A TESTAMENT OF A MOTHERS LOVE: DEDICATED TO MY BIG SIS

♥♥ Before you were conceived, I wanted you. Before you were born, I loved you. When you were born, I saw your face and knew I was in love. Before you were an hour old, I knew I would die for you. To this day, I will ♥♥.

8 years ago today my nephew Christian was born. Early on in my sisters pregnancy from an ultrasound the doctors saw there was a complication, my nephew had a hernia and his stomach and other organs were not/may not be forming/developing properly. The doctors gave him a 10% chance of survival. At 5 months the doctors suggested that my sister terminate her pregnancy. Her response was if God wants Him God will have to take Him! She had a mother's love, a mother's faith, and a mothers determination!

When Christian was born, prematurely 2 months early, he was immediately taken from Northwestern Memorial and transferred to Children's Memorial Hospital where he lay in a bed sedated. He had to have surgery only days/weeks into his life. Nevertheless he had a praying mother, grandmother, great grandmother, aunties, uncles, and cousins. As my sister lay in her hospital bed hours later once my mother returned home my mom received a phone call that they had to give my sister a full hysterectomy.

So days went by before my sister was able to see her son. On top of the c-section delivery she now had to face another surgery herself. The day she left the hospital she went to see her son Christian. Everyday my sister would send her oldest boys off to school in Bolingbrook and drive to Chicago to see about her son. EVERYDAY......She had a mother's love, a mother's faith, and a mothers determination!

Christian spent his 1st nine months of life in the hospital on oxygen and with a feeding tube in his stomach. He came home in February 2003 with oxygen tanks and his feeding tube. My sister never once used his oxygen as she had faith and knew that he could breath but by the grace of God! She had a mother's love, a mother's faith, and a mothers determination!

Admittedly I was watching him and his feeding tube fell out, that was about the 3rd time it came out. That day my sister decided enough was enough, he would suck a bottle or learn to eat on his own. She had a mother's love, a mother's faith, and a mothers determination! That entire weekend she sat with him holding the bottle to his mouth he cried, he hollered. See Christian had never taken anything in by mouth except for his binky. So my sister went to the hospital and through the niceness of a nurse she obtained a lot of binky's and used them as bottle tops for Christian as that was the only nipple he would suck. She had a mother's love, a mother's faith, and a mothers determination!

Today Christian is 8 years old well, able bodied, and a normal child that drives his mother crazy some times.

I think what if my sister would have listened to the doctors and given up on her baby, her miracle baby? I think of how we look at a situation and we see with our flesh. I also think about the Faith that she was using during this time, she didn't believe what anyone said she placed her baby in God's hand and exercised her faith. She had a mother's love, a mother's faith, and a mothers determination!

Today we celebrate the life of our miracle baby. We Thank God for blessing us with Christian for these last 8 years and the many more years that we have with him to come.

My sister is a phenomenal woman and a great mother. She did what real mothers do she loved and nurtured her son believing in God and leaning on her faith and not her own understanding. She decided despite the odds, despite the naysayers, despite what anyone else had to say she only listened to God and what he had to say and His report said that all is well!!!!!!!

She had a mother's love, a mother's faith, and a mothers determination!

Be a blessing and be blessed,
Epiphany Essentials