Prayer that heals

When my daughter was born, my husband and I said "No more kids". But she was only nine months when I got pregnant again with my son. I have to admit, I doubted  myself if I can do it.  I guess, my strong belief and faith in God has turned my doubts into a positive perspective.

On the second trimester of my pregnancy, my OB Gyne told me that my blood test result had abnormalities to it. She sent me to a specialist for Maternal Serum Screening (Quad Screen). It is a test designed to identify women who have a higher than average chance to have a baby with chromosome problem such as Down Syndrome and Trisomy 18 or an open neural tube defect like spina bifida.

The test is usually performed between 15 and 20 weeks of pregnancy and measures the levels of four substances that are made by the baby and the placenta and can be found in a mother's blood stream. But anyhow when the result came, it showed that I do not have an increased risk to have a baby with an open neural tube defect or Trisomy 18. However the result indicate that there is a chance to have a child with Down Syndrome.

The result of my tests had modified this chance to 1 in 118. Turning this numbers around there is a 117 in 118 or greater 99% chance that my baby does not have DS. The genetic Counsellor asked us if we would be willing to have a prenatal test called amniocentesis that is available to analyze the baby's chromosomes before birth. She said that amniocentesis carries a 1 in 200 or 0.5% risk for complications. Complications of the test can include bleeding, loss of amniotic fluid, infection and a 1 in 750 chance for miscarriage. She also discussed to us the last type of testing called Cystic Fibrosis

We said no to all of them. We stood firm that no matter what happen, he's still our baby and we want him born. Why risk of losing your baby if there still hope from up above? Me and my husband, our families and friends prayed together that our son will be alright. When he was born, he is perfectly fit. But then my son's pediatrician informed us that based from the result he made on him, our son might have a Thalassemia ( a group of genetic blood disorder)..

My OB Gyne told me that it is impossible that our son will have that kind of disorder because in order to have it, one of us parents would have to have it. And neither of us has it. So we didn't even bother to have our son check . What for? Our son is healthy and hey sometimes this professionals can be wrong too.

We are so happy to have him. When I look at my son now, I always say that we made the right decision. This kind of ordeal gave me so much stress and agonizing time but it made me strong and confident with my beliefs and instinct. Thanks to HIS guidance!