A True Testimony

(I recieved this as an email, and wanted to share it with all of you...)

I couldn’t stop crying as I read this testimony of a couples’s love and faith in Him. I know I dont have their faith – do you?

Judith and I got married on the 30th of December 04. We live in Panjim and work in Margao, 1½ hour's drive from our home.She teaches college, and I work for the Government of Goa. I am in the music ministry of the Panjim Charismatic prayer group; Judy, a very active member of “Singles For Christ'.

The morning of 13th June 2005, the feast of St. Anthony, Judy took a pregnancy test and we were delighted that it was positive. We thanked God for His wonderful gift of this baby. We consulted a gynecologist, and went for the regular checkups.

At our 5th month appointment, the doctor was disturbed after the Scan. He asked us to take a second opinion, which we did and then... The Numbing news! Our baby had no kidneys (bilateral renal genesis). The doctor advised us that in such cases the babies are stillborn in more than 40% of cases while those born, die within 4 hours. Other abnormalities include: dehydrated skin, cleft lip and palate, wide set eyes, parrot beak nose, receding chin, large low set ears, major abnormalities of the head, limbs,etc.

Medical opinions in Bombay and abroad echoed this. Many doctors, friends and relatives advised us to abort as they felt that it didn't make sense Judy going through all the usual complications of pregnancy, knowing our baby would survive a maximum of 4 hours. Besides the horrific experience of seeing our baby so deformed, and then the breast milk suppression drugs Judy would need to take, which could be cancer causing. For us though, this baby was God's gift to us, and we loved and cherished our gift. NO WAY we would abort! We knew our baby had a problem, we knew what to expect, God was merciful to us.

We prayed, for hours, everyday, with daily visits to the Blessed Sacrament, for a total healing in our baby. We read the word of God. As days went by our prayer gradually stepped up into praise and thanksgiving, then just went on to total surrender, and as God's infinite love unfolded for us, we trusted Him completely and prayed "Thy will be done" Amazingly, throughout, the Lord never let us feel bitter about what had happened, we never ever asked 'WHY US'! God had given us the gift of faith.

Slowly we began to see how God was providing for us, a kind lady from my office who lives close to our work place, offered the entire first floor of her house for us to live in, provided us with excellent food and took great care of us. People we had never met before would come, introduce themselves and tell us they were praying for us and offer help. God loved us, and cared for us. We would come across passages in various spiritual books a day before we would need them. Like one night I showed Judy a passage about thanking God for everything. The next morning Judy couldn't feel baby's movement, the doctor had instructed us that if this happened we had to rush to hospital, as it would mean that our baby had died in the womb. Judy just prayed " Lord my baby isn't moving, I don't need to understand why, but I thank you for this" Within 15 minutes our baby started moving again. Hallelujah!! Some weeks later Judy also had an asthma attack, which could have induced labor, in between her blood pressure too was shooting up, but we always got timely treatment. God was protecting our baby and us. We were now at 35 weeks, close to full term. Our baby was not supposed to survive beyond 30 weeks.

Our gynecologist advised us to consult at the Goa Medical College, as he felt that the baby had to be delivered soon as there were some complications.

25th January 2006: At the Goa Medical College, the very able assistant professor in Gynecology, told us our baby's chances of surviving a normal delivery were ZERO. But there was a slim chance our baby may survive a couple of hours if by caesarian section. God strengthened Judy, she opted for the caesarian. Many reviled her for this decision, but she stood firm. This was the only way our darling baby could be baptized. The surgery was scheduled for 5:30 pm, but Judy was rushed in at 1:30 pm itself, as her blood pressure was going up and our baby's heartbeat had dropped from 140 to 80 beats per minute. All throughout a tension filled hour outside the OT, our friends and relatives maintained a prayerful vigil. 2:30 pm, the surgeon came out and told us that our baby was alive, but for how long she couldn't say.

The priest arrived to baptize our baby and we rushed to the neonatal unit. I was very nervous entering. I didn't know what to expect. When the doctor led us to this beautiful baby boy, I thought she made a mistake. I didn't see any of the abnormalities I was told to expect. He seemed so perfect. What a compassionate God!! He yelled when we began to pray. Our son was baptized DERON ANTHONY. He survived a full 26 hours, thanks to wonderful pro-life pediatricians who gave him the best medical care.

26th January, 4:15 pm. God took our baby back to Him. Blessed be His name!! I was devastated when informed. I went to Judy, I didn't need to tell her, she saw it on my face. We fell into each other's arms and had a good cry, and then amazingly, we spontaneously began thanking God. We said a prayer thanking God for this wonderful period in our lives, a period during which He gave us the gift of parenthood, and inundated us with graces and blessings. He carried us, to achieve the goal of being ideal parents; parents who led their child back to Him. God had rewarded us, with our very own intercessor.

Our little angels' thanksgiving mass and funeral was a beautiful and touching service; celebrated by Fr. Patrick Viegas, who had baptized Deron,I called Judy on her cell phone, and left it on through the service, so she could be part of it from her hospital bed.

Yes! Losing our child is very painful. Psychologically we did take a battering. Judy went through many physical hardships as well. Never once did she complain. Through it all the advice & prayer support of Our parish priests, Sr. Mareena, Aneel Aranha, Charismatics, Couples for Christ, Crusaders, and their intercessory groups, our friends & relatives, carried us into a new experience of the Lord's intimate love. We are overwhelmed by the way people reached out to us, we pray the Lord continues to bless them all!

Merwyn Caldeira