| Trail of Miracles |
| Do you believe in Miracles? Well we sure do! When Kim and I look back on all of the events that led up to where we are now, it's amazing to think about how many things ultimately went in our favor. I guess it begins back in September. We had gone to our OBGYN for a normal visit and as we were leaving, they asked us to pick a date for the next visit which would include a routine ultrasound. For no particular reason, we chose October 23rd. We thought nothing of it at the time, but this would have a profound effect on the events to come. It was during that ultrasound that the technician found Kim's cervix was dilated to 3.5 centimeters. She was experiencing a condition where the cervix can't hold back the pressure from the growing baby and gives out. This condition generally results in a spontaneous miscarriage. The doctor said we had, literally, hours to go before we lost the baby. Why did we pick that date and time? Kim was immediately rushed to the hospital. I have never driven faster than I did on that trip but it felt like the longest ride ever. During the next several days Kim underwent a variety of tests and treatments to prevent delivery of the baby. But, the membrane surrounding the baby continued to progress through the cervix and Kim developed a serious infection. Both of these circumstances would prevent the doctor from performing a surgical procedure to save the pregnancy. Eventually all of our options had been exhausted and nothing was working. The delivery progressed and Kim's infection was getting worse. The doctor told us that we had pretty much reached the end of the road and would have to deliver the baby soon. At 19 weeks there would be no chance of survival. The two of us were devastated. I needed to take a walk to clear my head and soon found myself at the church across the street from the hospital. After a while, I stopped in the rectory and spoke to the church's pastor, Father White. As I remember, he was quite sick that day, but still took time to listen to my story and tried to comfort me. There wasn't much that he could really do, so I returned to the hospital to be with Kim. A short while later, a knock came on the door of our room. It was another priest from the church, Fr. Justinian. Father White had asked him to stop by our room. He didn't have our names and only sketchy details of our situation, but was somehow able to find us in the hospital. He talked with us, prayed with us, and even performed the sacrament of sick on Kim and the baby. Kim and I both knew that the Sacrament of the Sick used to be called The Last Rites and that made us sad. Nevertheless, we began to feel better. I guess we were ready to accept our fate. I walked the priest to the door of the room, thanked him, and said goodbye. I'll never forget what happened next. As Fr. Justinian left and walked away down the hall, the head nurse came running towards me waving a sheet of paper in her hand. Kim's infection was getting better. A short while later our doctor came into the room. It seemed that one of the many calls she'd made to specialists around the area had panned out. There was a tricky procedure that could be done to actually push the baby back into the womb so that the cervix could be closed. This would only be possible if the infection hadn't affected the baby. An amniocentesis soon revealed that the baby was safe and we were back in business. A few hours later Kim was taken into surgery. The doctor gave us little to no hope that this would all come together. The chance of Kim's water breaking during surgery was very high. I waited with my parents and Kim's parents for what seemed like an eternity. Finally the doctor emerged from surgery to announce that the procedure had worked. The baby was saved. However, we still weren't out of the woods. Kim was sent home with strict orders for bedrest. Things could come apart as quickly as they came together. Bedrest sounds like a lot more fun than it is. She was only allowed to get up to go to the bathroom and couldn't go downstairs for anything. We were only 19 weeks along in the pregnancy, an in order for the baby to have a chance, we'd need to get to at least 24 weeks. Even then the survival rate is poor, particularly with boys. (The ultrasounds hadn't revealed the sex of the baby) Days and weeks went by and we became hopeful that we'd make it far into the pregnancy. 32 weeks would be nice. The survival rate is almost 100% at that point. Even 28 weeks would be OK. Then the odds are 90%. No such luck. The very same day that we completed our 24th week, which is the earliest point that a baby is considered viable, Kim began to experience contractions. They were minor and controllable at first, but became worse over the next 24 hours. We decided that we should go back to the hospital. After a few hours and several tests, they decided that to transport Kim to UCONN Medical Center. We were just barely at the 24 week mark and if the baby was to have any chance of survival, UCONN is where you want to be. Kim was admitted and monitored very closely. It seemed like a false alarm because the contractions stabilized after she was given a medication called magnesium sulfate. The next morning, however, Kim was feeling very nauseous from that medication and called in the doctors because she also thought she felt her water break. Upon examination they found that the water did break and the placenta was rupturing- she was in labor. We were told that the stitch would have to be cut and there was nothing else that could be done to hold in the baby, it was time for nature to take its course. We were devastated because we knew that the odds were stacked against us. As soon as the stitch was cut Kim dilated to 5 centimeters and things went pretty quickly from there. After a couple of tense moments when the baby's heart rate dropped, Kim gave birth to a baby girl and she was alive and kicking. The surgery that Kim underwent weeks earlier had worked just long enough to get us to 24 weeks of the pregnancy. Although the odds weren't desirable, she was a girl. Now, more than eight weeks have passed. Amanda has had her ups and downs, but she's still here and she's beautiful. We know that we have a long road ahead of us but there is no doubt in our minds that she will be okay and that she is here on this earth for a very big purpose because of all that she has already overcome. Kim and I credit a lot of her success to her doctors and nurses, but not all of it. Even for a born skeptic like me, I can't dismiss these extraordinary events as coincidence. Amanda's story serves as a constant reminder that nothing is impossible for God. |