The doctors wanted to terminate the life of my baby boy
By anonymous on 07/10/2009
The doctors wanted to terminate the life of my baby boy - one of twins - after he was born and suffered from a massive brain haemorrhage. I refused, taking into account that I might just as well end up with a boy who would live like a vegetable - with no reactions to his surroundings whatsoever, with not one single move. But at the same time I knew somehow that it would not be the case. My story is a bit long, but it is a story of victory and hope. Our twin babies were born a bit too prematurely - in the 26th week of pregnancy - i.e. in the sixth month, 22nd May 2008. The second day after the delivery at night I could not sleep and a horrible fear that something was wrong with the babies attacked me. Even though I was told by the nurses from the unit that everything was alright this fear would not leave me. I have a Christian faith and I connected to the internet and listened to praise and worship songs from YouTube. The song that spoke to me was about trusting God with your fears and He promises to be near you. I kept listening to this the whole night, again and again, until the fear left me. I believe that this night God was preparing me for the things to come. The next morning I learnt that half an hour after I spoke to the nurses the doctors found that Michael, one of the twins, had bled into his lungs and his state was very critical. In the morning it was better, but the day after they found that he had bled into both brain chambers and that this haemorrhage was VERY severe. The doctors´ suggestion was to TERMINATE his life! In other words - to take out the ventilator tube that was keeping him alive and breathing... They were saying that our son would be so severely disabled for life that there was a very high probability he could be just vegetating and would have to be fed by a gastric tube for his whole life, not being able to move nor eat by himself, that there was no sense in keeping him alive. And even if they would not terminate his life on purpose, there was still high probability for him to die anyway. They simply felt there was no sense in continuation of the medical care.
I still had in my mind that God was near me and we persuaded the doctors to continue looking after our tiny son. When we informed them that we were willing and ready to care for Michael even if the worst scenario came true, they decided to care also. But the neonatologists told us that added to the damaged brain and lungs there were a number of other problems with the baby’s kidneys and bowel. We and our friends prayed and we believe that God did touch the little body of our son and things changed. Thank God for the development of the medical science and mainly for the neonatologists - all the equipment is so tiny and sophisticated And there is more - eight weeks after the bleeding to lungs and brain happened - which was supposed to disable Michael both physically and intellectually for life, Michael is already moving his hands and legs, he was able to hold an object already in his little palm, using the fingers precisely as a healthy baby would. He could hear. He could even see!
Editors Comment:-
What an amazing story.Your courage and faith won through against all the odds. I'm sure there will be women reading your story who will be strengthened and helped. It is often a long difficult journey when a baby is born with health complications and hard to stay positive all the time.