When Doctors Say Abortion Necessary
I get the L.A. Times headlines in my mailbox each day along with several nationwide news purveyors. I usually skim through the headlines and leads, only opening links to those of vital interest or impact. I rarely read feature length articles clear through. Today was different...
Today, there was a full length feature (see link at end of this post) about a not particularly religious woman who decided to not to abort a baby she was told would have no brain. This was a single mom of other children, one of them disabled (she'd been offered an abortion before his birth, too). She had no support system when she made her choice. Her story is heartbreaking and compelling, but there's more...
In this story, I learned of an effective and wonderful ministry for those who face the birth of a "damaged" child. Oh, how I wish I had had that before Crystal's birth! Long before Roe vs. Wade, I was almost ordered to have an abortion. In fact, the surgery was already scheduled before I was told about it!
I had been admitted to the ER with symptoms like meningitis, stiff neck, excruciating head pain, nausea and more. But it was an atypical form, and nothing seemed to touch it. The only thing they could do was treat the pain with massive doses of morphine. Weeks went by as they tried one experimental drug after another (University of Utah Med School, a Teaching Hospital).
Gradually, I lost my hearing, sense of smell, balance and will to live. I could not eat. The nausea, like the head pain, resisted all treatment. Then, after 13 weeks in the hospital, it was discovered I was pregnant... about 4 months, they guessed. Decisions were made, but I was not included.
My tube feeding (I was on an NG tube) was stopped at midnight and they came in to prep me for surgery early the next morning. Oh, yes, they presented me a consent form to sign. I was dopey from my pain meds, but God enabled me a moment of clarity and I refused to agree to killing my baby! All day, nurses and doctors came by to convince me that this baby had no chance because of the many experimental drugs I had been given and with the long use of morphine, the baby would be born an addict and mentally defective if it even lived to term.
I was heartbroken. I prayed and begged God to heal me and my baby. Of course, I asked to be taken off all but the bare necessity of meds. I did need something to manage the pain. All other treatment was withdrawn. I could only imagine the harm it may have done my baby. Thoughts of Thalidamide babies with missing or horridly deformed limbs assaulted my days and nightmares of brainless babies with twisted bodies attacken my nights.
After about 6 more weeks, I was allowed to go home even though I was still very ill which was evident, my CS fluid (fluid in spinal cord and cranial areas) was still cloudy and the pressure was still up (part of the pain problem is pressure). God had granted some restoration of hearing and smell, but I still could not walk for the dizziness, plus I was weak from being in bed almost 5 months. The NG tube was removed even though most of what I ate still came back up. Later, when I saw my main neurologist in the hall, he was amazed. He told me that they had assumed I would die and since I begged to go home, they granted what they thought was my "last wish." God is greater than all our woes!
It was a hard pregnancy. I was sick almost constantly. The head pain and other neuro symptoms slowly subsided. I stopped going back for spinal taps, and weaned myself from the morphine, taking it only when the pain was dangerously unbearable. But the hardest part of this pregnancy was grief over my baby. They had convinced me that my baby was surely deformed and brain damaged, that it might not even live to term. I avoided doctors all I could. It was a big
mistake.
Crystal Ann was born by emergency C-section/hysterectomy... performed in a doctor's office examining room! Praise God for Dr. Guettmacher who realized what had happened when I went unconscious on the exam table. In less than a minute, and not a second too soon, he had me open and Crystal out. My overworked uterus had a weak spot under the placenta, a bulge that he would have known about had I been seeing him as I should! Now, during a routine Braxton-Hicks contraction, it began to rip apart, tearing engorged blood vessels as it went.
The placenta came lose and the baby is prompted to inhale; instead of air, she got a lungful of blood. I was rapidly bleeding out. God used Dr. Guettmacher and his office staff to thwart satan's dark scheme.
I woke up back in University Hospital in a panic. Groggy, I saw my painful and bandaged abdomen and connected it with that abortion that I had refused. I screamed, "Where's my baby?!" Then I pulled out my tubes and went in search of her. Sure enough, I was in the maternity ward. What a relief! Then, at the nursery window, I could not see my baby. Fear welled higher in my throat. Tears with a mind of their own flowed down my cheeks onto the flimsy hospital gown.
Soon, huge arms engulfed me from behind, and an angel in uniform whispered in my ear, "Hold still, Sweetie, while I tie up your gown. You don' wanna be givin' folks a cheeky smile, do you?" Then this merciful woman took me to the intensive care nursery where my beautiful and ever so tiny baby lay fighting for her life. She was perfect in every way! The blood she had aspirated was her only problem, but it was a huge problem. Not too huge for God...
God answers prayer. He does the impossible and the unexpected. He puts up His mighty hand and says to the enemy, "That's far enough. No more!" Over and over, this life was threatened, and each time, God spoke LIFE.
Crystal is more than sharp, she's got an IQ above 130 an is one of the most vocal believers I have ever known. She is a bold witness who loves the Lord and lives life passionately. Is she that way because she feels God went out of His way to save her? No, I really doubt she ever thinks about that. Someday, we'll enjoy reviewing all this at the feet of the Master. Today, I praise God for who He is and how He operates... even when I don't understand it.
Now, the link the the great story in the L.A. Times. Be sure to view the pictures, it starts with the baby's ring.
BTW, Braxton-Hicks contraction are non-labor practice contractions found more frequently in women who have had several babies. Believe me, I fit that mold!
Today, there was a full length feature (see link at end of this post) about a not particularly religious woman who decided to not to abort a baby she was told would have no brain. This was a single mom of other children, one of them disabled (she'd been offered an abortion before his birth, too). She had no support system when she made her choice. Her story is heartbreaking and compelling, but there's more...
In this story, I learned of an effective and wonderful ministry for those who face the birth of a "damaged" child. Oh, how I wish I had had that before Crystal's birth! Long before Roe vs. Wade, I was almost ordered to have an abortion. In fact, the surgery was already scheduled before I was told about it!
I had been admitted to the ER with symptoms like meningitis, stiff neck, excruciating head pain, nausea and more. But it was an atypical form, and nothing seemed to touch it. The only thing they could do was treat the pain with massive doses of morphine. Weeks went by as they tried one experimental drug after another (University of Utah Med School, a Teaching Hospital).
Gradually, I lost my hearing, sense of smell, balance and will to live. I could not eat. The nausea, like the head pain, resisted all treatment. Then, after 13 weeks in the hospital, it was discovered I was pregnant... about 4 months, they guessed. Decisions were made, but I was not included.
My tube feeding (I was on an NG tube) was stopped at midnight and they came in to prep me for surgery early the next morning. Oh, yes, they presented me a consent form to sign. I was dopey from my pain meds, but God enabled me a moment of clarity and I refused to agree to killing my baby! All day, nurses and doctors came by to convince me that this baby had no chance because of the many experimental drugs I had been given and with the long use of morphine, the baby would be born an addict and mentally defective if it even lived to term.
I was heartbroken. I prayed and begged God to heal me and my baby. Of course, I asked to be taken off all but the bare necessity of meds. I did need something to manage the pain. All other treatment was withdrawn. I could only imagine the harm it may have done my baby. Thoughts of Thalidamide babies with missing or horridly deformed limbs assaulted my days and nightmares of brainless babies with twisted bodies attacken my nights.
After about 6 more weeks, I was allowed to go home even though I was still very ill which was evident, my CS fluid (fluid in spinal cord and cranial areas) was still cloudy and the pressure was still up (part of the pain problem is pressure). God had granted some restoration of hearing and smell, but I still could not walk for the dizziness, plus I was weak from being in bed almost 5 months. The NG tube was removed even though most of what I ate still came back up. Later, when I saw my main neurologist in the hall, he was amazed. He told me that they had assumed I would die and since I begged to go home, they granted what they thought was my "last wish." God is greater than all our woes!
It was a hard pregnancy. I was sick almost constantly. The head pain and other neuro symptoms slowly subsided. I stopped going back for spinal taps, and weaned myself from the morphine, taking it only when the pain was dangerously unbearable. But the hardest part of this pregnancy was grief over my baby. They had convinced me that my baby was surely deformed and brain damaged, that it might not even live to term. I avoided doctors all I could. It was a big
mistake.
Crystal Ann was born by emergency C-section/hysterectomy... performed in a doctor's office examining room! Praise God for Dr. Guettmacher who realized what had happened when I went unconscious on the exam table. In less than a minute, and not a second too soon, he had me open and Crystal out. My overworked uterus had a weak spot under the placenta, a bulge that he would have known about had I been seeing him as I should! Now, during a routine Braxton-Hicks contraction, it began to rip apart, tearing engorged blood vessels as it went.
The placenta came lose and the baby is prompted to inhale; instead of air, she got a lungful of blood. I was rapidly bleeding out. God used Dr. Guettmacher and his office staff to thwart satan's dark scheme.
I woke up back in University Hospital in a panic. Groggy, I saw my painful and bandaged abdomen and connected it with that abortion that I had refused. I screamed, "Where's my baby?!" Then I pulled out my tubes and went in search of her. Sure enough, I was in the maternity ward. What a relief! Then, at the nursery window, I could not see my baby. Fear welled higher in my throat. Tears with a mind of their own flowed down my cheeks onto the flimsy hospital gown.
Soon, huge arms engulfed me from behind, and an angel in uniform whispered in my ear, "Hold still, Sweetie, while I tie up your gown. You don' wanna be givin' folks a cheeky smile, do you?" Then this merciful woman took me to the intensive care nursery where my beautiful and ever so tiny baby lay fighting for her life. She was perfect in every way! The blood she had aspirated was her only problem, but it was a huge problem. Not too huge for God...
God answers prayer. He does the impossible and the unexpected. He puts up His mighty hand and says to the enemy, "That's far enough. No more!" Over and over, this life was threatened, and each time, God spoke LIFE.
Crystal is more than sharp, she's got an IQ above 130 an is one of the most vocal believers I have ever known. She is a bold witness who loves the Lord and lives life passionately. Is she that way because she feels God went out of His way to save her? No, I really doubt she ever thinks about that. Someday, we'll enjoy reviewing all this at the feet of the Master. Today, I praise God for who He is and how He operates... even when I don't understand it.
Now, the link the the great story in the L.A. Times. Be sure to view the pictures, it starts with the baby's ring.
BTW, Braxton-Hicks contraction are non-labor practice contractions found more frequently in women who have had several babies. Believe me, I fit that mold!
1 Comments:
Iona, I am constantly amazed by how much you have been through in your life. I can not imagine the physical and emotional pain that you had to go through. You are a very brave woman. I didn't read the article, not because it wouldn't have been a good story, but honestly, it was just too long of a story. But, I am so glad that newspapers will still print stories of people who choose to have their babies, especially in this day and age when woman use abortion as a type of birth control so often. It's just sad.
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