His Promises are Yes and Amen!

When I was pregnant with my first child, Christina, I planned to have the birth as natural as possible. Several things went wrong.

First, my doctor, who was a Christian, was not available when I went into labor. The doctor that I had to use was known as the abortion doctor in town. Then, Christina was in breech, “butt first,” position. I signed the hospital form as “No Spinal,” but was given one anyway while I got a C-section. They used forceps on her which I had not agreed to.

But through all of that, we were so blessed to have our beautiful daughter, Christina. We thanked God for her.

I decided to trust God for a supernatural birth without any interventions that we did not want. I was told that a vaginal birth might be dangerous, but I did extensive research and felt safe in having my next baby at home. I found an experienced midwife that I used during the entire nine months. Also, a nurse that we knew from church came to our home for the birth.

 I prayed and trusted God and I refused to fear. I felt God’s design for childbirth was a miracle and a blessing, not a disease or sickness. Having a baby to me was as natural as breathing.

 It was late Halloween night, October 31, when the labor pains started. They were mild, like menstrual cramps. I prayed, “Lord please let this baby be born November 1 and not on Halloween.”

 I stayed on my feet, walking and working with the contractions and gravity. From the first discomfort to the birth, it was 2 ½ hours. I did not take any pain relievers, not even something over the counter. The great thing was that I did not need anything for pain. I kept my focus on God and His promises--Psalm 91, Psalm 118:8, Proverbs 3:5-6

 As the time came for Jeremy to be born, I didn’t talk; I only said the name of Jesus three times. He was born on November 1.

It was a divine natural occurrence. I trusted God and I give Him all the glory for a safe, peaceful. and joyful experience and a healthy, brilliant baby boy. He is now 25 years old and healthy.

For all the promises of god in him are yes, and in him amen, to the glory of god through us. 2 corinthians 1:20

“Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.” Psalm 37:4

This was a verse I stood upon when I thought I would never live my dream of having kids. All my life, all I ever wanted was to be a mommy! According to doctors, that wouldn’t happen. I had stage 4 endometriosis with PCOS (Polycystic Ovaries). As a result, my tubes were severely damaged. I am so thankful that God has the last say. After four years of trying, I finally gave birth to a son, Braden Scott, on February 16, 2007!

 After several months went by, we decided to try again, and to our surprise, got pregnant right away. We couldn’t wait to find out what we were having! At 17 weeks along, in the beginning of November, we had our ultrasound scheduled. I remember how exciting it was to see Braden on the monitor for the first time and I couldn’t wait! During the scan, I remember thinking, “Why is this taking so long? It didn’t take this long last time.” I thought nothing of it when she told us we were having a little girl! My husband, Jason, and I, were so excited! We already had her name picked out- -Jacee Dawn.

As our ultrasound continued, again, I wondered why this was taking forever. I tried to ignore it and just kept trying to be excited that we were having a little girl. It was finally over so she sent us out to the waiting room until our doctor was ready for my check-up. I kept having an uneasy feeling, even while looking at our pictures, but I didn’t really know why.

 Now, waiting in the exam room for our doctor, I was excited, yet worried, at the same time. I just wanted her to come in, tell us everything looked great, and send us on our way. Well….that’s not what happened at all. She came in and started going over the results of the scan. I now knew why I had that uneasy feeling. She said that our little girl wasn’t growing like she should and even if she made it full term, her little body wouldn’t be compatible with life. Wow! I felt as though the breath had been knocked out of me. They wanted to do more testing to find out what was going on. All I could think at the time was, “I’m not losing my little girl!” So…we agreed to have some tests done.

On our way home, we made some phone calls so our family would be in prayer with us. All we could do over the next couple of days was pray and wait to hear what the test revealed. Two, very long, agonizing days later, the call came. Jacee had a very rare condition, known as triploidy (instead of two sets of chromosomes in her DNA, she had three; that translates as developmental information overload).

We were given the option of terminating the pregnancy, but quickly refused. We knew, as it says in Luke 1:37, that nothing is impossible with God. We were told that she wouldn’t make it another month. We had to go back in to the doctor’s office every week to make sure there was still a heartbeat. A month came and went and I could still feel her moving around, and her heartbeat was strong. My hopes were up, so I continued to pray that God would heal my little girl.

After another month and a half went by, I went into labor. I was only 7 months along. Even while giving birth, there was still a part of me hoping and praying she would be okay. On January 21, 2008, Martin Luther King Day, our Jacee Dawn was born, stillborn. Our world had fallen apart. We were allowed to spend as much time with her as we wanted. After several hours went by, it was hard to let her go, but we knew she wasn’t sick anymore. She was with Jesus. It hurt to say goodbye. I knew she had been alive, because I had felt her kicks, her hiccups. Now they were gone, and I had to rely on God to get me through.

 We left the hospital without our baby girl, only to go home and prepare her funeral. Proverbs 3:5 says to trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. I didn’t understand. Things just didn’t make sense! I could ask, “Why?” all day long, but I’d never get an answer that would satisfy me. I had to just trust Him to see me through this. It wasn’t easy, but it would’ve been a whole lot worse without my Jesus! Even though my experience wasn’t as I had prayed, His Word never changed and He is faithful!

 We went on to have another little boy on January 19, 2009. Bryce Randall was born on Martin Luther King Day, exactly one year later. We got to bring him home on January 21, the one year anniversary of our losing Jacee. Only God could’ve planned that. He is so amazing!

Our nest wasn’t quite complete yet. We knew we wanted another child. We found out we were expecting again in November of 2009. Excited again, we couldn’t wait to find out the sex. On one hand, we would love to have a girl – on the other, the thought scared me. I felt, as Jacee’s mom, that I didn’t do my part to take care of her, so why would this time be any different? I know that was Satan trying to discourage me. Isaiah 41:10 says, Do not fear, for the Lord is with us. I knew God was taking care of me and our new little one. So, although a little nervous, we went for our ultrasound. We were having a girl! Knowing our worries, our doctor assured us that everything looked normal and she was growing just as she should be. Thank You, Lord! We went on to have a normal, healthy pregnancy.

On July 21, 2010, Jalyn Dawn, was born. Everything was going great, until later that night. The nurses brought her in so I could feed her. She didn’t seem to want to eat, she wanted to sleep, so we decided we would try again later. They brought her back around two that morning. This time, she ate some, but started spitting up. My concern with that was that it was green. It didn’t seem normal to me. I called the nurses and explained to them what was going on. They took her down for some tests to be run. Scared, I asked God to be with her.

They brought her back around 5 A.M., and said her white blood cell count was low, but she would be fine. Thinking all was well, I tried to feed her again. The spitting up became more throwing up, so I called the nurse back in. They took her so they could monitor her, only to find that she continued throwing up. Knowing it had to be more than her blood count, they ran more tests. This time, they found she had malrotation (a twisting of the intestines, or bowel that caused obstruction). Surgery was needed. At twenty-three hours old, Jalyn went in for surgery. Trying to be strong, I prayed for my little girl. The surgery went well. She stayed in the NICU for two weeks, recovering. Finally able to take her home, we knew God had His hand on her. Once home, she started eating better, growing, and was able to keep her food down. Life was good! We had our three kids, they were healthy, and all was well!

 On November 14, 2010, our lives were getting ready to be shaken, again. Our doctors had advised us that if Jalyn ever threw up anything green, to take her to the emergency room. That night, before bed, she threw up her bottle, but it wasn’t green. We were thankful, but still concerned, because she had never done that before. I decided to sleep near her, so I could keep an eye on her. She threw up a little more before going to sleep. Still nothing green, but I wondered if I should call the doctor. She slept well, but early the next morning, she threw up after her bottle. This time it was green. Scared, we took her to the emergency room. They admitted us pretty quickly and began a series of tests. The surgeon came in that night and said that they didn’t find any blockage and he wouldn’t need to see her again, that she would be fine a day or two. We thought that was great news. The only problem is that days went on with no change. She was still throwing up.

 Doctors didn’t know what was going on. They ran test after test, still not finding anything major. They thought it was a virus at first, and then thought it was reflux. As her mom, I knew that wasn’t it, but how do you argue with doctors? After ten long, very frustrating days, with no answers, they sent us home, still thinking it was reflux. They thought she would be better in a couple of days, but she continued to throw up. Our question, though, was why was it still green? Why was it so urgent for us to get her to the emergency room? Surely, with it being green, with her history, and them advising us to get her in if it ever happened, they had to know something else was going on.

We went home the day before Thanksgiving. She would eat every now and then but would still throw up. Sometimes a little, other times quite a bit. We were worried she would get dehydrated. She was having wet diapers, though, so we just continued to keep an eye on her, knowing that not producing wet diapers was a sign of dehydration. She started throwing up quite a bit more and all of a sudden just didn’t look well. Very scared, and to be honest, mad, we rushed her back to the emergency room on Thanksgiving Day. She was severely dehydrated.

 They got her hooked up to an IV and admitted us right away. After some blood work was done, they thought they found that she had pyloric stenosis (a tightening in the pyloric muscle just after the stomach that doesn’t allow food to pass). She needed surgery….again. We were then told that she would have to be transported to Oklahoma City because there were no longer any pediatric surgeons in Tulsa. Wow… really? My patience was wearing thin. I wanted my daughter well.

Now we had to wait and find a surgeon who would take her. Lord, please open the door to the right one! The surgeon we found wanted more testing done because the first diagnosis didn’t make sense to him-not with her age and the fact that what she was throwing up was green. The radiologist at our current hospital refused to do more x-rays. My flesh really wanted to lay in to some doctors! I had to ask for God’s help because I was getting ready to lose it. I was running on very little sleep and I was missing my family. I was very emotional! I still let them know how frustrated I was! We all know, as moms, that no one messes with our babies! Here my little girl was sick and no one seemed to want to help her.

Finally, the day after Thanksgiving, we were transported, by ambulance, to Oklahoma City. Shortly after arriving, the surgeon came in and met with us. After viewing her x-rays himself, he decided surgery was definitely needed. It was scheduled for the next morning, around 8 A.M.. My baby girl, at four months old, was being prepared for her second surgery. Lord, I need your peace that Jalyn’s going to be alright. You said fear not, for You are with us.

 Jalyn came through surgery just fine. The doctors confirmed more malrotation (and not pyloric stenosis). We were so frustrated, but also thankful that they were finally able to find the problem and correct it. Why couldn’t they find this on the x-rays two weeks earlier? Now we had to wait for her to recover. Tired of being in hospitals, wanting my husband and my boys with me, my trust was in God, yet again. Jalyn’s surgery was on a Saturday.

By that following Tuesday, I was really having a hard time. I hadn’t seen my boys since Thanksgiving Day and I was missing them terribly. Sissy was still recovering. She had to be able to go the bathroom on her own before we could take her home. She was on morphine and Tylenol to keep her comfortable. That night, Satan was doing his best to attack me. He kept trying to tell me, “Remember, you couldn’t take care of Jacee….now look at your Jalyn.” I was fighting pretty hard that night, not knowing what was getting ready to come.

The next morning, around 5:30, the nurse came in to give Jalyn morphine. She hadn’t had any since the night before and she was getting pretty uncomfortable. Friends had told us vaguely of the danger of morphine on children so young, but we trusted the doctors. At 6 A.M., however, her monitors were going pretty crazy. I went over to check on her as a nurse was coming in. Jalyn was not responsive. She was laying on her right side and all I can remember as the nurse turned her to her back, was a blue, lifeless little girl.

 I couldn’t breathe! This was not happening! As I grabbed my phone to call my husband, all I could do was pray. I was screaming and praying for her to live and not die. When I couldn’t say anything else, all I could say was, “Jesus, Jesus, Jesus!” That name is so powerful! It was only when I said His name that I could keep myself calm. A code blue was called and doctors from all over the hospital rushed in her room in a matter of seconds. After five minutes of CPR, I was told she was going to be moved to ICU….they had a pulse.

All of a sudden, we heard a cry! It was her! She was given a narcotics reversal and within a minute, she was fine! (The shot countered the effects of the morphine, which stopped her breathing and ultimately her heart.) And she also had a full diaper! Thank you, Jesus! All I could do was look at her, talk to her, and cry. I couldn’t say, “Thank you Jesus!” enough. He had revived her.

 I couldn’t wait for my husband to walk through the door. I was emotionally and physically drained. I was finally allowed to hold her. I knew God had touched her. In the days to follow, we found out that several family members and one of our board members from our church, had been praying pretty hard. God laid us on their hearts before they knew anything was going on. God knew and He used our loved ones to intercede. When God lays someone on your heart, please pray for them. You never know what they’re going through. You don’t have to know the details….God knows. Just listen to Him. It could be you one day that needs the prayer. You would want to know that if God laid you on my heart so strongly, that I would pray for you.

No matter what you may be going through, know that there are people who care about you. Jesus cares about you and what you are going through. He knew my desire to be a mom. He knows yours, too. He loves you and is always right there with you! I promise, He can get you through anything. So many things I’ve gone through, I thought I’d never make it. But I look back on my life now and see Jesus every step of the way. Don’t give up….remember the “Footprints” poem: “It was then that I was carrying you.”

 We were released from the hospital on that following Saturday. A miracle! We were going home. Jalyn is now a healthy toddler and is doing great! She is the happiest baby I’ve ever seen. Even while in the hospital, sick and going through tests, she always had the biggest smile on her face, a lesson for us all. I thank my family and my church for all of their prayers. All of my babies are miracles. I was told I would never have them. Satan tried to take my Jalyn, but all I have to say is watch out….she’s gonna do great things for our God!

Your mercy, o lord, is in the heavens, your faithfulness reaches to the clouds. Psalm 36:5 nkjv