The summer of 2003 was a very busy time. We spent May and June camping at different camp grounds along the coast. The days we were home I helped our daughter Sheila out as much as possible, she was pregnant and sick the whole nine months.

They had their home up for sale, It sold the first part of June. The baby was due on July 25 th, So a lot of time was spent sorting and packing, when ever I could, I spent time at her house before leaving for the coast again. We got them moved the second weekend in June.

We had some commitments on the weekend of July 18th, So we left for Seaside Friday morning, I called Sheila and talked to her as we pulled onto the freeway, I asked if she was ok? Yes, she assured me, It's ok for you to go. So on we went, and I had this uneasy feeling that I should be staying at home, The farther we went, the worse I felt about going so far away, Ya I know, Seaside is only three hours away, But I had this nagging feeling that kept rising in the pit of my stomach, Saying don't go, but on we went, I thought to myself Ok, so we are at Seaside. l'lI just make the best of it. I kept her in my Prayers all day.

I was supposed to have a stamp class on Friday afternoon, But they switched me to Saturday afternoon, So I kept myself busy with other things all day. I was glad when it was finally bedtime, because that would bring me closer to getting home before that baby was born. For quite some time Sheila kept telling me that she was going to have the baby on my birthday,July,19th. I thought that would be just great to have a grandchild born on my birthday. But there was one draw back, we had to be at Seaside on that weekend, so I told her she had better wait till I got home. She just laughed about that, and kept telling me it was going to be born on the 19th,She said if she needed to have a cesarean she wanted to schedule it on the 19th. But unfortunately they don't schedule those on weekend and Saturdays at the Lebanon hospital, and the doctor said every thing was going just great.

It was finally bedtime, and I was tired from a busy day, I soon drifted off to sleep, Then in the stillness of the night What was that? Why is the alarm going off in the middle of the night? There it is again. What is it? It's not the alarm, It's the phone, I'm fully awake now, I dash out of bed and rush to the phone, hello... Then I hear a sad tired voice.. Mom Sheila had the baby.. I say no she didn't, thinking it was a joke because it was now the 19th. He quietly said.. yes Mom, she really did, My heart drops, He doesn't sound very excited, something is wrong.. he continues.. things were going so good.. then things turned bad ..Oh so bad, I could contain myself no longer.. whats wrong? what happened? Is Sheila ok? is the baby ok? Fear gripped my heart and squeezed so tight I could hardly breath, Sheila is ok now, but her uterus tore into shreds and she lost a sagnificant amount of blood, but she's stable now.

When it tore, the baby came out of the uterus which cut off the oxygen supply for Veronica. She's breathing now, and is on oxygen but they had to do CPR and really work with her to get her to breathe. She didn't breathe on her own for about 15 minutes. One of the doctors said she may be severely brain damaged. She isn't responding as well as they would like. But she's hanging on. We'll just have to take it one day at a time.

They are taking her to Eugene, to Sacred heart hospital, I don't know what to do, I feel like I need to go with the baby, and I feel like I need to stay with Sheila, but she's kind of sedated and will most likely sleep most of the night. Oh Mom, what should I do?

Well if she's going to be sleeping anyway, I think you should go with the baby, She needs to hear your voice... Ok I'll go with her, he says. but I have to go now, they are here for her, Just keep Praying. I tell him don't worry about it, She's in the Lord hands. I hang up, in shock I just sit there , wondering  Why did this happen?

About 20 minutes later the phone rings again, Oh no, Please Lord don't let this be more bad news. Fearing the worst I answer, Praise the Lord it was a bit more encouraging news this time, The baby was only without oxygen about   6 to 9 minutes, and there may not be as much brain damage as they first thought ,and maybe none at all. Just keep Praying.

Then he said  "oh by the way she was born on your birthday", I told Sheila between contractions to hang on a bit longer, "it's just a few minutes, before Moms birthday." She was born 14 minutes after twelve am.

We hang up once more. I just sat there Praying, Praying for the dear Angel God sent to us, But who's life was hanging, in the balance. What was the outcome to be? Life is so uncertain, I just sat there thinking of what Alvie must be going through, as he's standing at the door watching, Something must be dreadfully wrong, they ask him to leave the room, and Sheila kept saying no, no, I need him here, You just don't understand, I've got to have him here, A nurse brings him in He quietly kneels at her, side, lays his hand on her and says a little prayer and says It will be ok, " I'll be Praying for you "Gave her a kiss on the forehead, and was escorted out again.

A night of joyful anticipation had turned into a night of fearful uncertainties, Were his Dear wife and baby going to be alright? Or would he have to face the future without them? Only God knew the answer to that question. As he stood watching in silence, fear gripping at his heart, he felt so helpless, He could do nothing but Pray, Dear Lord Please let them be alright, Please let them live, With all the "what "ifs" running through his mind, He cries out, Lord They are in your hands, I can do nothing.. may  your will be done, But in his heart, he so desperately does not want to give them up, And Prays again, Not my will, Lord, But your will be done.

Oh such a helpless feeling standing there watching them work with her little limp body, hearing them say, breathe baby, come on breathe! His heart must have been breaking to watch that scene unfold .

At some time later a Dr. comes out to talk to him, Then says "can I Pray with you?" She sends a plea heavenward for the tiny baby, and strength for her parents. Then a glimmer of hope, she is breathing, in his heart he breathes A silent Prayer of thanks,

At four a.m. I finally headed back to bed, and slept till eight, then went over to son Ernie's (Veronica's Uncle) RV to tell them the news. The day dragged on and on, I was in a daze, my mind was not really there, It was with a new little someone whom I had not yet met. I hoped and Prayed God would allow her to stay, So that I could get to know her. This Dear little wonder, who was born on my birthday, and had my name. I Needed to go home.. Now!! But our commitments kept us there. Oh would this day never end?

We got everything ready to leave for home early Sunday morning instead of staying for church. We left by six a.m. It was a long three  hour ride home, but I slept some of the time. Finally I was walking into my Dear daughters room, and thanked the Lord He had spared her life. After I was sure Sheila was all right, we headed for Eugene to meet a very special little girl, who was struggling for her life (due to her brain swelling from lack of oxygen). Before we went in to see her, Alvie stopped me and said" Look Mom, I just want you to know before we go in , That she's hooked up to all kinds of wires and tubes, We need to stay calm for her sake. Don't touch her skin, you can lay your hand on her tummy on top of her blanket, but don't rub or pat, Her brain is still swollen, and it will agitate and stimulate her and they don't want that, Talk or sing softly to her, But most of all Pray..   

Then there she was all hooked up. She looked so tiny and helpless, but she had captured my heart. What a sweet little girl, she seemed a bit restless, they said it was from the trauma. But when she heard her Daddy talking or singing to her she settled down. He was constantly talking or singing to her, which the doctors encouraged, as it helped her. She had about 30 wires glued and taped to her head to show the brain wave activity.

After 72 hours the doctors were encouraged by what they saw and took them off, now she only had the heart monitor, oxygen and feeding tube but then one day she forgot to breathe while she slept. She was also on a c-pap machine for awhile. The said she didn't sleep well the first few days because of the trauma. So when she finally did sleep, it was a deep sleep, which made her forget to breathe.

Back at the hospital in Lebanon, Sheila lay waiting for the day she could go to be with her Dear little baby. As she lay there Praying for the little one she had only seen in a picture, and in the incubator, The song "Gods way is best" Kept going through her mind. She had put her little one into Gods care, there was nothing they could do but Pray for healing, and fully trust in Him.

By Tuesday Sheila was finally able to go to Eugene to be with her new baby. It was hard on her to be in Lebanon, with Alvie and the baby in Eugene. They got a room at the Ronald McDonald house a block and a half away. Alvie pushed her to and from the hospital in a wheelchair the first week, then the second week I stayed with her, so Alvie could go home to the other children and go to work.

Little Veronica Marie was making small improvements everyday, We could hold her now, and she responded to our voices. But she was still a very tired sick little girl. Many, many times one or the other of us who were with the baby would lay a hand on her, and silently send a Prayer for healing Heavenward. God heard all those Prayers.

Some may wonder why did this happen? Could it be that He wanted to remind us that He is in control? That we need to have faith and fully trust Him with our lives and the lives of those we love. He preformed a miracle that night. First because there usually isn't a cesarean team at the hospital at night and on weekends. But there was another Lady in labor that night, things weren't progressing the way they should, so they called in the C-Section team . The Lady was as prepped and ready. They were waiting on the doctor who had stopped for something, and was about fifteen minutes late, The doctor arrived and was ready to make the first incision, when a nurse rushed in to get the doctor to see what was going on with Sheila. They quickly wheeled out the lady and wheeled Sheila in. God had His hand on them all, that night, Had the doctor already made that first cut on the other lady, It would have been to late to help Sheila, It could so easily have went the other way, we could have lost them both, It was no coincident that things happened this way .God was there, He knew what was about to happen, He was there directing the whole scene as it unfolded. He had a very special little girl that needed a very special family, He had it all planed, God has brought us all closer through this,   We thank Him for His love and care.     

March 12, 2004

Little Veronica is now 7 months old, they say so far she shows no signs of brain damage, She does have a few minor motor skill problems, She has some problems with her arms and hands, they lay in her lap a lot, But she has improved a lot in the last three weeks, and is beginning to use them more and more since we started working with her arms. God is still working with her and she is a work in progress. We need not question why God allows things to happen. We need only to trust that He knows why, and that we can say "Your will be done Lord" and then except what He gives, No matter what the out come my be, Knowing that He will always keep us in His nail scared hands through it all.

August 17, 2006

Veronica started therapy when she was a year old, She has come a long way since then. She started watching  "signing time" and learned sign language at a very young age. She didn't start talking until December of 2005. Her words aren't real plain some times, and she still uses some sign language   she is a very happy little girl, and deals with her disabilities very well, yes she gets frustrated now and then, when she can't make her hands and feet do what she wants them to do, But mostly she is determined  to do what the other kids do.

In May of 2006 she had her first seizure, which lasted about 10 or 15 minutes, she is now on medication for that. She had a real hard one the first part of August, when we were on our way home from her neurologist, we sat along the freeway for about 30 minutes waiting for it to end, was almost over, then began to get worse. We called her Dr.  who said bring her in to the  ER. We were just a little way from an emergency turn around, so I put on the four way flashers and made the turn around without getting caught. She was just beginning to come out of the sezure when we got there. They kept her there for five hours. She has had seizures since that big one, but they were short light ones. The hard one effected her speech a bit. She had also learned  to eat by herself fairly well. But now we are working to get her back to where she was on her eating. She wants us to hold her head  so it doesn't shake so much when she eats.