October 15, 2016

FROM JOY TO DESPAIR, AND BACK


The night my daughter was born, my wife was lying on the couch watching TV. She told me she was hurting. She was far enough along for the baby to come at any time. I told her we needed to go to the hospital, she could be in labor. She said she didn’t want to go because it might only be gas. I told her it was better to be safe than sorry. The hospital we were using was about forty miles away. She said she would feel stupid if we went that far only to find out it was gas. After about an hour, with no relief, I finally talked her into going. When we got there, and they checked her out, we were both glad we had gone. She was in labor.
There had been two complications with her pregnancy. One was the RH Factor blood incompatibility. My wife was RH-positive, and our daughter was RH-negative. This can cause problems, and if you don’t understand it properly, it can cause a lot of fear, and worry. Her doctor had not done a good job explaining all this to us, in the first place. Then, on one of her later visits without me, he was out, and the doctor who was seeing his patients evidently didn’t understand it himself. He rattled on, and on about the dangers, throwing in some words like MAY and MIGHT. He upset her so bad that she was worried to death.
The second complication was that our daughter was breech. By about thirty weeks, the baby was supposed to be turned with her head down toward the birth canal. With each visit, the doctor had noticed she wasn’t turning, so he kept a close watch on the situation. He said there was nothing to worry about, she still had time to turn. Well, she never did, and soon she was too big to turn. At that point, he told us natural birth was out of the question. She would have to undergo a C-section to safely deliver the baby. Now, it was time, and our little girl was ready to get out of there.
Well, the doctor was called, and the nurses started getting things ready. While the doctor’s nurse was checking for dilation, she said she felt the baby’s head. I thought that was strange because we knew she was breech. I didn’t know much about pregnancies. I guess she could have turned, but the doctor had said she wouldn’t turn this late in the pregnancy. I told the nurse the baby had been breech, and I asked if she had turned. She said, “Oh, I’ll check again.” She checked again and said she was still breech. At this point, we became even more worried. I wondered, “Does this woman not know what she’s doing? Has she not looked at my wife’s chart?” We were already praying, but that made us pray even more.
Soon the doctor came in, and talked to us, and made us feel a little better about the situation. We went down to surgery, and I held my wife’s hand as our beautiful little girl came into the world. The doctor said, “It’s a girl. She has ten fingers and ten toes.” We were glad to hear that. When my son was born a few years earlier, in the same hospital, there was a baby born with six fingers on each hand. It’s not as rare as you make think, but all was well with our little girl. Praise the Lord. She was now in the safety of our arms, and we were so thankful to God for working everything out.
She’s all grown up now, with a family of her own. She has grown into a strong, beautiful young woman. I was blessed and honored when she asked me to perform her wedding ceremony. She was so beautiful. I was reminded of the day that I married her mother. I’m so thankful I was able to be a part of her life, and have the opportunity to teach her about Jesus. I pray that God will continue to bless her, and her family in every way possible.

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