After a long time, I'm sitting down to pen one of the spectacular miracles in our life. Yes, just a few weeks back , Wednesday, Mar 28th, 1:36 PM to be precise, God blessed us with a baby boy - we named him JOSHUA EDWARD.
Now, you may be wondering what's the miracle in this :-) It is as normal as any baby born.
Please allow me to explain.
Note, the purpose of the blog is to glorify our Lord Jesus Christ, the true God who loves us more than we do, ourselves.
In my previous blog, 3 years back, we enjoyed God's blessing - HOSANNA, our first child who was gifted by God in a miraculous fashion.
I hope sharing this experience helps you increase your faith - not letting go even in hopeless situations!
First trimester experience
Unlike the previous pregnancy, this was a turbulent experience for Gracia. Nausea and morning sickness at it's worst. The second trimester was no different - the nausea continued. But God was gracious, she was able to go through it.
Isaiah 40 (Bible) says
29 He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.
30 Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;
31 but those who hope in the Lord
will renew their strength
Sure enough, God gave Gracia the strength to undergo the experience for close to 6 months.
Let's fast forward to third trimester....
32nd week Story
The scans taken so far were normal and days were going by slowly and steadily. The baby was doing excellent except for two issues.
The first one, the baby was breech presentation. Remember this was the 32nd week and the weight of the baby is approx 2.7 kg.
36th week Scan
The doctors' opinion was that babies in Extended Breech presentation generally don't return to the normal "Head Down" position.
Now, you may be wondering what's the miracle in this :-) It is as normal as any baby born.
Please allow me to explain.
Note, the purpose of the blog is to glorify our Lord Jesus Christ, the true God who loves us more than we do, ourselves.
In my previous blog, 3 years back, we enjoyed God's blessing - HOSANNA, our first child who was gifted by God in a miraculous fashion.
I hope sharing this experience helps you increase your faith - not letting go even in hopeless situations!
First trimester experience
Unlike the previous pregnancy, this was a turbulent experience for Gracia. Nausea and morning sickness at it's worst. The second trimester was no different - the nausea continued. But God was gracious, she was able to go through it.
Isaiah 40 (Bible) says
29 He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.
30 Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;
31 but those who hope in the Lord
will renew their strength
Sure enough, God gave Gracia the strength to undergo the experience for close to 6 months.
Let's fast forward to third trimester....
32nd week Story
The scans taken so far were normal and days were going by slowly and steadily. The baby was doing excellent except for two issues.
The first one, the baby was breech presentation. Remember this was the 32nd week and the weight of the baby is approx 2.7 kg.
The second issue was the baby had a mild renal pelviectasis, a condition where the central area of the kidneys is enlarged. At this point, the doctors were not too much bothered about this issue and said this would be treated normally once the baby is discharged. I will explain what happened at a later point in this blog. Stay tuned.
The doctor advised scan yet again to see if the baby had turned.
Not so good news.
The baby was now in extended breech presentation or Frank breech.
 |
Courtesy: https://www.smallandunique.com
Since the first baby was delivered normally, the doctors were even contemplating if a "breech" normal delivery can be attempted. But there is a 1-2% chance that the baby may not survive, so that option was dropped.
37th week Scan
The doctor advised scan yet again to see if the baby had turned.
A ray of hope!
The baby had put one leg down but retained the other leg in the same extended breech presentation.
This presentation is called "incomplete breech presentation".
Courtesy: https://www.slideshare.net/mahmoudlazek/breech-54680738
This presentation is called "incomplete breech presentation".
Courtesy: https://www.slideshare.net/mahmoudlazek/breech-54680738
Again not a good sign that it would return to "Head Down" position suitable for normal delivery.
This did not work too!
The baby remained in breech presentation.
The doctors advised us to go for elective C-Section - Any date of our choice for the surgery to be done.
We chose March 27th since Hosanna was also born on a 27th (May 27th 2015) :-)
We left the hospital disappointed because we prayed a lot for a miracle.
We were at this stage where we accepted the C-Section was now a reality.
The verse which kept us going:
Psalm 27:14
Wait for the Lord;
be strong and take heart
and wait for the Lord.
Monday, Mar 26th - Getting admitted for Caesarean Section
We got admitted on Mar 26th around 8:30 PM.
By the grace of Jesus, we got a room of our choice - a private room so that our toddler, Hosanna, can stay with us during this time.
The baby's heartbeat was monitored regularly.
Gracia had to undergo some blood tests to ensure she's fit to be administered anesthesia. The regular pre-operative procedures, basically.
Cardiotocography (CTG) is a technical means of recording the fetal heartbeat and the uterine contractions during pregnancy.
CTG was done for Gracia every 30 min.
Now around 10 PM, the duty nurse who was taking the CTG was able to detect the heartbeat from the upper part of the abdomen. This is OK since the baby is in breech position.
Our prayer at this time was:
Dear God,
If you wish, you can turn the baby right now so that Gracia can have a normal delivery.
If you could heal the Centurion's servant just by your word, you can make the baby turn too.
Amen.
The faith of the centurion
Around 10:30 PM, there was an increase in heartbeat and movements were also unusual, so we called the nurse on duty to again check the CTG.
This time the nurse was able to detect the heartbeat from the lower part of the abdomen.
This raised our suspicion that the baby might have turned since the heartbeat was felt in the lower abdomen.
The duty doctor was called.
A portable Ultrasound Scan machine was brought to the room.
The duty doctor was surprised to see the baby's head in the "normal" position - just as we had prayed for!
We were awe struck. Not only us but the duty nurses and the doctor on call.
A miracle indeed! No words to thank Jesus.
The senior doctor who had to perform the surgery the next day, was briefed of the situation. She immediately said - C-Section can be cancelled.
In Matt 19:26 Jesus says,
"With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."
Remember the baby is not yet born and I was already sharing the news of the miracle to my friends and family - I was overwhelmed.
Tuesday, Mar 27th - Labour Day
Gracia was in labour the entire day.
The doctors did not want to rush things up.
Technically, this was Gracia's 3rd pregnancy and the uterus walls might get ruptured if labour is induced through IV.
Nothing happened. In fact Gracia had a good night's rest.
Wednesday, Mar 28th - The moment of Truth
Gracia was taken to the labour ward around 11 AM.
Labor was further induced through IV.
Acute pains for another 2.5 hours and then Joshua, a miracle pack from Jesus was born!!
Smiles all around :-)
You might be aware that the first pregnancy was a miscarriage and we lost a baby boy. Read more
This was God's way of giving him back to us.
As the Psalmist in the Bible says in Psalms 9:1,
"I will praise you, LORD, with all my heart; I will tell of all the marvelous things you have done."
Thursday, Mar 29th - The miracle continues!
38th week - Visit to the doctor
The doctors at Apollo First Med, PH Road, Kilpauk were really patient and did not advise for C-Section immediately although the change in situation (breech baby turning by itself) was next to impossible.
But as a last ditch effort, the senior doctors wanted to try a manual procedure called ECV.
Copy pasted from wiki:
ECV or External cephalic version is a process by which a breech baby can sometimes be turned from buttocks or foot first to head first. External cephalic version (ECV) is a manual procedure that is advocated by national guidelines for breech presentation singleton pregnancy, in order to enable vaginal delivery.[1] It is usually performed after about 37 weeks
The baby remained in breech presentation.
The doctors advised us to go for elective C-Section - Any date of our choice for the surgery to be done.
We chose March 27th since Hosanna was also born on a 27th (May 27th 2015) :-)
We left the hospital disappointed because we prayed a lot for a miracle.
We were at this stage where we accepted the C-Section was now a reality.
The verse which kept us going:
Psalm 27:14
Wait for the Lord;
be strong and take heart
and wait for the Lord.
Monday, Mar 26th - Getting admitted for Caesarean Section
We got admitted on Mar 26th around 8:30 PM.
By the grace of Jesus, we got a room of our choice - a private room so that our toddler, Hosanna, can stay with us during this time.
The baby's heartbeat was monitored regularly.
Gracia had to undergo some blood tests to ensure she's fit to be administered anesthesia. The regular pre-operative procedures, basically.
Cardiotocography (CTG) is a technical means of recording the fetal heartbeat and the uterine contractions during pregnancy.
CTG was done for Gracia every 30 min.
Now around 10 PM, the duty nurse who was taking the CTG was able to detect the heartbeat from the upper part of the abdomen. This is OK since the baby is in breech position.
Our prayer at this time was:
Dear God,
If you wish, you can turn the baby right now so that Gracia can have a normal delivery.
If you could heal the Centurion's servant just by your word, you can make the baby turn too.
Amen.
The faith of the centurion
Around 10:30 PM, there was an increase in heartbeat and movements were also unusual, so we called the nurse on duty to again check the CTG.
This time the nurse was able to detect the heartbeat from the lower part of the abdomen.
This raised our suspicion that the baby might have turned since the heartbeat was felt in the lower abdomen.
The duty doctor was called.
A portable Ultrasound Scan machine was brought to the room.
The duty doctor was surprised to see the baby's head in the "normal" position - just as we had prayed for!
We were awe struck. Not only us but the duty nurses and the doctor on call.
A miracle indeed! No words to thank Jesus.
The senior doctor who had to perform the surgery the next day, was briefed of the situation. She immediately said - C-Section can be cancelled.
In Matt 19:26 Jesus says,
"With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."
Remember the baby is not yet born and I was already sharing the news of the miracle to my friends and family - I was overwhelmed.
Tuesday, Mar 27th - Labour Day
The doctors did not want to rush things up.
Technically, this was Gracia's 3rd pregnancy and the uterus walls might get ruptured if labour is induced through IV.
Nothing happened. In fact Gracia had a good night's rest.
Wednesday, Mar 28th - The moment of Truth
Labor was further induced through IV.
Acute pains for another 2.5 hours and then Joshua, a miracle pack from Jesus was born!!
Smiles all around :-)
You might be aware that the first pregnancy was a miscarriage and we lost a baby boy. Read more
This was God's way of giving him back to us.
 |
| JOSHUA EDWARD - miracle package from Jesus |
 |
| Hosanna holding her little brother |
As the Psalmist in the Bible says in Psalms 9:1,
"I will praise you, LORD, with all my heart; I will tell of all the marvelous things you have done."
Thursday, Mar 29th - The miracle continues!
As I mentioned earlier, Joshua had a mild renal pelviectasis, a condition where the central area of the kidneys is enlarged.
Frankly, we were not sure what it meant until a pediatrician explained us.
I will try to explain in his words :-)
The baby's urinary system can be compared to an unused plumbing system while the baby is in the mother's womb.
As soon as the baby is born, the system is in use now, and that is when the leaks and the blocks, if any are detected.
This is confirmed only when the baby passes urine in 24 hours. If not, there is a potential issue.
God in his mercy, did not allow any more doubts - Joshua was perfectly fine and urinated thrice in 24 hours. This again, is a miracle, nullifying any doubts whatsoever on the condition detected.
That's the reason one my very dear brothers - quoted it saying - Joshua is a miracle pack :-) I loved the phrase to bits and hence named the blog rightly so!
I take this opportunity to THANK everyone who stood by us during the moments of uncertainties.
I thank my in-laws and parents who stood the test of faith. No words, really!
Thanks to dear cousins Gideon and Nikhil - sought their help numerous times. Thank you guys. Means a lot.
I thank Tarang, my best friend and Bharathi for all the encouragement and prayers.
I'd like to thank our church Annanagar Methodist Church, for all the prayer support.
I thank Young Adult Fellowship members specially for standing by.
I thank friends from ASCENDAS Fellowship group who prayed along with me almost every Tuesday!
Special thanks to Arun Isaac Annan for His prayers along with EC Group 4pm prayer team.
I thank our neighbours at Pentavistas apartment, who were more than family, many times!
I thank our maid, Sumathi akka, for helping us with the cooking and stuff.
I thank God for Hosanna, who had to stay with her grandparents not knowing why the mother was in the hospital.
A wonderful child indeed, never created any kind of commotion.
Both mother and child were discharged on Mar 30th and we returned home.
Courtesy: https://www.commentsyard.com/as-much-as-you-want-to-plan-your-life/
Psalm 100:5 says
For the LORD is good. His unfailing love continues forever,
and his faithfulness continues to each generation.
Amen.
Frankly, we were not sure what it meant until a pediatrician explained us.
I will try to explain in his words :-)
The baby's urinary system can be compared to an unused plumbing system while the baby is in the mother's womb.
As soon as the baby is born, the system is in use now, and that is when the leaks and the blocks, if any are detected.
This is confirmed only when the baby passes urine in 24 hours. If not, there is a potential issue.
God in his mercy, did not allow any more doubts - Joshua was perfectly fine and urinated thrice in 24 hours. This again, is a miracle, nullifying any doubts whatsoever on the condition detected.
That's the reason one my very dear brothers - quoted it saying - Joshua is a miracle pack :-) I loved the phrase to bits and hence named the blog rightly so!
I take this opportunity to THANK everyone who stood by us during the moments of uncertainties.
I thank my in-laws and parents who stood the test of faith. No words, really!
Thanks to dear cousins Gideon and Nikhil - sought their help numerous times. Thank you guys. Means a lot.
I thank Tarang, my best friend and Bharathi for all the encouragement and prayers.
I'd like to thank our church Annanagar Methodist Church, for all the prayer support.
I thank Young Adult Fellowship members specially for standing by.
I thank friends from ASCENDAS Fellowship group who prayed along with me almost every Tuesday!
Special thanks to Arun Isaac Annan for His prayers along with EC Group 4pm prayer team.
I thank our neighbours at Pentavistas apartment, who were more than family, many times!
I thank our maid, Sumathi akka, for helping us with the cooking and stuff.
I thank God for Hosanna, who had to stay with her grandparents not knowing why the mother was in the hospital.
A wonderful child indeed, never created any kind of commotion.
Both mother and child were discharged on Mar 30th and we returned home.
Courtesy: https://www.commentsyard.com/as-much-as-you-want-to-plan-your-life/
Psalm 100:5 says
For the LORD is good. His unfailing love continues forever,
and his faithfulness continues to each generation.
Amen.
11 comments:
Sure our God is a wonder working God. And Joshua indeed is a miracle pack
Great to read your testimony... Praise God
Yes, Miracle do happen. We should have 100% faith and trust with full positive thinking will leads to Miracle. David and Gracia has the positive energy flows Whith in them no doubt in it. Happy for you guys. Congratulations.
Praise the Lord!!! Our Father Jesus is always miracle doing father... Amen...
Praise God!!! It is always joyful to share and glorify our Father in heaven. Only through his guidance and strength will happen. He is a miracle Father, for man everything is impossible but our Father in heaven is possible. Anyway congrts bro.
Jones
Thank you Murali, Srinivasa Moorthy bro, Deepu, Vino and Jona!! It was great to read your comments. Yes, it is purely the hand of God who guided Gracia through this period! As a matter of tribute to our Lord Jesus, I'm so happy the blog is reaching so many people in and out of my circle of influence.
Wow! Really a Hope-instilling and Reassuring testimony! Praise and glory to our wonder working God!:)
Faith in God/Nature never let's us down in any situation.
Faith in God/Nature never let's us down in any situation.
God will do good things always for his people....
Praise God. His ways are always perfect. Thank you David brother for Sharing ur experience. This encouraged me too.
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