Stories of Lost Children
Nathan Gift of God
by Nathan Brooks, Baltimore, MD, U.S.A.
My story starts off like most, I meet the man of my dreams, we get
married, buy a house, and along with the house we discover we are
going to have a baby. I was happy, but a little scared at the same
time. We couldn’t believe it we were going to be parents. My pregnancy
was rough for the first three or four months. I had morning, noon, and
night sickness. I really enjoyed being pregnant, I loved my belly, and
of course all the attention I got from my husband. I remember feeling
the baby kick for the first time. It was the most awesome feeling in
the world, how could any mother want to end it. Well, that’s when my
Doctor decided to send me for a sonogram. My husband and I wanted to
know the sex anyway so we were thrilled. We went to the appointment,
and the tech came in and started to look at the baby, and told us it
looked like a boy, but she wasn’t 100% sure, and then that’s when her
facial expression changed from happy to horrified. I immediately asked
what the problem was, and she kept telling me she had to get the doctor.
I was so scared. She left to get the doctor It seemed like she was gone
for hours. My husband and I just stared at the picture of our baby on
the monitor. She finally came back with the Doctor, and she looked and
told me that the baby had large ventricles. She also said that the baby’s
brain looked to be underdeveloped. I was so upset, I looked up at my
husband thinking this it just a bad dream, but it wasn’t. We had to
go to Advanced Fetal Care, so they could research what was really going
on, so I figured that this would be nothing, and they would tell us
nothing was wrong. Well that’s not what they told us, they told us our
little baby boy had a condition called “Hydrocephalus” meaning collection
of water on the brain. The specialist of the Department sat down with us
to discuss our options. He began to tell us that our baby has a good
chance of being severely disabled and would be a great burden on two
young people. The first option he gave us was to terminate the pregnancy,
my husband then made it clear to him that this was not an option for us.
He then went on to our next option to do nothing, and then next to
researching the problem. He asked us to think about it, and left the room.
I sat there with my big belly (7months pregnant) thinking how could this
doctor tell me this, to end my baby’s life before it even starts. We
decided to have a procedure done, where they would take blood from the
umbilical cord, and see if it was something viral. We had to wait for
about 2 weeks for the results. It was longest 2 weeks of my life. In
that 2 weeks we did a lot of planning and praying. We decided to name
our son Nathan meaning “Gift Of God”. I feel that’s what he was.
Our Doctor sat down with us and told us different things we may face.
Nathan may not do certain things like walk, talk, or even smile at us.
I was so numb, but I kept on acting like nothing was wrong and he would
be born like every other baby. The test results came back normal and we
were told that he was not a downs syndrome baby. I was a little relieved.
The plan was that they would induce my pregnancy at 38 weeks, and then
they would do a procedure on Nathan. They would insert a Shunt, which
is a tube going from the back of his head to his belly to help drain
the water. So from 27 weeks to 38 weeks pregnant I had a total of 13
sonograms, to keep track of the Hydrocephalus. So the big day was here,
I was going to be induced that evening. My husband and I arrived at the
hospital along with my parents around 11:30pm that evening. They put me
into a room, and started around 2am inducing me. My labor was fairly easy
for the first 8-10 hrs. It got pretty intense around 10pm that night.
Around 3am Thursday morning, September 23rd of 1999 I started feeling
a lot of pressure, and told my husband, he went and got the doctor. I
was dilated at 7cm. I started pushing at 4am and my beautiful baby boy
was born at 4:30am. I cried, my husband cried, and my parents cried right
along with me. Nathan was truly our miracle. After he was born they
examined him from head to toe. He did have Hydrocephalus, but he did
not have to be shunted yet. He did have some problems, but to me he was
fine. A couple hours after he was born, my doctor came in to tell me
they found a blood clot on his brain, and she also apologized to me by
saying, “Sorry, I know you wanted the perfect baby”, I told he was the
perfect baby. When Nathan was 2days old we took him for a MRI, to see
about the blood clot. Before the MRI my father took Nathan before God
and claimed a healing for the Blood clot. I felt peace during the test.
The Next day doctor called to tell us there was no Blood clot. We were
so happy. When Nathan was 2months old he had a shunt put in. He came
through the surgery with no complications, and he is now 19 months old.
He has Physical therapy, and occupational therapy once a week, and is
progressing well. He is now trying to crawl. He is delayed about 1year
behind, but he is like no other baby. He has touched so many lives. He
loves church, and especially when my father preaches he listens and he
loves Praise and worship, he even has his own tambourine. I know that
Nathan is here for a reason and I have been blessed being his mother.
We have a wonderful family. My Husband is an awesome father, and really
helps Nathan, and me of course. Without the Lord Nathan would not be here.
Thank you Jesus!!! www.hotlm.com/houseofthelord/Nathan_Gift_Of_God
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