My daughter is a miracle.
Of course, every parent thinks that about their child but in my daughter’s case, the events surrounding her early months are nothing short of God’s providence for a special little girl.
It started in China. We conceived after my Chinese friends couldn’t understand how I’d been married for so long without a baby. After an arduous amount of tests, they sent me on my way and I had no idea whether or not conception was out of our reach.
Months later I awoke with the distinct feeling that I was pregnant. It was like some innate knowledge that sent the whole of my body tingling, I wasn’t sick in any way I was just suddenly aware.
The prayer that changed everything
As we had a class that morning we had to do our usual twenty minute motorcycle ride into school but something was different. Usually I would just get on the back of the bike and get the day over and done with. But that day I had the urge to pray.
Growing up non-Christian praying for travelling mercies or for meal blessings was foreign to me. I didn’t do it personally because I’d thought it was a legalistic force of habit for people raised in Christian homes. But that morning after feeling instinctively like there was life inside of me; I prayed for a safe journey for me, my husband and my little baby.
I had no idea of the effect of that prayer when not ten minutes later we were hit by a car and thrown painfully from our motorbike.
Odd and fortuitous placements
The accident happened in front of another school where a fellow teacher had been entering the school. I remembered the point of accident with startling clarity; the look on the man’s face when he seemingly hit the accelerator instead of the brake. But then when I saw him coming straight for us, he ended up clipping the back of our bike instead of hitting us directly.
Something in our placement had changed.
Because of the fortuitous place we got hit, a bus from the school picked us up (neither me nor my husband could physically move at this point) and rushed us straight to the emergency room.
When we got there someone from our school had met us there and was asking us all the questions of where we were in pain. My back was in agony and I could not sit or stand. I could only lie helplessly and try not to move. There were huge gashes that were bleeding all around my ankles.
My husband was worse off. His collarbone was broken in three places, completely smashed to bits and his thumb was also broken. They took him away to x-ray him immediately.
More than a feeling
While I was waiting I told our colleague that I felt that I was pregnant. She was startled.
“Are you sure?” she asked.
“I’m pretty sure.” And although it was only an unconfirmed feeling at the time, what I didn’t realize was this mere feeling was saving my baby’s life.
She asked me if I wanted to keep the baby telling me I shouldn’t because they couldn’t x-ray me if I wanted to remain pregnant. This was small town China and with no safety equipment and x-ray would certainly abort the pregnancy.
“If I’m pregnant of course I want to keep it.”
Even knowing that it would cause me more pain in the long run, there was no way I could end my child’s life. I would just have to endure, even if those around me thought it was a bad idea.
Because I couldn’t sit or stand to urinate, they gave me an ultrasound where I saw a tiny kidney bean on the screen - my daughter. My husband and I were separated for that first night and he was told of the good news by somebody else.
I cried, lonely and in anguish, not knowing what was to become of me since I couldn’t get tested by the doctors for what was causing my back pain. My husband got by worse; he had to wait a day before being operated on because they needed permission from the Canadian embassy first.
Our healing God
After a month in hospital and three months of bed rest, I had finally healed enough to walk around and so could my husband.
Our motorcycling days were long behind us. I booked a ticket back to Australia in my fourth month of pregnancy and my days in China were also done with.
After drama in the delivery room from a stressed out baby girl, she was finally delivered healthily to us. To think that if it hadn’t been from that tingly feeling that morning and that prayer, I would have lost her long ago, not knowing what might have been. I know we were protected in that accident and God our healer knew exactly what to do to keep me rested during those first crucial months of pregnancy.
I thank God for my beautiful girl and the miracle in China which saved her.
Bridget makes websites for various para-church ministries, is part of an Indigenous church and writes visual novels at www.christianvisualnovel.com.
Bridget Brenton’s previous articles may be viewed at www.pressserviceinternational.org/bridget-brenton.html