A guest story by Camille
I will never forget Christmas of 2003. We had a 6 year old and an almost 3 year old. I was expecting our third baby due the end of February, but I was not feeling well on Christmas Eve. My first baby was born 3 months early due to toxemia so my husband and I were very aware of the risks and signs I needed to be looking for to indicate a return of toxemia.
After checking my blood pressure and admitting it was too high, I consented to calling the doctor. After the phone call, we packed a bag, left the kids with their grandparents and went to the hospital. I asked my husband to go back home to spend Christmas Eve with our two young children. That evening, very worried about another premature baby, I began to pray and ponder. I felt very strongly she was with me. I felt a peace in that room that I had not felt all day long.
On December 26th, during a horrible blizzard, the power to the hospital was lost. That night, on back up power, she was born. She did remarkably well in the NICU. She was growing and learning to breathe quickly. When my first baby was born early, I was able to spend all the time I wanted at the hospital with him. Now, with baby #3, I had two small kids at home. It was very difficult to split my time between the kids that needed meat home and the baby in the NICU.
While in the hospital, there were many babies coming in with RSV. My baby had slight congestion, but the NICU tested her several times before discharging her and always got a negative RSV result. Finally, we were able to bring our tiny daughter home. A couple of days after we had her home, I put her in her swing while I was getting dressed for the day. As I glanced at her, I noticed she was a grey-ish blue color. I picked her up and tried to get her to breathe again the way I had been taught in the NICU. Finally she started breathing. I took her to the pediatrician and told them to fix my baby!
Later that evening, she was admitted back to the hospital. She was eventually moved into an isolation chamber in the NICU. At this point, she was in a drug induced coma and put on a ventilator. They were doing everything they could to help her little lungs recover from the RSV she had. Because she was in such a precarious state, we could not go into the isolation chamber room very often and we could not touch her. When we did so, all of her vitals would crash. She was in such a sensitive and dangerous state.
After a couple of days of this, I couldn’t take it anymore. I knelt on my bedroom floor and begged and pleaded with God to let her know somehow we were praying and fasting for her. I was so worried about leaving her alone. She had been home with our family. She recognized our voices. I was so distraught when I thought about her in the hospital without any family.
At that moment, I received one of the greatest tender mercies I have ever had. I could hear my Heavenly Father tell me she was not alone. She had people that loved her surrounding her little isolette. I then had the image of my grandmother who had passed away, and my husband’s grandmother with her. I thought of others in our family who had died and I knew they loved her and were being sent to be with her when I could not.
“I testify of angels, both the heavenly and the mortal kind. In doing so I am testifying that God never leaves us alone, never leaves us unaided in the challenges that we face. Nor will he, so long as time shall last, or the earth shall stand, or there shall be one man [or woman or child] upon the face thereof to be saved. On occasions, global or personal, we may feel we are distanced from God, shut out from heaven, lost, alone in dark and dreary places. Often enough that distress can be of our own making, but even then the Father of us all is watching and assisting. And always there are those angels who come and go all around us, seen and unseen, known and unknown, mortal and immortal.”
Elder Jeffery R. Holland October 2008
I believe this to be true! In one of my darkest moments, I know loving members of my family who are true angels were sent to comfort and be with my baby when I could not. I will always be grateful to them and to a loving Heavenly Father that gave me a little glimpse of how families are connected to each other. Those yet to be born and those who have passed away care for us. They are angels that are connected to us and desire to help us.
My name is Camille. I am a wife of 25 years! I am a home schooling mother of 5 kids ages 7-21. If I can find free time, I enjoy spending time with my family, reading, watching TV and discussing politics. You will most often find me in sweats, a t-shirt, and an apron.
