As a newly married couple we tried for a baby but needed fertility treatment. We found it difficult to accept but we kept praying and waiting, praying and waiting until after a year and a half I found out that I was pregnant. You can’t imagine what a Joy filled our hearts.
After 27 weeks I had my first appointment at Newham hospital, but I had been feeling strange pains since the morning and when I saw the doctor I told her about the pain. She examined me and that found out that things were not right with the womb and they were premature labour pains.
I had to stay in the hospital overnight while they stitched the neck of the womb.When they checked baby’s heart beat they were concerned that the umbilical cord was around the baby’s neck and I might need an emergency C section.Things were getting worse and worse. We were very worried because we were unprepared for what was happening to us, but we kept praying, and informed the church that we were in hospital.
Shakir was with me as our son Jonathan was delivered but I just had a glimpse of him from a distance. The doctors came to the recovery ward where they tried to stop my bleeding but finally decided to operate. If they had failed to stop the bleeding, they might have needed to remove my uterus. The doctor said to me, “I am going to give you general anaesthesia but there is a risk of fatality as well”. I said to him “I’ll be back– I know’’. I was very scared because I was alone and did not know what to do, but the last thing I remember was praying in tongues.
Next morning I was relieved to find out that my uterus was safe. I could not speak because of the tubes in my mouth, but in my thoughts but gave praise to the Lord. They also told me that I was very lucky to be alive because I nearly died. They had managed to save my uterus because it was my first pregnancy and I might have plans for more. I was thankful to God for giving me a new life.
Shakir said the baby was fine but as the visiting hours were over my family had to leave me, but in the the night a paediatrician woke me because my son was having breathing difficulties, – his lungs were not fully formed. We needed to transfer him to Royal London Hospital for further treatment. They asked for signed consent from us but they wanted Shakir to be in the ambulance during the transfer.
They said they would try to bring my baby to me so that I could have a look. They wanted me to at least seen him in case he didn't make it. The hospital was trying to contact my husband but they couldn’t get hold of him; he was fast asleep and his mobile was on silent mode. I was unable to contact anyone from friends and family, church. I prayed and prayed and prayed. I said to the Lord,
“Father I know this child is your promise fulfilled in our life. You have given him to me. Take control of this situation: I plea the blood of Jesus on his lungs and all over his body. I won’t let him go he is my portion of blessing. Help me to overcome this trial of faith. Lord I do not doubt your powers, no matter what the doctors say I just know one thing that nothing is impossible with you. I can’t tell my husband or anyone what’s going on but you are close to me and I believe you have hedge of protection around me and my child”.
At 4am the doctor said my son was better but the heart beat was very irregular but I gave my consent for the transfer. Shakir came to see me and told me that the police had picked him up to go in the ambulance to the Royal London. The baby had stabilised but during the night the baby had to be resuscitated before transfer. We praised the Lord for answering our prayers.
I went to see my son for the first time on the 3rd of August 2010. He was in an incubator and on a ventilator, and although he was small we prayed for him, gave thanks to the Lord and left.
Later on that night we received a call from Royal London saying that the baby wasn't well and he might need emergency surgery.
At the hospital I could barely watch because his tummy was bluish green and inflated like a balloon. I cried and when they explained that his Intestine was perforated and if they would not do surgery but he might not survive.
In the waiting room both of us cried in front of the Lord asked him “What’s happening to us? Why does our baby have to go through all that? He is so small and so vulnerable. Lord remember that his is from you, we got him as our prayers’ answer so why?” We reminded God of all his promises and prayed “This is our promised blessing given by you and we plea the blood of the precious lamb on our baby and nothing will come near him –neither sickness nor death. You have breathed your breath in him so he will live and we will see him growing up in you.”
After the operation the surgeon said “you’ve got a tough son, when we were stitching it was like wet tissue paper. It was so fragile but he’s survived. We will see how things work now”.
After 30 days in hospital we named him Jonathan Gabriel (Jonathan means “Gift of God” and Gabriel “Champion of God”).
Now he had four stomas on his stomach but had burned the skin around it. They were trying different ointments and stoma bags but the infected area was increasing day by day. In September they tried to close up all four stomas but they only managed two of them. They did not want to rush because it would be too much for little Jonathan.
As Jonathan was recovering from the third operation, he was able to breath on his own, out of the incubator and in a cot. One evening I was holding him when we noticed that on the monitor the de-saturation level was going down and down and he was turning bluish grey –he had an infection. For the first few days it was getting worse so he was then given antibiotics. Slowly, the infection dropped but this whole period took almost a month.
In October they operated again and for the first time Jonathan's body was functioning properly.
In December 2010, Jonathan was moved to Newham and he learnt to feed orally and spent his first Christmas in hospital. We were a little sad that day but we gave thanks to the Lord for his life. We knew that there are many Christmas days to come when we’ll be together as a family.
Then came the long awaited day when Jonathan was discharged. Wow!... I literally could not sleep for two nights and the excitement was overwhelming. We were happy, excited and impatient to bring him home. We decorated our house, called the church to pray for this amazing moment, dressed up and brought Jonathan home. That was the happiest day of our life. The joy was beyond expression. God is great and he is faithful!
God has been with us during this tough journey. He led us and gave us the strength to keep our faith in him. There were times we were sad, hurt, tired and exhausted but we were never disappointed, complaining or grumbling.
We sing that ‘strength will rise as we wait upon the Lord.’ God gave us all the strength we needed in this long journey. We want to tell you all that our God holds us in his hands.
Today Jonathan is growing well and is taking his feed orally. He was 1kg when he was born, 4.25kg when discharged. He is 5.40 kg now.
After 27 weeks I had my first appointment at Newham hospital, but I had been feeling strange pains since the morning and when I saw the doctor I told her about the pain. She examined me and that found out that things were not right with the womb and they were premature labour pains.
I had to stay in the hospital overnight while they stitched the neck of the womb.When they checked baby’s heart beat they were concerned that the umbilical cord was around the baby’s neck and I might need an emergency C section.Things were getting worse and worse. We were very worried because we were unprepared for what was happening to us, but we kept praying, and informed the church that we were in hospital.
Shakir was with me as our son Jonathan was delivered but I just had a glimpse of him from a distance. The doctors came to the recovery ward where they tried to stop my bleeding but finally decided to operate. If they had failed to stop the bleeding, they might have needed to remove my uterus. The doctor said to me, “I am going to give you general anaesthesia but there is a risk of fatality as well”. I said to him “I’ll be back– I know’’. I was very scared because I was alone and did not know what to do, but the last thing I remember was praying in tongues.
Next morning I was relieved to find out that my uterus was safe. I could not speak because of the tubes in my mouth, but in my thoughts but gave praise to the Lord. They also told me that I was very lucky to be alive because I nearly died. They had managed to save my uterus because it was my first pregnancy and I might have plans for more. I was thankful to God for giving me a new life.
Shakir said the baby was fine but as the visiting hours were over my family had to leave me, but in the the night a paediatrician woke me because my son was having breathing difficulties, – his lungs were not fully formed. We needed to transfer him to Royal London Hospital for further treatment. They asked for signed consent from us but they wanted Shakir to be in the ambulance during the transfer.
They said they would try to bring my baby to me so that I could have a look. They wanted me to at least seen him in case he didn't make it. The hospital was trying to contact my husband but they couldn’t get hold of him; he was fast asleep and his mobile was on silent mode. I was unable to contact anyone from friends and family, church. I prayed and prayed and prayed. I said to the Lord,
“Father I know this child is your promise fulfilled in our life. You have given him to me. Take control of this situation: I plea the blood of Jesus on his lungs and all over his body. I won’t let him go he is my portion of blessing. Help me to overcome this trial of faith. Lord I do not doubt your powers, no matter what the doctors say I just know one thing that nothing is impossible with you. I can’t tell my husband or anyone what’s going on but you are close to me and I believe you have hedge of protection around me and my child”.
At 4am the doctor said my son was better but the heart beat was very irregular but I gave my consent for the transfer. Shakir came to see me and told me that the police had picked him up to go in the ambulance to the Royal London. The baby had stabilised but during the night the baby had to be resuscitated before transfer. We praised the Lord for answering our prayers.
I went to see my son for the first time on the 3rd of August 2010. He was in an incubator and on a ventilator, and although he was small we prayed for him, gave thanks to the Lord and left.
Later on that night we received a call from Royal London saying that the baby wasn't well and he might need emergency surgery.
At the hospital I could barely watch because his tummy was bluish green and inflated like a balloon. I cried and when they explained that his Intestine was perforated and if they would not do surgery but he might not survive.
In the waiting room both of us cried in front of the Lord asked him “What’s happening to us? Why does our baby have to go through all that? He is so small and so vulnerable. Lord remember that his is from you, we got him as our prayers’ answer so why?” We reminded God of all his promises and prayed “This is our promised blessing given by you and we plea the blood of the precious lamb on our baby and nothing will come near him –neither sickness nor death. You have breathed your breath in him so he will live and we will see him growing up in you.”
After the operation the surgeon said “you’ve got a tough son, when we were stitching it was like wet tissue paper. It was so fragile but he’s survived. We will see how things work now”.
After 30 days in hospital we named him Jonathan Gabriel (Jonathan means “Gift of God” and Gabriel “Champion of God”).
Now he had four stomas on his stomach but had burned the skin around it. They were trying different ointments and stoma bags but the infected area was increasing day by day. In September they tried to close up all four stomas but they only managed two of them. They did not want to rush because it would be too much for little Jonathan.
As Jonathan was recovering from the third operation, he was able to breath on his own, out of the incubator and in a cot. One evening I was holding him when we noticed that on the monitor the de-saturation level was going down and down and he was turning bluish grey –he had an infection. For the first few days it was getting worse so he was then given antibiotics. Slowly, the infection dropped but this whole period took almost a month.
In October they operated again and for the first time Jonathan's body was functioning properly.
In December 2010, Jonathan was moved to Newham and he learnt to feed orally and spent his first Christmas in hospital. We were a little sad that day but we gave thanks to the Lord for his life. We knew that there are many Christmas days to come when we’ll be together as a family.
Then came the long awaited day when Jonathan was discharged. Wow!... I literally could not sleep for two nights and the excitement was overwhelming. We were happy, excited and impatient to bring him home. We decorated our house, called the church to pray for this amazing moment, dressed up and brought Jonathan home. That was the happiest day of our life. The joy was beyond expression. God is great and he is faithful!
God has been with us during this tough journey. He led us and gave us the strength to keep our faith in him. There were times we were sad, hurt, tired and exhausted but we were never disappointed, complaining or grumbling.
We sing that ‘strength will rise as we wait upon the Lord.’ God gave us all the strength we needed in this long journey. We want to tell you all that our God holds us in his hands.
Today Jonathan is growing well and is taking his feed orally. He was 1kg when he was born, 4.25kg when discharged. He is 5.40 kg now.
