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Sam's Miraculous Birth!
Samuel Doran Wright came into this world at Montreal Jewish General Hospital at 4lbs, 14 oz. on April 17th, almost 2 months before his due date.
Sammy is the first Canadian citizen in our family. His first name means, "God has heard," and his middle name (named after my dad) means, "pilgrim, stranger, or exile" ...or immigrant.
God knew this baby's story completely and has graciously revealed just what we needed to know piece by piece along the way. His timing was divine if not miraculous!
Thank you all so much for keeping our family in prayer. This pregnancy has been challenging and unpredictable but God has shown Himself sovereign, gracious, and has orchestrated every detail. Here's the story from my (Geoff) perspective so you can see a bit more of God's presence in this and how your prayers have surrounded us during this time.
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Terms to know
Placenta - The organ than gives nutrients to the baby.
Placenta Previa - An occasional condition where the placenta is blocking the birth canal. A complication that isn't life-threatening but can have scary effects during the pregnancy and results in a planned c-section not long before due date.
Vasa Previa - A rare condition where vital blood vessels to the baby are blocking the birth canal. These blood vessels are vulnerable to rupture during labour and lose the baby's blood supply.
Preterm baby - Full term pregnancy is 40 weeks. Babies born before 37 weeks are medically premature.
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The Timeline (working backwards)
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11:02 (April 16) - Jillian calls me in a crying panic saying that her water broke.
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12:02 (April 17) - Exactly one hour later, Samuel was born by emergency C-section.
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11:00 (April 16) - A friend in Quebec, unable to sleep, was praying for our pregnancy unknowingly at the same time as Jillian's water broke.
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12:05 (April 17) - A friend of ours in Maine woke up to his son yelling, "Geoff!" and they prayed for our pregnancy unknowingly while Samual was born.
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10:25pm (April 16)
Some friends from Maine arrived to stay at our apartment for a quick trip to Montreal they had planned. Because they were here (Just 30 minutes before Jill's water broke!) I was able to leave the kids sleeping to go immediately to the hospital and not worry about the kids the next day.
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April 16th (AM)
The first day in the hospital felt like a whole week. It was exhausting and yet with no real physical pain, discomfort, or warning signs it seemed like waiting in the hospital for observation could be useless. We didn't know Jill's water would break just the very next day after being admitted! Had they decided to admit us at 33 weeks instead of 32 (which would have been reasonable and likely) we would have most likely lost Sam's life.
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Week 32 (April 15)
Week 32 is when our regularly scheduled ultrasound was planned for. Since our last scheduled ultrasound (at 22 weeks) we had only heard about Placenta Previa (a non life-threatening condition). If things went "according to plan" we would have planned for a full term baby and expected a 32 week ultrasound, not a 32 week emergency c-section! Knowing this now, if the water broke at 32 weeks without knowing about Vasa Previa (a life-threatening condition to the baby's life source). We may have lost Sammy, especially if it occurred at home.
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An unplanned ultrasound that saved the day
We were supposed to go to Pennsylvania in March but because of the Placenta Previa (minor complication) we were hesitant to travel if the placenta was at risk of bleeding while we were out of the country. Despite being unplanned, we went out of our way to ask for an extra ultrasound (at 28 weeks) to check if the placenta was in a safe enough position for us to travel.
This is when we found out not only is the placenta in a vulnerable position but vital blood vessels to the baby were in danger! The ultrasound tech said, "if we didn't catch this it could have been catastrophic!"
Because of this divine appointment Jillian was able to be in the right place at the right time for baby Sam to live!
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The Name
God gave us a confidence in Samuel's name long before we knew his gender. On the day Jillian found out she was pregnant she started reading the book of 1 Samuel. The first story is about a woman named Hannah. Hannah was barren and had no hope of producing an heir or future lineage. One night she was "pouring her heart out before the Lord," God heard her prayer for a son," and she called him Samuel, for she said, 'I have asked for him from the Lord.'"
Though we didn't face the odds that Hannah was up against we do know that God is the One who hears and has been with us through this all!
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Next steps...
We are so blessed by Samuel's life and health and God's perfect timing and protection. Jill is recovering well and should be discharged before the weekend. Born at 32 weeks Samuel is between very to moderately premature and will still need lots of help for the next month especially with breathing and eating. He will probably remain in the hospital until late May or early June. Samuel's development was at a good stage when he was born, he had a great weight for his stage, and he's making progress so we are so hopeful for speedy development. Haven and Elijah won't be able to meet their brother until he comes home so they are waiting patiently. At least Jill will visit him about every day but that will have it's own challenges.
Thank you for your prayers, gifts, and meals. We can't say thank you enough and we are constantly reminded of God's love. We are surrounded by his steadfast love. We are reminded that the church is a body and when one member is in need it is just surrounded with help for healing. We are reminded that the church is a family with people giving up their time and resources to help us. Thank you all!
- Geoff and Jillian, Haven, Elijah, Samuel
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