” I’m not sure we can save either of them, but if we can save just one, you may have to make the decision as to which one we save”. I can only imagine the agony my husband felt when faced with the possibility of having to make that decision. We were a young married couple just barely beginning our journey. We had been together since we were 16 and 17. We had a 9 month old daughter to consider. We were having a son. How could he even begin to think about letting one of us go. Thankfully God saved him from that agony because He saved us both!
With all the uncertainty of that day, what I do know is our world changed that day, and a school of a different kind was about to begin.
It was October 9, 1977, early Sunday morning. Two days before that, I had been involved in an auto accident, hit from behind, causing my very protruding belly to press into the steering wheel as my car was pushed into the front porch railing of the house across the street. I was 6 1/2 months pregnant. The memories of how close I came to bleeding to death, and losing my baby will always be with me. It is one of the memories I can still see in my mind as clear as that day.
A kind man took me home instead of just calling Gary so he could see I was okay. Our first course of action was to call the doctor to report what had happened. “It takes a freak accident to hurt an unborn child. Take some Tylenol, lay down and see how you feel in the morning”. I’ll never forget those words. I was raised to listen to your doctor, so I did as he said. The next day we had Lamaze class, I could feel the baby moving, so I figured I was okay until my regularly scheduled doctor appointment on Monday. I woke up Sunday morning feeling like I had wet myself. When I started to stand up, I realized I was laying in a pool of blood. I had never seen that much blood, and this was my blood, and it wasn’t stopping!
Although I can never forget the important details of that day, the trip to the hospital is pretty much a blur. I remember after arriving there how the fight began to save two lives. I remember the nurses had to keep changing my bed as it became soaked in blood almost as soon as they changed it. I remember it took two doctors to do what I learned later was a double C-Section because I wasn’t far enough along for the baby to have dropped into position so they had to go in and literally pull him down and out. I remember waking up in the recovery room and asking the attending nurse if I could see my son. I remember her telling me that he wasn’t likely to survive so it probably wasn’t a good idea. I remember disagreeing and his pediatrician agreeing with me and taking me down to the NICU. I remember this tiny little human laying in that incubator with tubes coming out of his body from what seemed like everywhere. The constant hum and beeps of the machines keeping him alive rang loudly in my ears and in my heart. I know I fell instantly in love. In that moment I realized I wasn’t giving up on him. The doctors told us it would take 4 days to know of his chances to survive, but I didn’t need 4 days. He was going to live, and I didn’t give up! God had this!
CONTINUE FOLLOWING FOR PART II
I DIDN’T GIVE UP! 