A Mothers Resilience

I met a friend of mine after many years. She is the most resilient mother I had ever met in my life. One who fought the toughest battle to ward off death who was hell bent on taking her child.

Deliver was a C-Section. Everything seemed to be fine, but the child was unable to breathe. It was a goof up by the surgeon but kept under wraps.
She saw a glimpse of her baby boy who seemed like a tiny white cloud and she was put to sleep. Little did she know that her child was fighting the worst battle with death. A rare disorder known as PPHN something that happened to 1 in 1000 newborns.

She was kept sedated for about two days and nobody from the family informed her what was happening with her baby. Finally, her husband broke down the third day and informed her that the baby was in a critical state. I was there right next to her then. I had been warned by the entire family not to reveal the child’s condition to her. Her husband was in tears, kept saying ‘we are losing him’.

She refused to believe and to my surprise she neither broke down nor was she scared nor did she cry. She just looked at her husband and me and told us to take us to her baby. She never once questioned why no one told her about her dying baby. The doctor was reluctant to let her leave. Her C-section was still under dressing. But nothing could stop this mother.

As we approached the hospital and I wheeled her towards the NICU she just said one sentence to me ‘ I am taking my son back alive’ .

I was not allowed entry but saw her go in and an hour later she was out while the doctors were discussing all possible options. She heard them all and then told me to help her chant the ‘Maha Mrityunjaya Mantra’. Together we kept chanting. Am sure she never stopped chanting and I could see though she feared the worst she did not allow any negative feeling and I could sense that strength in her eyes.

It was a 25 day ordeal. Each day it was a different issue. Someday the baby seemed bloated, someday his feet turned blue. It was scary. The doctors kept hinting even if the child made through he might face complications. Autism, Speech Disorder, Blindness. The list of complications were endless. She was undeterred. She just did not stop praying.

Tiny miracles were happening around us by this time. The specialist doctor who given charge of her baby turned out to be her school friend. The last alternate medication the doctors planned to administer did not turn out to be necessary. The baby had started responding and slowly improving from the 10th day something the doctors claimed not even a premature born baby did at the NICU. The babys lungs were still weak and recovering. I saw my friend hold her tiny bundle of joy for the first time. That was the first time I ever saw her in tears.

After a tough 25 day of struggle we were finally given the green signal to take the baby home. Lot of restrictions and precautions had to be taken. The first 6 months I never saw my friend much. She was tending to her baby in an isolated room. During the third month when we travelled for the first check up she spoke to me about the complications we were warned about. Every milestone had to be monitored. There were tests upon tests conducted on the baby.

She finally flew out to UK but we stayed in touch. She kept informing me about the child’s progress. By Gods grace he has covered all major milestones and all at the right age. Today he is a healthy 9 year old boy, a football star and my heart feels so proud for that mother and the resilience she showed. Truly commendable.

Till date I always feel that it was that sudden surge of confidence and the faith to fight death down and get her child back, the positivity she showed, that display of strength at the most vulnerable moment which proved out to be most important. Call it miracle, prayers, faith whatever…

 

Tnx Periamma, infact she has shown more courage given the circumstances she was put through. I will cover the other half of her story as well soon.