donforrester1947 posted: " I recently had an opportunity to visit with a long-time friend of my son. Their friendship has flourished since their years together in the Corps of Cadets at Texas A & M. As luck would have it, he and his wife lived on the same cul-de-sac at t" Carpe Diem
I recently had an opportunity to visit with a long-time friend of my son. Their friendship has flourished since their years together in the Corps of Cadets at Texas A & M. As luck would have it, he and his wife lived on the same cul-de-sac at the Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton as my son and daughter-in-law. I remember the location well. It was twenty-five miles from the main gate in the middle of nowhere. Craig saw it as an opportunity to hunt. He couldn't have been more pleased.
Craig's friend retired as a Lt. Colonel in the U.S. Marine Corps a few years ago. As is often the case with former Aggies, his family moved back to College Station. This distance is about an hour's drive from where my son lives.
I asked my son's friend about the birth of his daughter. I remembered that she had been born in a Dodge truck quickly parked on the side of a highway. He had the honor of delivering his daughter. To suggest that it was a chilly experience is an understatement. It was during the night on February 15th between Quantico, VA and Bethesda, MD. As he remembers, it was very cold that night.
He said that on occasion, when he's been asked to provide a personal testimony about God's coming alongside at the point of need, he shares the story of his daughter's birth.
About halfway through his wife's pregnancy, their unborn child was diagnosed with premature atrial contractions. The contractions start in the heart's upper chamber and can give the feeling of your heart skipping a beat. Reportedly, immediately following birth, the condition usually corrects itself. If not, surgery is required.
As the due date came close, they traveled from Quantico, VA every Friday to Bethesda Naval Hospital in Maryland for a check-up. In fact, on February 15th, the morning of her birth, they had done so. Reportedly it was not yet time.
At 10:00 p.m. that evening things radically changed. It unmistakenly was time. On their way to Bethesda, they actually drove past the exit to one hospital thinking it was to their advantage to go where they had received services.
A short time later, his wife authoritatively said "Pull over and dial 911." By the time he got the passenger door open, he was greeted with the sight of his daughter's head. Her birth was immediate.
When the ambulance arrived, the attendants didn't appear to be in a rush to get to the truck. John hurriedly communicated that previously there were two of them, and now there was three. They stepped up their pace.
By the way, John said his daughter's color was blue. A hospital was located off the very next exit on the highway. It wasn't Bethesda, but it was a welcomed sight.
When John had called 9ll, he told the operator about the premature atrial contractions. The doctor who examined their daughter was very knowledgeable. The condition had not corrected itself, but he told the nursing staff to stay away from the infant. He didn't want anyone to even touch or pick her up.
He told the parents that God has an incredible plan and that it just needed more time. A device was placed on his daughter to check her oxygen level. It needed to stay above 90. John was assigned the task of watching the screen. It never dropped below 90. The doctor subsequently returned and sat in the room monitoring her condition. John dozed off. When he awakened, the doctor said everything was fine. The condition had corrected itself as God had designed.
His daughter's color was no longer blue. The doctor said they would be able to go home the following day. The next morning before leaving the hospital, they wanted to contact the doctor to thank him for his investment of time.
When they asked the nurse where they could find the doctor, she seemed confused. She said there had not been a doctor on duty the previous evening. They described the doctor, and it was an aha moment for the nurse. She mentioned a doctor's name and said that he was not on staff at their hospital. He was a Neonatologist that lived next door to the hospital.
He made his services available when they were needed. He specialized in premature babies or newborns with high risk or complex health conditions. His presence was a Godsend.
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