— Susan’s pregnancy with Anne, Anne’s birth — 1982 and 1983 —
Not long after we had arrived in Kansas City, we received the delightful news that Susan was pregnant again. We were elated and offered fervent prayers that this pregnancy would be carried to full term and that we could be blessed with a sweet baby to raise. All went well until September 24th of 1982 when we had a real scare. Susan began to leak some fluid, and Dr. Cameron, upon examining her, found that she had an incompetent cervix. Arrangements were promptly made to have a cervical cerclage placed in order to prevent further leakage and dilation. The surgery went well, and we were relieved to see the leaking stop and the baby continue to grow. This near disaster turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Without this leak, Susan might have progressed to six months gestation or so and then had a complete rupture of the membranes. With 20/20 hindsight, it became apparent that we lost our triplets due to this same problem. This saddened us greatly, but we were grateful that all was well with this pregnancy. All went well until October 30 when Susan started to leak amniotic fluid again. Dr. Cameron put Susan at strict bedrest for the remainder of her pregnancy. The ensuing 4 months were very challenging for us, but no price was too great to pay to have Susan carry this pregnancy to term. In early January of 1983 we had another scare, as Susan had some blood-tinged vaginal discharge for about 2 or 3 days. With the help of the priesthood and prayer, it cleared and didn’t reoccur. We think this problem was associated with her cerclage. In February, we were surprised one night to find all of the residents and some of their wives at our door for a surprise baby shower. We had a lot of fun and received some real cute presents. It was a very thoughtful and kind gesture. Our little apartment was filled to overflowing with people.
March 4, 1983 was one of the great days in our lives, as our sweet little daughter Anne was born. Susan had a stress test on the 2nd which showed some tendency toward fetal distress. The test was repeated on the 4th and the decision was made to go ahead with a Cesarean Section because the baby showed some distress. Dr. Carlin put Susan to sleep and Dr. William Cameron performed the Cesarean section. Our little girl was born weighing 6 lbs 6 oz at 12:20 pm on the 4th. She was 19 inches long. What a wonderful moment it was for me to see our baby delivered and the surge of joy I felt when I saw that our baby was a girl! I had secretly hoped for a little girl all these months. I was elated beyond expression. The baby had some trouble with secretions and hypoglycemia after birth and she was taken to the neonatal intensive care unit. She didn’t feed well at first and she required an intravenous line for several days. We eventually discovered that her bowels were obstructed with mucous plugs, but they soon passed and she ate much better. She had to have a septic work-up and several heel sticks but she was treated very well. A new intern was in the nursery when Anne was first brought in, and he reported her birth length as 13 inches because he neglected to uncurl her before measuring her length. When I first heard the length I thought we had given birth to a midget, but I laughed when I heard about the error. Annie’s facial features resembled Susan’s and she was a beautiful little girl. I love her so much. We were thrilled to bring her home.
As recorded in my journal for the last 2 weeks of March 1983 and the first week of April 1983, “These weeks have contained the happiest and saddest days of my life. The happiest were the days with Susan and our baby at home, realizing I had a beautiful wife and wonderful new little daughter. My life was so complete and fulfilled. The heartbreak: Annie lost weight, fed poorly, and was admitted to the hospital for evaluation. A series of tests were run and we were told that she had cystic fibrosis due to an abnormal chloride sweat test. I have never known more profound sorrow and grief. Various special formulas and enzyme preparations were tried, all of which she repeatedly vomited. After 10 agonizing days in the hospital, we took Annie home and placed her future in the Lord’s hands. All of our family members, many of our ward members, and our bishopric all fasted with us on the 2nd and 3rd and we had the bishop, Larry Reynolds, give our little girl a blessing, anointing, and healing. It was a never-to-be-forgotten experience. Susan and I had spent the day listening to conference, reading about miracles, healing, and faith, and prayed fervently for our baby to be restored to health. Many tears were shed, souls were searched, and fervent prayers were sent heavenward. It seemed incomprehensible to me that Heavenly Father desired Annie to battle cystic fibrosis during her lifetime, but instead to have a healthy happy life of service and joy in every way. We felt that our desires and the Lord’s desires were one, and a priesthood blessing was necessary to give our girl her health. Brother Hepworth anointed and as he spoke, I felt the Lord’s spirit and knew our baby would be well. Bishop Reynolds rebuked the illness and relieved her body of the sickness, promising her that she would live a normal healthy life. He blessed Susan and me that we would provide all the love and nourishment possible for Anne and that she would respond. You better believe that we will do that . It was a glorious moment. Prayers of thanksgiving were offered in sincerity and gratitude. More challenges came to our family 2 weeks later, when Annie’s 2nd sweat chloride test was again positive, so it appears our little girl does have cystic fibrosis for sure. The miracle we hoped for didn’t happen as rapidly as we had desired, but we will have faith that she will go through life without serious complications or difficulties. This has been a difficult thing to face: we can only pray that a great blessing for Anne will be forthcoming from the Lord. We are so thrilled to have Anne in our home and we look forward to a great life with her. She is gaining weight now and is a wonderful little angel. We blessed Anne on the 1st of May, 1983. The blessing included the following: a strong and active mind, a thirst for earthly and spiritual knowledge, a love of the scriptures and the Church, that she would make positive contributions to the wards in which she lived, that she would be baptized and love and honor her Church membership, that she would have a sweet disposition and spirit, that she would be a good influence on family, friends, and associates, that she would have a healthy body to the degree possible, that she would be able to participate in the activities of her peers, that she would have a positive attitude when trials and difficulties come, with an ability to overcome, that her parents would provide all that she needs to lead a happy and prosperous life, all other blessings deemed needful by the Lord.
Click here to return to the Journal Pages
Click here to return to the Main Page