By the Grace of God

by Ruth Wiechmann

By the grace of God, Rosemary Katheryn Wiechmann was born just before dawn, June 7, 2008, with big brown eyes and lots of beautiful brown hair, almost an exact replica of her sister in Heaven, Roseanna.

By the grace of God, the waters did not overflow us; not the flood waters of the swollen Moreau River that barred our route and kept us from getting to the hospital on time; not the anguish of remembered grief; not the mysterious sickness that carried Rosemary off to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit in a larger hospital.

By the grace of God, strength was made manifest in mortal weakness: strength for a sick baby to breathe and nurse until we got her to the doctor; strength for her to keep fighting for her life even though no one knew what was wrong with her; strength for her to hold out for two weeks until the doctors ferreted out a rare and deadly diagnosis; strength for my body to endure a very stressful month without the rest I needed right after giving birth; strength for my heart as I watched our baby live where I had seen her sister die; strength to walk back into the hospital, back into the pain of loss, day after day; strength to live for and love my baby in spite of how much I hurt.

By the grace of God, the mystery of Roseanna’s death two years ago was brought to light in Rosemary’s illness, and, while the diagnosis is severe in its sentence on our hopes of having more children, it is also merciful: Rosemary is expected to make a full recovery.

By the grace of God, we were surrounded by family and friends and neighbors and strangers who covered us with prayer, lifted Rosemary’s life up to the Father, and blessed us with generous love and support.

By the grace of God, Rosemary had the perfect care: a transport team and NICU physician who remembered how sick Roseanna had been and treated Rosemary accordingly, nurses in Bismarck who treated us like family, a doctor who wouldn’t rest until she had answers, more doctors, in Denver, who had studied with the world’s expert on Rosemary’s one in a million condition.

By the grace of God, Rosemary was airlifted to The Children’s Hospital in Denver; by the grace of God she survived a week of intensive treatment; by the grace of God, her liver began to heal. By the grace of God, she was discharged from the NICU the day she was a month old; by the grace of God, we were able to bring her home.

By the grace of God, I still have this child in my arms.

5 Comments

  1. Thanks for the testimony. Something similar happened to one of my little sisters about 12 years ago. It was a hard time but she is alive now through the grace of God.

  2. God bless you, Rachel. My younger brother was born with a rare liver disease, and had a transplant at four month of age. It was truly God’s grace that brought us through all the pain and fear, and brought Aidan, after many medical setbacks, to a happy nine years old. Though he’ll always bear the marks of his illness – mental delays, a weak left side from a stroke prior to his transplant, and other things – we’re so grateful to God for letting us keep him. He’s such a joy and blessing, and one of the best things that ever happened to us.

    Praying for you.

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