The Begining

“Doctor, she’s having a seizure. Her temperature is 106.3.” an nurse frantically called. Immediately the climate of the delivery room changed from an excited mother and father to worried doctors, nurses and parents as the new baby was hooked up to monitors and placed in an ICU. Initial tests were done and the baby was diagnosed as having a type of spinal meningitis very rare in babies. So rare, that there wasn’t any prescribed treatment available. The doctors would have to guess on how much and what type of medicine to give. Twelve needles were placed in the newborn infant’s back and two in her temples to release the fluids and lessen the pressure on the brain. The doctors didn’t give the parents much hope that their baby would survive and if she did, there surely would be brain damage.

The medicine they knew was hard for anyone to swallow, let alone an infant, but the baby guzzled it down letting doctor help her cling to life through fever and seizures, and terrible amounts of pressure on that tiny little brain. She was a bigger baby at a little over 8 pounds and the doctors knew that was something in their favor. She wasn't giving up. She had survived much longer already than they had anticipated.

Each day the mother stayed in the hospital caring for her beloved child. Each day she prayed the 23rd Psalms in hope that her baby would recover. After long days at work, the father would care for the baby at night while the mother went home to her other children.

The grandparents of the baby asked that she be baptized immediately. They were Catholic and were convinced that if the baby died she would go to hell. The mother refused and said that her precious child would be baptized later and if something would happen, the mother and father knew that God would not be so cruel to send a innocent precious child to hell.

Exactly four weeks later, to the amazement of all the doctors and nurses, the baby left the hospital happy and healthy and ready to take on life, and yet, the parents left concerned that maybe their baby wasn't exactly perfect.

At a physical when the child was in 5th grade the doctor asked if there had been any side effects from the meningitous. The mother only responded jokingly, if being weird is one of them. The doctor said no. The child turned out normal. No brain damage. And when the child got older their last fears were taken away. She would be able to have her own children.

That was the very beginnings.