|
The day before Easter, my mother called me to tell me that my cousin's wife J, in her third trimester with their first baby, had received terrible news from the sonogram: the baby had "hypoplastic left heart syndrome"--the baby's left ventricle had not developed. In layman's terms, her heart was missing the part needed to pump oxygen away from the heart into the body. The prognosis was bleakly hopeful: the baby would be fine in vitro, but as soon as J delivered, the baby would have to go on IV drugs to keep her alive for a few days until surgeons could risk a grueling 14-hr open heart surgery, which would be followed by multiple long, complicated surgeries that would continue on even into adulthood.
I grieved the news that weekend, and at the Easter service, tearfully asked God why he had allowed the baby to develop that way. He surprised me with an immediate response: "I will work miracles through this baby." It was very clear: not miracle (one), but plural.
I emailed my mom about it the next day. This is what I also said to her: "I wish I knew if this meant, for example, that the baby will live, but I don't. It could very well be relational miracles or about the bigger spiritual picture. I was reminded of a billboard I saw recently about Alex's Lemonade Stand... a little girl with cancer opened a stand to raise money for pediatric cancer research....millions of dollars raised for the foundation named after her....here's a cute photo they have on the billboard: http://www.ritasinva.com/Images/AlexPhoto.jpg Maybe this baby will be their own Alex, only for peds cardiac research. But still, that sucks, and I wish it didn't have to be this way."
My aunt started sending out periodic medical updates to the family. At the beginning of the process, the emails would conclude with the thought, "Maybe God will listen to our prayers." I knew what to pray for my Jewish aunt: faith that God was right there with them, not missing a thing.
A month after Easter, after one of a few follow-up echocardiograms, the technician and cardiologist determined that some of the left ventricle had developed. This was very encouraging news, because it meant more of the baby's own tissue for the surgeries, and few life-long complications. My aunt's email ended, "Maybe God is listening."
Last Friday (just over a week ago), my aunt sent another email to family about her and her husband being ready to fly to Ohio at a moment's notice whenever J went into labor. Her email ended hopefully: "God is listening." I celebrated the miracle of faith! That very afternoon, J went into labor naturally, although the doctor delivered the baby that evening by C-section, worried about signs of heart stress showing on the fetal monitor.
After my cousin and his wife saw their daughter for just a tearful minute (not even a chance to hold her), the nurses whisked her off to NICU where she'd be hooked up to monitoring devices and watched constantly. And the echocardiograms and blood tests began.
I was at dinner at Zemam's with Jeremy when Mom called me and said three words: "God did it!"
The tests had been repeated until late in the evening, when the technicians and doctors declared what they could not believe: the left ventricle, although smaller than usual, had developed; the baby had four chambers where before she'd had only three.
Rather than proceed with the original plan of putting her on IV drugs to keep her valve open after birth, they decided to keep watching and see what the miracle heart would do. They did not allow her to nurse for the first two days just in case surgical procedures would be necessary. One valve (the valve in the "defective" part of the heart) closed normally last Sunday as it should in a fully formed heart, and most importantly, after it did, she continued to breathe normally, except when upset. The doctor put her on two drugs to help balance the pressure on both sides of the heart. On Tuesday, the official diagnosis is, "I don't think any surgery will be necessary," and they OK'd her for nursing rather than IV nutrition. On Wednesday, the day originally slated for 14 hour open heart surgery, she moved out of NICU into a normal newborn ward. On Friday evening, she went home, only on one medication now, instead of two!
I am tearful about the incredible healing in this child: a week after delivery, she is home with her parents, in one piece. I'm pretty good with words, but words cannot describe the "wow" of that. And I am joyful at how God has revealed himself to members of my extended family and to the people of that hospital through this baby!
She is, right now, the 5th miraculously alive person I know personally. (Well, I guess I don't know her personally yet, since I haven't been to Ohio, but that will come in due time.) A couple of the other miracle folks attend the Village ;-) |
