God's Power Manifested

Yesterday and all of this morning, I asked God to make his power known through our little girl's life. We started out the day expecting her to be born and have lots of problems with survival. We expected Alisha to have a classical (vertical) caesarian section. We expected to have bittersweet tears seeing our daughter for the first time, but seeing her struggle to hold on to life. What I observed today I can explain as nothing less than the power of God working ferverishly.

The doctors told us there was a small chance that Alisha could deliver our girl normally (without surgery) if the baby looked like she was tolerating contractions. Around 5am her heart rate dipped several times, so the doctors cancelled the possibility of normal delivery. They wheeled Alisha away at 11am and came to get me at 11:30am, after the first incision had already taken place.

Our daughter was born at 11:49am today (October 6th) at 1 lb 3oz, measuring 11.5 inches long. She actually started trying to breathe on her own, which made it difficult for doctors to get the breathing tube into her throat. We heard her cry a few short cries as they got her ready, and then I followed her to the newborn ICU while the doctors finished Alisha's surgery.

Here's the amazing part: our baby is very active and was born without any major urgent health issues. Her Apgar score was an 8 and 9. For comparison, doctors said a full term baby was born earlier that day with similar health scores. She is already breathing room air (through a tube) when most babies need oxygenated air. This was truly a display of God's power working in our little girl. Only God sustains life and he sustained our little girl today, but he wasn't done there.

God showed his power in Alisha as well. Alisha's C-section incision was about 4 inches long, which means it will heal more quickly. Also the doctors were able to perform a standard Caesarian section (not classical), which prior to the surgery they said had about a 5% chance of happening. This is wonderful because it will be less risky with future pregnancies, and we hadn't even considered it as a possibility.

Please continue to pray for our little girl. She will remain in the newborn ICU for the next 2 months (minimum) and we'll most likely have many scares and turmoil throughout that time. She still needs your prayers. God has made his power evident in our little girl's strong start to life, and he will continue to show us how powerful he is over these next few months with your continued prayers.