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A cold March wind danced around the dead of night

HAY MAKER

Well-known member
A cold March wind danced around the dead of night in Dallas as the doctor walked into the small hospital room of
Diana Blessing. She was still groggy from surgery.

Her husband, David, held her hand as they braced themselves
for the latest news.

That afternoon of March 10, 1991, complications had forced
Diana, only 24-weeks pregnant, to undergo an emergency
Cesarean to deliver couple's new daughter, Dana Lu Blessing.

At 12 inches long and weighing only one pound nine ounces,
they already knew she was perilously premature.
Still, the doctor's soft words dropped like bombs.

"I don't think she's going to make it," he said, as kindly
as he could.

"There's only a 10-percent chance she will live through the
night, and even then, if by some slim chance she does make
it, her future could be a very cruel one."

Numb with disbelief, David and Diana listened as the doctor
described the devastating problems Dana would likely face
if she survived.

She would never walk, she would never talk, she would
probably be blind, and she would certainly be prone to
other catastrophic conditions from cerebral palsy to
complete mental retardation, and on and on.

"No! No!" was all Diana could say.

She and David, with their 5-year-old son Dustin, had long
dreamed of the day they would have a daughter to become a
family of four. Now, within a matter of hours, that dream
was slipping away.

But as those first days passed, a new agony set in for
David and Diana.

Because Dana's underdeveloped nervous system was
essentially 'raw', the lightest kiss or caress only
intensified her discomfort, so they couldn't even cradle
their tiny baby girl against their chests to offer the
strength of their love. All they could do, as Dana
struggled alone beneath the ultraviolet light in the tangle
of tubes and wires, was to pray that God would stay close
to their precious little girl.

There was never a moment when Dana suddenly grew stronger. But as the weeks went by, she did slowly gain an ounce of weight here and an ounce of strength there.

At last, when Dana turned two months old, her parents were
able to hold her in their arms for the very first time. And
two months later, though doctors continued to gently but
grimly warn that her chances of surviving, much less living
any kind of normal life, were next to zero, Dana went home
from the hospital, just as her mother had predicted.

Five years later, when Dana was a petite but feisty young
girl with glittering gray eyes and an unquenchable zest for
life. She showed no signs whatsoever of any mental or
physical impairment. Simply, she was everything a little
girl can be and more. But that happy ending is far from the
end of her story.

One blistering afternoon in the summer of 1996 near her
home in Irving, Texas, Dana was sitting in her mother's lap
in the bleachers of a local ball park where her brother
Dustin's baseball team was practicing.

As always, Dana was chattering nonstop with her mother and
several other adults sitting nearby when she suddenly fell
silent

Hugging her arms across her chest, little Dana asked,
"Do you smell that?"

Smelling the air and detecting the approach of a
thunderstorm, Diana replied, "Yes, it smells like rain."

Dana closed her eyes and again asked, "Do you smell that?"

Once again, her mother replied,
"Yes, I think we're about to get wet. It smells like rain."

Still caught in the moment, Dana shook her head, patted her
thin shoulders with her small hands and loudly announced,

"No, it smells like Him.

It smells like God when you lay your head on His chest."

Tears blurred Diana's eyes as Dana happily hopped down to
play with the other children.

Before the rains came, her daughter's words confirmed what
Diana and all the members of the extended Blessing family
had known, at least in their hearts, all along.

During those long days and nights of her first two months
of her life, when her nerves were too sensitive for them to
touch her, God was holding Dana on His chest and it is His
loving scent that she remembers so well.

"I can do all things in Him who strengthens me."

This morning when the Lord opened a window to Heaven, He saw me,
and He,asked: "My child, what is your greatest wish for today?" I
responded: "Lord please, take care of the person who is reading this message, their family and their special friends. They deserve it and I love them very much" The love of God is like the ocean, you can see its
beginning, but not its end.


ANGELS EXIST but some times, since they don't all have wings, we call them , FAMILY, FRIENDS and loved ones.

I thought this was a nice EASTER STORY was emailed to me........good luck
 

Faster horses

Well-known member
Haymaker, you are just full of suprises. And what a nice one this was!
Thanks for sharing, it sure made good reading. Very touching story.

This one had special meaning to me becuause our daughter was premature, weighing only 2 lb. 8 oz. in 1963. They told us she wouldn't make it either. But she did. We got to take her home when she was 2 months old and I'm glad to say she was always very active and healthy!!


May God bless you, Haymaker!
 

ranchwife

Well-known member
Haymaker---I must admit that I am very pleasantly surprised!! :D :wink:
Beatiful story and a wonderful, loving, faith-filled message! Thanks for sharing and I sincerely hope that you have a GREAT Easter! :D :D
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
Faster horses said:
This one had special meaning to me becuause our daughter was premature, weighing only 2 lb. 8 oz. in 1963. They told us she wouldn't make it either. But she did. We got to take her home when she was 2 months old and I'm glad to say she was always very active and healthy!!


May God bless you, Haymaker!

Haymaker- I saw that before-- and I thought it was specially good then- but it is good to read anytime...

Faster Horses-- I was a preemie too- weighed a little over 3 lbs... My grandmother used to tell that when I was at her place she'd put me in a shoebox and stick me in the old bread warmer on the wood stove to keep me warm....Anytime someone has a preemie anymore I tell them this- and show them that just because you come into the world little doesn't mean you'll stay that way....
 

the_jersey_lilly_2000

Well-known member
I have an aunt that was born premature, back in 1928. Grandma has told me the story, I don't know how many times. They were livin (for some unearthly reason) on the edge of death valley. She said it was 128 degrees in the shade the day she was born. Grandad rigged up a lil shoebox size bed with lil bows on it like a covered wagon, they'd lay wet flour sacks on it, and grandad would sit in the swing and swing to make breeze to keep her cool. Grandma said she didn't have fingernails or toenails, and that the bones in her head weren't fused yet....that would be skeery. But Aunt Margaret is still alive today. Don't know if there ever was a Dr. anywhere near grandma when babies were delivered, she had em all at home.

Great story for Easter Holiday's Haymaker, thanks for postin it.
 

PPRM

Well-known member
My Sister-in-Laws chidren were both early, but Eric was only 2 pounds. I still remember watching her, I think there are no more earnest prayers than a mother has for her child in this situation........So these stories get to me because I was there to see.


When I read FH post, I thot, "Wow, 1963, they didn't have near the stuff to help as they did for Eric in 1993....But the main thing to get these kids going is Love and Prayers..

Bill Jones was the closest thing I have ever had to a grandpa. He tells of being a Premie and the same kinda shoebox story. It never really hit me until reading this story how touch and go it was. He was one of the nicest guys, but he had a ton of try and fight in him....

BTW, glad the cow and calf were found Haymaker,


PPRM
 

MsSage

Well-known member
Great story.
"No, it smells like Him.

It smells like God when you lay your head on His chest."
That reminded me of what kaitlyn would do till she was about 8.
I would hear her talking right before and after she went to sleep. Everytime I asked her who she was talking to she would say a name and most times it would be different. I asked her when she was about 5 who all the people she was talking to as she went to sleep. She told me there are God's angels that he promised her would always watch over her if she went back.

Kaitlyn had a rough time as I was carrying her. I fell and bounced on my stomach. Had some internal bleeding but she was fine. Was in a car wreck and cracked a rib.My hypoglocimeia turns into gestational diabeties When I finaly went to the hospital after being in labor for 3 weeks. I had no eaten in 3 days and begged for something I felt my blood sugar drop. They gave me some jello which in turn came right back up. In the process of getting sick Kaitlyn slammed down onto my pelvic bone and it hit her right in the soft spot. I heard the monitors alarms go off. The nurse told me to flip and reattached the monitor then called a code blue. Withing seconds I was surrounded by Drs and Nurses. The Nurse who had been with me said dont fight if we move your leg or arm just go with us. It felt like forever. I heard the Dr say lets get this little girl out to her mom.
She was delvered and I can still see the color she was ...kinda of grey not blue or red .....No cry. I watched as they worked on her ...praying and begging. After about 2 mins I heard a soft cry and they brought her over to me. They let me hold her and said take a few mins to get to know her and then they would have to take her. Most Moms tell their babies to shhhhh I laid there and told her to keep on crying. Which she did getting louder with each cry. They came back and took her to the nursery and said that she was fine. The only thing I needed to watch was the bump on her head. Which she had to have a MRI when she was 2. They found the build up was on the outside and no danger to her. Yeap she still has the bump on her head.
Never forget we all have angels to watch over us ...like Kaitlyn I think once we get to a certian age we stop seeing them.
After writting this I am going to look for mine...I need her guideness.
I have allowed too many people to influence me in negative ways. I have allowed thier petty, jelous,self destructive ways effect how I respond and interact with those around me.
Easter is a time of rebirth. There is HOPE there is Joy.
 
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