A few dear friends hosted a shower for Baby Raptor a few weeks before he was born. As part of our showers in our church group we usually have some sort of prayer time. My prayer requests were a little detailed because of the nature of the knowledge we had about Johnny before he was born. I have been reflecting on these prayers and how they have been answered in different ways. I will try to address these reflections over the coming days.
One of our first prayers was- Praise that Raptor is growing great and not showing any signs of complications thus far, prayers that this report continues. Praise and prayers for the medical team we have in place, praise for their concern, support, and knowledge. Prayers for good decisions and clear communication in our appointments and delivery to come.
What a well timed prayer! We were so blessed that, throughout our pregnancy, Johnny showed no signs of complications and growth issues. In fact, as I stated before, Johnny had very few indicators of T21 after his initial diagnosis. With kids with Down syndrome, they have to be on the lookout for major growth issues, heart problems, and other intestinal issues as well. Additionally, there can be major placental failure late in the pregnancy which leads to a high occurrence of these babies passing away in the womb. We were fortunate to have such diligence in our doctors working together to keep an eye on my body and Johnny to make sure he was ok.
This prayer was answered fully when I went into the MFS the Tuesday before Johnny was born. As I wrote in his birth story, I had been feeling out of sorts, but nothing serious enough to warrant a call into the doctor. Thankfully, this visit was well timed to show that the good health we had experienced so far had run it's course and it was time to intervene. Dr. TamTam stayed calm and checked and rechecked to make sure each measurement was as precise as possible. He looked as closely as he could at the baby, watching each breathe, watching the heart beat, making sure it was as consistent as it needed to be. He worked together with Dr. Norton to make the call to admit me to make sure we would not end up with a more precarious situation on our hands. I am so thankful for God's hand of protection over Johnny at this time, for as quickly as either my fluid was leaking or wasn't regenerating, we could have faced a very dangerous experience within a matter of a day or two. The whole experience in making the decision to admit me to the hospital and make sure Raptor was ok was absolutely seamless and absolutely the right call. I really think God prepared my heart for this too because I remember having a feeling that morning that we were going to have to make a decision like this and that I would be spending the night in the hospital. Each and every decision was so clear. The doctor's tried to made a conservative call in admitting me for fluids and monitoring rather than jumping to immediate induction or emergency c-section. The ultrasound tech the morning he was born got clear pictures that clearly stated this problem wasn't going away (as the fluid levels had dropped despite being on constant i.v. fluids). And when it was time to induce me, I had already begun dilating more on my own, so my body was in the best possible state for an induction.
Sometimes God works through ways that we don't understand and other times, like in the case of our labor and delivery, he works within the knowledge of our medical community. He puts you in the right places at the right time with the right people watching over you and ensures that you will be taken care of. We are immensely thankful for our doctors and their abilities to compassionately take care of us, we couldn't have asked for a better situation in this regard.
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