Praise to our God Who cares about us, is loving, Who heals, and is Lord of Hosts and of miracles. Here is portions of a letter of thanks I wrote on the birth of our son Elijah, back in September 2001: Peggy and I were blessed with the birth of our baby son, Elijah on September 2, 2001. Elijah is a blessing from God, and we want to thank the Lord for showing His power through this pregnancy. And we also wish to thank the many people who prayed for us, and provided us with encouragement during this long pregnancy. Elijah's story is one of many prayers and God's love.
On December 29, 2000 we took a pregnancy test, and it came back with a light 'positive' result. Peggy immediately obtained a prescription for Progesterone, which helped us with our two other successful pregnancies. But Peggy started bleeding/spotting almost immediately.
So I prayed and attempted to fast. I wanted some credit for the healthy birth of this child, and so I reasoned that if I fast, I will have earned this baby son I had prayed for during the past three and a half years. God has to listen to me when I fast, right? But on the day I fasted, Peggy brought home a Big Mac extra value meal for lunch, and I weakened. The next day, New Year's day of 2001, Peggy passed some blood clots. We were both convinced that she had miscarried, and that we had lost another baby (We had suffered six previous miscarriages). I should have known better than to think God zaps babies because I ate a Big Mac!
But God's power and our son Elijah are both strong. During the next week, to see if she had miscarried, Peg took blood tests on two different days to see the HCG levels. When the test came back that the levels were increasing, this showed she was still pregnant.
Although the pregnancy was a blessing in testing our perseverance in prayer, we were dealt several tough battles from this pregnancy. Peggy was put on partial bed rest beginning in February 2001. She was still bleeding/spotting, and it turned out that she had a 'sub-chorionic hemorrhage'. This was a small spot by the gestational sack, which often grows larger and causes miscarriages. The first doctor we saw said that it was "fifty-fifty" whether Peggy would miscarry from this hemorrhage. But God's power shone through, as He listened to the prayers of such saints as the people in my Bible study, men's group, Peg's women's group, our family members, and the people at church. On March 2nd, Peggy had her fourteen week ultrasound, and the hemorrhage was completely gone. Praise God the healer and great Physician! And wonderfully, Peggy no longer had to be on bed rest.
But the Periontologist (a specialist in high-risk pregnancies) and ultrasound technician that were present during the ultrasound discovered another problem. I emphasize that it was a specialist doctor and the ultrasound technician here because they were very careful in checking what they discovered - there are supposed to be three vessels between Peggy and the baby, two going in to the baby and one taking waste out. During the ultrasound, they saw that there was only one cord, instead of two feeding the baby. The artery going to the baby and the one bringing waste out. Talk about life hanging by a thread! This is also a sign that the baby could later have a heart defect. But this is God's story, and so we asked for more prayers. Praise God Who is sovereign.
On April 17th, Peggy had a 'level 2' ultrasound, which is a more detailed look at the baby. During this ultrasound, we learned that the baby was healthy, and that there were no heart defects. We also saw that all three vessels/cords were present between Peggy and the baby. The third blessing was that we saw that the baby was a boy.
Now, I don't want to give the impression that our pregnancy experience was a stroll through the park. Peggy was in a great deal of pain right from the start. She had two hernias, back pain, sciatic nerve pain, and increased weight from the bed rest she was on, and so this was a hard pregnancy for my wife. But through this Jesus was our foundation and He shined and carried us through. Somehow the hernias disappeared. And the summer turned out all right, because of friends in the neighborhood that helped keep our girls busy. During the nine years we lived in our neighborhood, there were few playmates for our children. While over the summer two new families moved in with children of the same age.
Adding to Peggy's pain in the beginning of the second week of July, she started having irregular contractions. These were often strong enough to double her over with pain. But because Elijah was sitting so high in the uterus, the contractions were not effective in moving him out. So Peggy went through constant contractions, taking away her sleep, along with the considerable pain throughout her body. Only the Lord could provide us with the strength to get us through this past summer. (I hope you don't mind my adding myself in the last sentence. It's not easy being the husband during a pain-filled pregnancy, too). J
Because of Peggy's pain, I prayed that after Elijah's lungs and anti-bodies developed, that he be delivered early. I thought I heard God's voice saying that Elijah would be delivered at 37 weeks. This would be a delivery date around August 15th. However, when this date passed it was clear that the Lord's answer was that we should wait. His timing is perfect.
Which leads us to the end of August 2001. Peggy's contractions continued, but starting in the final week of August the contractions became regular. Every ten to fifteen minutes, she would have a contraction. On Saturday night (September 1st), the contractions came together as close as every three to five minutes, and so we went into the hospital. But we received what we thought was terrible news when they took an ultrasound, at approximately 9:00 p.m. Elijah had his head up near Peggy's ribcage – he was in a breach position. When the doctor arrived, she did a second ultrasound not fifteen minutes later. This time, Elijah had his head near the birth canal, but his legs were horizontally across Peggy's stomach. He was doing flip-flops!
We were blessed with a wonderful, caring doctor – Dr. Suzie Cho. She explained to us the different ways we could give birth to this somersault baby, and Peggy decided on having a c-section. We scheduled the c-section for the next morning at 8:00 a.m.
When the next morning arrived, they did one last ultrasound. Sure enough, the little stinker got in perfect position for a normal delivery. The doctor and I talked to Peggy to have her consider canceling the c-section and having a normal delivery. But Peggy was not to be swayed. Peg had fears about delivering the baby. Her fear was that there would be trouble if the she went through with the delivery. So she chose the c-section, and good thing she did. It turned out that Elijah was 9 pounds, 8 ounces, which is a big baby. And when they did deliver him, he had the umbilical cord around his neck. Both hands were also blue, and so it was fortunate for the baby that he was delivered in this way. If Peggy had waited the two weeks until his due date, who knows what they umbilical cord's cutting off of Babe-E's circulation would have meant for him.
So on September 2, 2001, Elijah Carr Wolff was born. He is healthy, strong, and beautiful. Mom, Dad, and the sisters have fallen madly in love with our Babe 'E'. It's easy when he's such a good child. Thank you again for your prayers, and praises to our heavenly Father for the many blessings He has provided. To us all.
Final note – I count 5 miracles in the birth of my son. And, let me add that Elijah is a healthy, strong boy who has no heart defects, or any other health issues. Except for, perhaps his inability to listen when Mom and Dad ask him to clean-up! My hope is that this helps you in seeing God's love and power. God answers prayer, and gives us who delight in the Lord, the desires of our heart (Psalm 37:4). /s/Tom Wolff
3 comments:
You counted 5 "miracles" wrought by prayer in Peggy's latest pregnancy and giving birth. Since, as you wrote, progesterone helped with Peggy's two previous successful pregnancies, credit for any improvement in Peggy's condition in this pregnancy most likely goes to the drug and to the medically prescribed bed rest.
Reading ultrasound images is not free of errors. One artery did not magically materialize any more than a than an amputee grows new limbs. In the first ultrasound image, only one of the two arteries was visible; in the second, both were visible. By the way, the three vessels present in a normal umbilical cord are, counter to intuition, NOT "one taking waste out" and "two feeding" the fetus; they are one VEIN carrying oxygen-rich, nutrient-rich blood TO the fetus and two ARTERIES carrying de-oxygenated blood and waste FROM the fetus. Rarely, one of these arteries is missing.
Your statement that the "third blessing was that we saw that the baby was a boy," implies that it would NOT have been a "blessing" if the baby turned out to be a third girl!
A pregnant woman's hernias can disappear after birth, e.g., "In pregnancy, the abdominal wall is passively stretched and the intra-abdominal pressure rises, and a groin hernia may appear for the first time and may even 'disappear' after the birth" [Robert Bendavid ,"Abdominal wall hernias: principles and management"]. Moreover, Peggy's weight gain caused by bed rest increased her abdominal pressure and susceptibility to hernias. If she lost that weight after birth, it's likely that the decrease in pressure caused the hernias to disappear.
The fetus develops with the head up, changes positions many times, and usually turns down before birth.
By your reckoning, every outcome is a "miracle." It would be a "miracle" if Peggy had given birth at 37 weeks, per "God's voice" telling you so. Instead, it's a "miracle" that Peggy cautiously waited and chose a C-section (an option made possible only by modern surgery). In like manner, it's a "miracle" if 29 of 30 passengers in a plane survive a crash and 1 dies, and it's also a "miracle" if 1 survives and 29 die.
The question mark in your e-mail title is fitting. I see only the applications of modern medical science to minimize the numerous complications (your word was "battles") that commonly occur in pregnancy and birth. Such complications only prove my earlier claim that the alleged "intelligent designer" blundered in the design of the human female's body and the birth process.
If the stress, pain, complications, miscarriages, and deaths resulting from that poor design are examples of "God's love," then any sensible pregnant woman ought to want desperately to be spared that love. This reminds me that Mother Teresa condescendingly told a suffering patient that his terrible pains were the kisses of Jesus, to which the man angrily cried, "Then tell Jesus to stop kissing me!"
Regards,
Tom L.
Tom Wolff Reply: I've broken down your response to 4 areas, all dealing with the topic of miracles.
1. First, you should have a better understanding of the Providence of God. Providence is where God works through a situation using people and events. So on the outside it looks as though everything took place with God having no part or involvement. While in reality is intimately over all that takes place.
I see God's Providence active in at least two parts of my son's (now 9 years old) birth story: A) how we learned about Progesterone, and. B) my wife getting pregnant;
On the topic of Progesterone, realize we had 5 miscarriages, all of which took place without the Progesterone. We learned about it when Peggy was pregnant with our daughter Maggie. We learned about it, but then the insurance company would not allow my wife to have the prescription, until she had 10 miscarriages (!?) Although we don’t know the exact causes of the failure of the early pregnancies, or the success of the last three pregnancies, it appears that the drug did help.
But if God placed a doctor in our lives, who gave us this advice when no other doctors before had, and cleared the way for the insurance approval, then I think that He is the direct cause for the success for the successful pregnancies.
B) On the topic of my wife getting pregnant allow me to share the following. We only had sex once. And it was the day after her previous period ended. I know enough about the cycle of a woman to know this was not a fertile time for her. Yes, I think this pregnancy had a miraculous, Providential start because of God’s Hand of blessing.
2. You see the appearance of the third chord as a likely error of reading the ultrasound. This is actually a topic I have a tough time in understanding. Yes, I understand that legs do not suddenly appear for an amputee. But I also understand that dead people stay dead. Yet I also know that my Lord Jesus rose from the dead after three days. With all due respect to your review of this event nine years later, you did not see the thoroughness of the specialist doctor and ultra sound technician as they conducted the ultrasound. Something beyond our understanding took place here.. (sorry all the time that I have for now).
Tom Wolff Reply (2): I have more on my reply to 2, but perhaps I'll leave that for a separate post. Moving on...
3) Baby Boy. Yes, of course, any child, boy, girl, or even a Packer fan would have been a blessing. But, I had prayed for a son. For years. And I place my faith in verses like Psalm 37:4, which says "Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart." My heart called out for my son. And God did not let me down. My son Elijah is precious to me. I love him, and I know this precious person was a gift from God.
4) Childbirth is a "blunder" or even poor design. You have repeated this charge several times, and I think this is one of the most foolish things from your writings. Millions of babies are born every year. The vast majority without complication. What an incredible process it is. Without air, the baby survives in the mother's womb. Fed and nourished, as all the parts of a human being are developed. The brain, the lungs, all of the veins arteries, the skin. It is the most amazing process. Amazing. And the mother has pain through the birth?! Your comment that it is not designed is beyond foolish. but I will hold my tongue before I say anything more.
/s/Tom W
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