The Living Womb

Mothers' Stories from The Living Womb

Heart and Soul with Jacque

My husband Mark and I discovered we were pregnant with our second child just before Valentine's Day. We felt excited, thankful, and nervous. An early sonogram revealed our little "grain of rice" floating comfortably in my uterus. Everything was fine.

We made Valentine's cards to announce our pregnancy. When we photocopied the image, we got our own surprise. There was a faint but distinct shadow of a heart surrounding our precious baby. The sense of peace we desperately needed washed over us. You see, Mark and I lost our first baby, Ryan, to a heart defect. He was only 6 months old.

Deciding to have another baby was difficult. We grieved for two years before we were ready to try again. Then we battled fear. The image of the heart that surrounded our baby girl was a sign from God for us. It was as if He was telling us it was going to be okay. It also seemed like a message from Ryan. An assurance that he had his eye on this new life.

Scientifically, the heart image around baby Sadie is explained by the reflection of sound waves off the uterine wall. Out of the thousands of angles possible, our sonographer unwittingly chose this one. We know it wasn't an accident.

Sadie is a tremendous blessing to us. She knows all about her brother Ryan. My husband and I are now expecting our third child. Sadie says it's a girl. She says she already has a brother. She's right - she does.

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A Will to Survive with Serenity

Three weeks after my positive pregnancy test, I was diagnosed with cancer. I was so scared, I could barely breathe.

The lump on my shoulder had been there for awhile. It hurt, but we hoped it was a cyst. Instead, it was a malignant tumor.

My oncologist recommended surgery to cure the synovial cell sarcoma. The anesthesiologist felt the baby was at risk, but my surgeon persisted. If the cancer spread to my lungs, there was little chance my baby or I would live until delivery. I was 13 weeks pregnant on the day of surgery. Our best hope was to remove the cancer immediately at its original site.

I wondered if it was possible that my child could endure my illness. How could an unborn baby fight a disease for which even I struggled to find the strength?

The most wonderful sound in the world was my baby's heartbeat after surgery. I finally felt hope that we might both survive.

Several weeks later, in an ultrasound, my baby raised his arm with a clenched fist held high. It was like a message to me. He was stronger than I had imagined.

The surgery was successful; my physicians did not recommend chemotherapy. They planned radiation for after the baby was born. It was hard to believe my womb was safe enough for the baby. Yet he remained there without a single complication.

When he finally arrived, screaming-mad and overwhelmed by the shock of a strange and cold environment, I felt intensely connected to him. We had just been through so much together. That night I held him close; awestruck that life thrived in turmoil ... inspired like never before at the miracle.

Jake taught me about strength - the strength of life itself, and how difficult it is to suppress.