Happy Birthday, David!

Happy Birthday to our wonderful, godly son David, who celebrates his 29th birthday today!  We are so thankful God let him live and be such a blessing to us!

David was due in early May 1982, and at this time his dad was still working on his thesis.  We thought, great, he will be born just before graduation, and Dewayne's parents will get to see him when they come.  God had a February surprise for us, though.

I went into the hospital on the weekend with labor pains.  The doctor gave me IV meds to try and stop labor; by Sunday they thought they were successful, though I was still having contractions.  They thought it was just Braxton-Hicks at that point, so they sent me home Monday morning.  I thought, "I'll be back!"

Sure enough, Wednesday evening I was definitely in labor, and was told to go to the hospital.  We tried to leave about 10 p.m. but got stuck in the snow.  Some kind neighbors heard us and pushed us out.  We had a 30-mile drive to the hospital, so I was sitting there breathing through the contractions.  My husband commented, "This isn't how I pictured it--I thought you'd be screaming."  That was funny.

The doctor didn't want to give me any medications since the baby was so early, so I kept doing my breathing while Dewayne stood by (rather helplessly, since we had not gone to the childbirth classes yet) for moral support.  Thankfully, hard labor was short, and he was born around 2:00 a.m., then immediately whisked away.  My parents were there, and Mom saw him briefly as they hurried by.

We were all able to see him for short periods of time the next day, but he had several episodes where his breathing stopped, so they told us he needed to be transported to Ft. Wayne, where they had the facilities needed to help him.  That night, around 10, the ambulance came with a special team, and we said goodbye to our son, not knowing if he would survive the trip to the other hospital.  Shortly after midnight, I got the call--he had arrived safely.  Praise the Lord!  Then I could sleep.

Thus began 51 long days of 35-mile trips to the hospital several times a week to visit him.  We were very thankful for the care and treatment he received.  After the first week, he was really in pretty good shape for being so early, and it was mostly a matter of his maturing to a certain point to be able to go home.  He had to weigh at least 5 lbs. and be able to take a bottle.

It was slow going, with weight gains and losses, but finally he reached 5 lbs.  He was not excited about bottles, though; at last he took one for a whole day, and they released him.  He never had another bottle; it was mom or nothing until he weaned to a cup.  They did send him home with a heart/breathing monitor, which gave us a few scares, but he has been in good health all his life since.

David accepted Jesus Christ as his Savior and Lord at an early age, and we thank the Lord for his godly life and testimony.