Beth Baker

Madison Sue
b. 6 October 1998

Doug and Elsbeth Baker

With the birth and miraculous recovery of our little angel, we have been fortunate to give and receive "gifts from the heart". We have been able to witness to others, proclaiming what God and the power of prayer can do. The gifts of caring, support, and the many kind words from everyone at Christ Lutheran, the medical staff at Mercy and Children's Hospitals, our neighbors, family, and friends has meant so much to us and we are thankful that we have been blessed with so many wonderful people in our lives. We have also been fortunate to hear testimonies from nurses that helped to save Madison, that has strengthened our faith and given us proof that with God, all things are possible.

On Tues. October 6, 1998, we were faced with the scariest, most challenging situation of our lives. At Mercy Medical Center, during a normal procedure to break my water to induce labor, one of Madison's blood vessels, connected to her umbilical cord, was ruptured. We found out later, that I had a rare condition (affecting only 1 in 3,000 pregnancies with a mortality rate of 75%-100%), called vasa previa, where some of the baby's blood vessels are draped on the outside of the placenta, entwined with the bag of waters, thus susceptible to premature rupture or compression. Had Madison gone through the normal steps of labor (regular contractions), she could have asphyxiated (due to compression of the blood vessels) and if my water had broke at home, it is certain that Madison and likely that I, would have died. At the time that I was quickly rushed to have an emergency C-Section, Doug and I did not know the magnitude of what was happening - we just knew that we needed God to care for our baby. Thanks to the quick action of Dr. Clarice Decker and the Mercy medical staff, Madison was born 12 minutes from the time my water was broke. Unfortunately, she was born without a breath or a heartbeat. Doug watched and prayed as the doctors and nurses gave her heart compressions and oxygen, injected her with medication, gave her a blood transfusion, and did everything possible to try to revive our little girl. He remembers hearing someone say "I think we're loosing her" and was horrified with this becoming a reality. Madison's Apgar scores at 2 minutes, 5 minutes and 10 minutes were 0-0-0. Thankfully, the medical staff at Mercy continued to work on our little girl. 17 minutes after she was born, Madison's heart began beating on it's own and she took in her first breath! No words can explain how Doug felt when he heard that his daughter had been revived.

Madison was immediately rushed to Children's Hospital in Minneapolis. As I woke up, Doug gently let me know what was happening. We prayed together, asking God to please take care of our little girl. Then Doug called family and friends to pray for Madison and he went to be with our baby. I asked for the hospital chaplain - Alan Grant, to come and visit with me. He was wonderful - I went from wondering how we would care for a baby with severe brain damage or how I could handle a funeral - to trusting in God that He would care for her. We prayed together and read Mark 10: 13-16.

At 3:00 pm we received our first report from Children's - Madison's brain was swollen, she was having seizures, her kidneys and liver were not functioning and the doctor just didn't know what the future would hold for her - he felt she would survive the night, but it was too early to say what the effects would be on her brain and body. He told us to not give up faith. I then spoke to Pastor Greg - his words of encouragement helped get me through the rest of that terrifying day. We prayed together. Pastor Greg later told us that he had a very special feeling while we prayed for Madison - he felt like she was going to be OK. He got everyone in our church family praying for her. And while this was happening our friends and family were calling people they knew, to do the same. Our other girls, Brittany, Elise, Ashley and Kelsie were praying for Madison and to this day, they thank Him nightly for saving her.

Over the next 24 hours, something that we feel could have only been done with God's help occurred - Madison's condition completely turned around. The seizures stopped, her liver and kidneys responded to the medicine and began functioning, she went off the ventilator, and even by 3:30 Wed., we received word that her EEG brain wave scan came back normal. Then Dr. Ferrara at Children's said, "This type of recovery just doesn't happen this early on, if at all - I'm delighted with how she's doing!!" We were so thrilled and thankful to God for not only saving our baby's life, but also giving what we have found to be so far - a full recovery!!! Incredibly, Madison went home 4 days after she was born and to this day, she's developing normally and seems to be completely enjoying the life she has been given.

Doug, all the girls, and I visited the many nurses and doctors at Mercy Hospital early in December to give them a special home-made thank-you card and to get to know the people that worked so diligently to bring our baby back to us. The Mercy and Children's Hospitals' doctors and nurses and others we have talked with, tell us that Madison's recovery story is their most (or one of their most) incredible experiences they've encountered in their many years in the medical field. Deep emotions and the Holy Spirit were felt during this visit. Linda Ness was the nurse that was giving Madison heart compressions - the whole time asking God to save her. Linda Dierkhising was a nurse that was helping everyone in the room with different activities. Both Linda's held my hands as Linda D. told an incredible testimony during our December visit: Linda D., while running around the room doing everything she could to assist those working on Madison, had a feeling that things were not going well - she got to the point where she just stopped what she was doing and placed her hand on Madison and said "Jesus, please heal this baby". It was only shortly after this plea, that Madison was revived! Bonnie LaPlante (a nurse that was with me after surgery and the next day while I waited to be transferred to Children's), approached Linda D. two days after Madison was born. She said with intense emotion, "God spoke to me in a dream last night and told me to ask you two questions - 1) Do you believe this was a miracle? and 2) Do you believe you could have done this without me?" Linda, responded "yes" - believing this was a miracle. And, remembering how she felt in that room before she asked Jesus to heal our baby, responded "no" to the second question. Bonnie proceeded to tell Linda that God told her "Madison is to be a testimony to what I can do. She will be a witness for Me". We have been blessed by so many people on our lives - the medical staff that worked so diligently to save our baby, the many, many people that prayed for her, and all the neighbors, family and friends that provided us with so much support during this very difficult time. We know there is a special reason for our being blessed with Madison. We can never forget and never stop telling others her story. As God said - Madison is to be a testimony for what He can do. If only one person is saved and turns to believe in the power of Jesus, she will have served a purpose set out for her and all of us that know her. PRAISE GOD for giving us a personal "gift from the heart"!