It was 1988, and we were expecting our fourth child. I was 19 weeks pregnant. I casually mentioned to my doctor that I had not yet felt the baby move. He suggested we do an ultrasound. I was so excited to have my first ultrasound! My husband, David, had been out of town and arrived minutes before I entered the diagnostic lab. We were both excited to see our little baby and experience this amazing technology. The technician took many images and measurements and then asked us to wait for the radiologist. He arrived and said, “You need to go back to your family doctor to discuss the findings of the ultrasound”.
Our World is Turned Upside Down
Confused, we went back to our doctor’s office. We were told that our baby had a condition called hydrops fetalis. He explained it is a condition that is “life-threatening where abnormal amounts of fluid build up in a fetus or newborn, causing swelling in two or more body areas. This swelling can interfere with organ development and function. It often leads to infant death before or after birth.”
What? This was not at all what we were expecting. Our excitement quickly turned to distress.
My husband gave me a priesthood blessing, and I distinctly remember him saying I would be able to accept whatever Heavenly Father had in store for me and this baby. An incredible feeling of peace came over me, and I knew I had to trust Heavenly Father. This peace is described in John: “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” (John 14:27)
Our family doctor referred us to a high-risk obstetrics clinic to be under the care of a specialist. Within a few days, we met with the specialist who arranged for an amniocentesis. During the procedure, they tried to retrieve fetal blood from the umbilical cord in an effort to gather more information. We went home, praying the specialists were able to obtain the information they needed to save this child. As a family, we prayed frequently to understand Heavenly Father’s will for our baby.
The Lord Gives Us a Miracle
A follow-up ultrasound was done a week later. The specialist said, “I don’t know what you are doing, but whatever it is, keep it up! Your baby’s condition has improved. If we didn’t have hours of videotape and ultrasound to prove the existence of the hydrops condition, my colleagues would never believe this.”
We knew what happened! Heavenly Father had granted us a miracle in relation to our baby.
The specialist continued to monitor the baby and me regularly by ultrasound. When I went into labour, my husband gave me a priesthood blessing before we went to the hospital. I experienced that same feeling of peace that I received when he first gave me a blessing on the news of the hydrops condition. This peace is recorded in Philippians: “And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus”. (Philippians 4:7)
As soon as our daughter was born, the medical staff immediately took her away for a thorough examination. After what seemed like an eternity, our doctor returned and announced, “You have yourself a miracle baby! She has a mild heart murmur and a slightly elevated white blood cell count, but other than that, she is perfect”.
Our hearts were full of gratitude for this miracle! We named our daughter Katelyn. She has been a great joy and a huge blessing in our lives. Katelyn is now a mother of three beautiful daughters.
We Do Not Always Understand the Lord’s Purposes
When Katelyn was about 10 years old, I was talking with my best friend, who was a labour and delivery nurse. She said, “We had a sad shift today. We had a hydrops baby that died shortly after it was born”. I said, “Katelyn is my hydrops baby”.
She responded, “Oh, she couldn’t have been a hydrops baby because they don’t live”.
My response was, “I know…. But she was diagnosed with hydrops. At her birth, our doctor and the medical staff told us that she was a miracle baby.”
After a long pause, she replied, “Wow, she really is a miracle!” Once again, I was filled with immense gratitude.
Years later, I was in a Relief Society class. A new sister in our ward commented on how devastated she was when her son died at birth from hydrops. I was confused. Why did my baby live, and this sister’s baby did not? I am confident that I was not more righteous than her. I likely did not have more faith than she did. Why was I granted this miracle? That question has been on my mind for many years.
Letting God Prevail is Life’s Greatest Lesson
Looking back, this experience I had in 1988 created a strong foundation for my testimony. By helping me through this challenge, Heavenly Father prepared me for more challenges to come. They included daughters with multiple miscarriages, a 17-year-old son who became permanently blind in one eye and almost died, a daughter’s divorce, personal surgeries, and a husband with terminal brain cancer, to name only a few of our challenges so far.
We didn’t always receive the miracles that we had hoped and prayed for. However, as we put our trust in Heavenly Father, each challenge we faced involved miracles, and each has a story of its own. Babies did not live, but others came later. Sight was not restored, but our son is alive and functioning well. Divorce happened, but our daughter later married a wonderful man. Surgeries occurred with unexpected results, but life continued. My husband’s brain cancer still exists, but a two-year survival prognosis has turned into 15 years so far. Heavenly Father said: “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:8-9).
Through each challenge, I realized Heavenly Father knows what is best for me and my family. His ways are greater than our ways. I am so grateful to Him for the miracles that my family has received. I do not know how and why some blessings are granted and others are not. I believe we have to let our will be “swallowed up in the will of the Father”. (Mosiah 15:7). As Elder Bednar said, “Do you have the faith not to be healed?.. We recognized a principle that applies to every devoted disciple: strong faith in the Savior is submissively accepting of His will and timing in our lives—even if the outcome is not what we hoped for or wanted.” (David L. cBednar, That We Might 'Not...Shrink, Mar. 2013)
I believe that as we submit our will to Heavenly Father, He will help us navigate through our trials, and peace will come.