to help us visualize what was wrong. He also assured us he was going to show the ultrasound to 9 other doctors who were on a board with him at Sick Children’s Hospital. We were relieved to know that we were not only getting a second opinion, but 9 opinions.
The next few days we learned of others who were praying for us, our parents and extended family members. On Sunday we missed Mass to be with our son at the hospital so we decided to visit Christ in the hospital chapel. This would be one of the first times Dave and I prayed together. Upon returning to ICU, Dr asked us if we’d like to take our baby home? “Of course, we would.” We could not get him home fast enough. Dr. informed us that he would be meeting with the board members at Sick Children’s Hospital in Toronto on Monday and he would call us at home to let us know the outcome.
We continued to pray and call on others prayers as well. On Monday evening, (well after office hours) Dr. called with news. The doctors at Sick Children’s Hospital were of the opinion the surgery was not necessary. This completely set our hearts and minds at ease. God had looked on us with favour, as undeserving as we were. Dr. informed us that he would continue to care for our son, seeing him regularly to ensure the holes would close on their own.
Today I look on my 10 year old boy and I know his life was truly a gift. Every life is a gift, but it was so evident that the Lord used this experience to bring us closer to him. We share this story with our son, at a pace and level he can understand, to ensure that he will always remember that he is loved. Not only by us, his earthly parents, but also by the One who chose to save him, the One who entrusted him to us.
