Introducing Charis Zoelle Rainey

A Grace Filled Life

"The First 100 Hours of My Life"

First Testimony of Charis Zoelle Rainey

4:02 AM Friday, February 6, 2009 ... The First Hour ... I was still trying to figure out this new bright and cold world.  There were sights, sounds and sensations that I had never experienced.  Seconds earlier, God breathed His breath into my body as I entered the world through a tight embrace that flowed from the top of my head to the tips of my toes.  As I felt that embrace, I heard the first words in this new world from a very familiar voice, they were a loud, "Jesus ... Get this baby out of me!" 

I was immediately placed into the loving arms of my mother as she was excited to finally see me after feeling my movements for many weeks.  My father proudly looked on with equal joy and amazement as he just watched his wife naturally (no epidural / drugs) birth their second child, an eight pound two ounce baby girl.  However, there were several onlookers who were greatly concerned that my skin remained blue one minute after birth ... then five minutes after birth ... and still blue ten minutes after birth!  My mom quickly handed me over to the nurses for further stimulation and eventual resuscitation.  As these events quickly unfolded, my father wondered in a passing thought if the photo of me shown above would be the last picture taken of me alive.

5:00 AM Friday, February 6 ... The Second Hour ... Although I had a heart beat, it's pace was half of that of a normal infant.  My breathing only supplied my body with 50% of the oxygen required.  The driver of my less than efficient condition was that my lungs were filled with amniotic fluid.  Although it is perfectly normal to have fluid filled lungs inside the womb, for normal breathing to take place after birth all of this fluid must be expelled from the lungs.  As the nurse listened to my initial breaths, she summarized, "the baby is drowning."  I was immediately rushed into the neonatal intensive care unit.

After reviewing my initial test results and x-rays, the doctor told my parents that I was very sick with a severe case of pneumonia and extremely distressed.  Although they were providing me with 100% oxygen support, I was only barely able to maintain acceptable oxygen levels in my body to survive.  She concluded by telling them that the next two hours were going to be very critical as either I would show signs of improvement or quickly deteriorate to needing life support.

7:00 - 9:00 AM Friday, February 6 ... Two Hours of Prayer ... My parents made a few quick phone calls and immediately had friends, family and church members around the country praying for the next two critical hours.  The prayer request was simply that the Great Physician would touch my body to provide miraculous healing for me despite the dire outcomes the hospital physicians were communicating.

God answered not only in those two critical hours, but throughout the day He amazed all the doctors and nurses who were attending to me.  The head nurse commented that she could not even have hoped that I would be doing this well in the first 24 hours as she could only joyfully laugh at the confounding results of my progress. 

 

Saturday, February 7 ... The Next 24 Hours ... I continued to improve and was breathing on my own by Saturday morning.  I would later that evening retire the use of my feeding tube in exchange for only my mother's nourishment.

Sunday, February 8 ... After 48 Hours ... My condition had improved to where I no longer needed 100% oxygen support, IV, feeding tube, antibiotics and constant monitoring ... However I still greatly needed my big blue pacifier.

Monday, February 9 ... After 72 Hours ... I was released to go home ... The hospital had originally said I would be in neonatal intensive care unit for quite some time, but God had other plans and I was released to go home one day after my mom left.

Tuesday, February 10 ... My Next Challenge ... After surviving what the doctors called a "very distressed birth," Let's see how well I can survive under the watchful eye of my 21 month old brother

THANK YOU! ... To all the prayer warriors who helped me through the journey of the first 100 hours of my life.  I guess my parents did not know how prophetic they were in naming me Charis Zoelle ... Charis means "grace" and Zoelle means "life"