“Boy meets girl, they fall in love, they get married, they have children, and they all live happily ever after.” That’s how almost everybody’s story goes about, and it probably would’ve been great for this family, but that’s not how it has been. Our story has lots of prayers, lots of storms and a mountain of blind faith. God on the other hand, has always shown us His grace and mercy, especially the day He gave us a miracle, the kid.

 

Maybe it was my biological clock running out of time when I got married at 30. Maybe it was husband’s guys who were not cooperating when he married me at 45. Maybe I was defective, or maybe he was. I think both of us were defective. No way to know and too late to find out. We had to go around town visiting every specialist we were referred to, one in-vitro treatment in California, and another in-vitro treatment in Texas. Then God answered our prayers.

 

There it was finally, a tiny itty bitty bean growing in my belly with this tiny little heart beating so strong, there was no doubt in my heart God had finally answered our prayers. Soon after we realized, we had to continue praying because that was not just it. Every week I had to go for ultrasounds and blood tests, and they found out that I had complete placenta previa. If the placenta detached for whatever reason, that would be the end for the baby and possibly for me as well.

 

It was by God’s grace that we were able to get a date for the baby to be born via c-section since a natural birth would just jeopardize both our lives. November 11 was the date and the countdown began. The week before on Thursday, I had finally finished with the baby’s nursery and all I had exactly one week to get my bag done and ready to go. Everything changed the next morning.

 

Husband got up as usual to go to work and left. I got up, went potty and realized I was bleeding out. I called husband and he said to call 911. Both calls went out at 6:25 am, and husband arrived to the house before the ambulance showed up. My dogs knew something was wrong because they were on full alert right by my side. I called my neighbors and my parents to ask them to pray for us. I set the alarm, locked the door and walked up to the ambulance.

 

We got to the ER and they started preparing me for an emergency c-section. Husband had already called the ER to give them a full report over the phone, so by the time we got there, they already knew what to do. At this point, I was still bleeding out, my baby was running out of oxygen, I was begging God to please do something after the nurse said she couldn’t find the fetal tones. I remember asking them “please hurry up and get this baby out or he’ll die!”

 

Off to the OR we went, and at 7:53 am on week 35 and 3 days, our baby was born. I wish I could tell you the baby went to the nursery and a few days later we both went home, but that’s not what happened. The baby was immediately taken to the NICU because his tiny body was just not ready. His lungs were not ready, he was jaundiced, he had three cyanotic episodes, and for almost a week he was tube-fed.

 

I don’t have to tell you I was there with my baby on every chance I got. The day he was born I was walking back and forth to the NICU from my room. As soon as I was discharged, I was driving back and forth to see my baby whenever I could. We did kangaroo care, I diligently pumped and never wasting a drop because that baby needed every single drop of milk.

 

That baby was a warrior since he was inside me, and he showed what he was made of after he was born. He took his merry time though, but he pulled it off. God answered every single one of our prayers, and two weeks later the nurse practitioner asked me if we were ready to take our baby home. “Yes! Of course I’m ready!!” Samuel was coming home!

 

This kid finally made it home and he went on growing. The kid grew up, got to eat, got to talk, got to walk and climb on everything, got all the regular bumps and bruises every boy grows up with, went through a parade of antibiotics due to ear infections like any other kid and eventually got both tubes, got to daycare, got to kindergarten and now he’s in second grade.

 

Along the way, husband passed away, then Zoe, then Nike. I had to go to work 12-hour shifts and kid had to go to daycare, our days were long, our nights were short. We moved a couple times, I got t-boned by an illegal drunk driver, hail destroyed our car and our house, our house almost caught on fire and it got flooded. No, it hasn’t been a walk in the park, but the kid and I have learned to pray and to leave it up to God.

 

God has not left our side at all. Our story is not a smooth sail on a clear sunny day. We have had plenty of dark days and nights, storms that have shaken us. All along we have trusted God because I know that without Him we could crumble down. There is a lot more I could say about what happened the day this kid was born, but that wouldn’t change the fact that God has always been steps ahead of us, waiting for us to look at Him and trust He has it all handled.

 

I had already been trusting God since before the in-vitro treatments, throughout the pregnancy, but the day the kid was born, God showed me I had to blindly trust Him. If I ever doubted, if I ever wondered, that morning was my proof I had to have the blind faith He needs from us. God has allowed me to see my kid grow up, raise him according to His word, and prepare the kid because one day, he will serve God.

 

In the meantime, happy birthday to the kid, and happy birth day to me!!

 

“So in the course of time Hannah became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, saying, “Because I asked the Lord for him.” 1 Samuel 1:20 NIV