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The Miracle of Grace
Dear reader, if you are in need of a miracle today, remember that God is no respecter of persons (Acts 10:34, AMP). That means God doesn’t show favoritism, He will do miracles for you too. Even if you have been told something is impossible, remember that nothing is impossible with God (Matthew 19:26, AMP)! Lord, I ask in Jesus’ name that you would please use our story to give hope to someone in need of hope today.
At age 22, I stood in the gynecologist’s office a week after surgery hearing him say, “Well, you need to have children now because soon you will not be able to.” My mind struggled to find the reply....I wasn’t married and had no prospects. “How long do you think I have?” He thought a moment, “from what I can see, about two years.” At the time, I was so self-absorbed that I really wasn’t concerned. I didn’t want children then…..
Fast forward to age 25….I met Mr. Right and we got married. When we married, we knew that we may never be able to have children and he came from a large family. He was number eight of nine children and grew up with tons of kids in the house – siblings, cousins, nieces, and nephews. His dream was to have a family of his own.
Slowly God began to change my heart toward children. Another surgery and seven years went by……and boom! We got pregnant when I was 32 and God gave us a healthy baby girl. We named her Abigail, which means “my father rejoices” and “source of joy.” Her father was rejoicing, believe me!
I remember telling my mother, “even if I don’t get the opportunity to have another child, I will never feel cheated. Abigail has been such a blessing. The whole experience of pregnancy and childbirth was so incredible; I’ll remember it forever and always cherish that experience.” Fast forward three more years….and her sister arrived. Another two years went by and their brother made a grand entrance. We now had three children when we thought we’d have none! All we could say to the doctor was, “But God answered our prayer.”
After their brother was a year old, I began having intense pain in the area of the previous surgeries. Unable to eat anything but a liquid diet, I dropped to 108 pounds because of a blockage to my intestine caused by one of my ovaries. The doctor scheduled surgery and told me that he would try to save the ovary but the priority was to remove the blockage and due to the damage involved, it may not be possible to save the ovary. I was so discouraged.
You see, before the pain started, I had a dream. In the dream, an angel appeared to me and my husband. The angel said that he had been sent to tell us it was time fo
r the next child to come forth. I almost choked! But I knew it was all too real for me to have imagined it. I was devastated to hear the words the doctor was telling us. At my reaction, the doctor asked, “Were you planning to have more children? I assumed since you are 39 that you were not.”
I stuttered but managed to reply, “I do believe that God has another child for us.” The doctor stared at me with a long, deep stare. He replied with such compassion, “Ok, Mrs. DellaVecchio, I will do everything I can to save the ovary and your other female organs. But…. I can’t be sure of all that I will find when I open you up. We don’t have a choice. We must remove the blockage and you can’t get pregnant anyway the way it is now.”
I went to the hospital and underwent all the pre-surgery tests and was scheduled for surgery on the Monday after Mother’s Day. At the end of April, the doctor called. “Mrs. DellaVecchio, I am sorry but on the basis of your tests, we will need to cancel your surgery.”
“What? Oh no. What did the tests show?”
“You are pregnant.”
“No, doctor. You must have me confused with another patient. My name is….” I repeated my name, all my information, reminded him of what the surgery was for, and then repeated his words to me - and you even said, “you can’t get pregnant anyway the way it is now.”
He paused….then he dropped all matters of formality and got straight to the point. “Dorena! I knew that you would not believe the hospital and that is why I did not let them call you. I personally ran your blood test twice myself before I called. I know what I said, but you truly are seven days pregnant. You don’t know it yet, your body doesn’t know it yet but I am telling you that you really are.”
First I screamed in his ear. Then, I asked, “what about the blockage? What about the baby? How can my body grow a baby if I cannot eat?”
“Actually, this is the best-case scenario we could have hoped for. You see, the blockage in your ovary grew because of a hormone that is not present in pregnancy. Pregnancy will cause the blockage to shrink and then disappear better than any surgery could do and there will be no scar tissue to worry about. Your ovary will be back to normal. Basically, your body is healed because you became pregnant. See you at the first pre-natal appointment!”
It was an extra-sweet Mother’s Day that year.
The hospital put a label on my file, “elderly maternal age.” I was told this was given to any patient over 35-years old that gives birth. Nine months later, Baby Grace was born. I am forty years old. Our children are living proof that defies the label. We were told that we may never have children. Yet God decided something different and has sent us four children so far. I have felt better, younger, and became healthier with each one.
They were all conceived and born when I was told I could not get pregnant. Three of the four children were born when I was considered too old! HA! We are so blessed and thankful to and for a God of the impossible! Talk about healing a body and changing a heart!
I recently asked my husband, “Why did you marry me when you knew that you wanted children and knew I couldn’t have any?” He stated very simply, “I chose to trust God. I figured if God told me to marry you and gave me the desire to have a big family that He would either have to change me or fix you. Looks like He decided to fix you.”
Yes, that would be accurate - four children later who have challenged the medical profession. God is bigger than anything and He decides when to give life. To put the icing on the cake, He even cancelled surgery and healed me too! What can we say to that? It is only by His Grace and this is why Grace is the name we chose for this miracle gift of ours.
Copyright © 2008-2015 Dorena DellaVecchio, Ph.D.
Reader Comments...
| 2011-10-06 20:21:56 "Thank you Dorena for your beautiful encouragement. We have 2 beautiful children here and 6 in heaven. After so many miscarriages, we're weary, but we know that the Lord has told us there are more children for us. You've been such an encouragement! Blessing to you and yours! Michelle" - Michelle |
| 2011-10-04 17:34:19 "Dorena, I saw your name and thought I just have to read her story. What a huge encouragement and blessing! I am in tears at the goodness of the Lord. Thank you Jesus! We now have two sweet girls. Maybe the Lord has another for us! Thanks again! " - Lisa |
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