Easter Miracles

Three years ago, Brenden spent his first Easter in the hospital. We were on day 22 of the hospital stay following his birth. He still wasn't eating by mouth, he was primarily on tube feeds. That Good Friday we had our weekly family meeting with the doctors, where we were told they thought he should have a G-tube put in since he was making little progress with eating by mouth. The surgery was scheduled for the following Thursday. That same day I was on the phone with my grandmother and she told me they were praying for an Easter miracle. I was slowly losing faith, as it seemed we faced setback after setback when all we wanted was to get our baby home.

That Friday night Jonathan stayed with Brenden and I went to our room to get some sleep. At 11:27pm, my phone rang. As soon as I saw it was Jonathan, I panicked. I answered the phone with "what's wrong?" He said, "nothing, Brenden just finished his whole bottle." My reply, "what do you mean he finished his whole bottle?" At the time, Brenden's feeds were 85 cc's and he was only taking between 5-20 cc's by mouth, so I thought he surely didn't drink the whole thing himself. Jonathan assured me that yes, Brenden drank 76 cc's of his bottle, which was close enough to 85 for the nurse to say he took the whole thing! I immediately called my parents, who were staying at a nearby hotel. They didn't answer, but my dad called me back. I told him that Brenden had just finished his whole bottle and his response, "What do you mean he finished the whole bottle?" (Like father, like daughter!)

We did in fact receive our Easter miracle that my grandparents were praying for. They kept us a few days to make sure he was in fact taking 100% of his feeds by mouth, and that Thursday, instead of going into the operating room for a G-tube as scheduled, we finally walked out of the hospital a family of 3....to go home!!

Last Easter, we were preparing for Brenden's brain and spinal surgery that he underwent last May. As I sit here right now, we are able to enjoy our Easter, celebrating the miracles that we have seen in Brenden over the past year. Just this morning while in the bathroom while I was getting ready, Brenden stood up at our bathtub with no help. The tub in our bathroom is a big garden tub, so it's much taller and Brenden has been trying forever to stand up at it, but has never been able to. This morning, he did it. And proudly announced, "Mommy, me stood up all by myself. Clap for me!" And of course I did, and then praised God for one more accomplishment.

Have a Happy Easter and while your kids are enjoying their Easter baskets, take time to remember the real reason we celebrate...the resurrection of our Savior!