New mom's heart sank when her newborn was 'limp' with 'no heart rate'—then nurse witnessed a 'miracle'
Every moment after delivering a baby is crucial. Right from checking their reflexes to monitoring heart rates, every procedure becomes a priority. Parents pray in those initial fragile weeks that their newborn will adjust and come through. Hannah and Jacob were praying the same when they arrived at the hospital, CBN reported. Within moments, things took a terrifying turn and the staff was unsure what news they would be delivering to the parents. A miracle came through and it’s a story they’ll be narrating for a lifetime. The mom was in labor when she suddenly began to feel dizzy. “I looked up at my nurse and I said, ‘I'm not okay.’ The room just began narrowing,” Hannah recalled.
Things went from a regular delivery process to something unprecedented. “At that moment, it became, ‘Everybody jump on and let’s go. We had a big-time emergency,” the OBGYN, Dr. Kinion Whittington, recalled. Jacob followed, unsure what to expect, still confused. Dr. Whittington had to deliver the baby under an emergency C-section procedure. “There was just blood everywhere,” the OBGYN said. When the newborn, named Urias, as the couple had planned, was out, it felt off. The dad recalled, “I see him come out and he doesn't look like...I mean, he's dead.” The doctor said that the baby was “limp” and that they couldn’t find any heartbeat.
The tension in the room was shattering. The staff started CPR while the parents held on to their lives, hoping they would be able to share good news. “Everything within me wanted to reach up, go hold him and tell him everything was going to be okay,” Hannah remarked. “After about ten minutes, if you don't have a fetal heart rate, it's just a futile effort,” Dr. Whittington revealed. Those 10 minutes mattered more than anything else and the parents started to pray. Jacob texted his loved ones, requesting prayers as Urais battled for life with every minute. The frantic mom didn’t know what to feel.
“It was just this squaring away, ‘Okay, God, where are we? Where are you?” she recalled. After 20 minutes, Urias was showing a pulse and was put on life support. Things were extremely bleak, but hope had risen just a bit. Hannah had to remain in the hospital to heal from her surgery and loss of blood, while her baby had to be urgently sent to the Texas Health Presbyterian, 80 miles away. Jacob accompanied him, only to learn one frightening truth after another. Neonatologist Dr. Eduardo Perez said that Urias’ condition was caused by the premature detachment of the placenta.
He started having seizures by the time he reached the hospital and shortly after, was diagnosed with hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy, brain damage due to lack of oxygen and blood. There was one faint strand of hope at this point. Everything else was just a scare. The dad was told that the newborn would likely suffer from seizures throughout his life. He would likely have cerebral palsy and be unable to walk and talk. “It's just one punch after another. I can't control anything, but I can trust God,” Jacob said. The doctors put Urias on a 72-hour cooling treatment and said it was the best shot he had. That uncertain night, Nurse Latricia Bell was on duty, monitoring Urias. She experienced something unfathomable — the infant opened his eyes. “He was lying still. And for him to open up his eyes, look around, this was a big deal!” Bell remarked.
She informed Jacob, who immediately began praying again. While the dad received an assurance to “only believe,” the nurse, too, felt something soothing. “I felt such warmth. Every hair on my body stood up. I knew that I was in the presence of God. And when she looked at the monitor again, unsure what to expect, she was mind-boggled. “There were no more seizures. That was the end of it,” she remarked. The next day, the boy was handed over to his mother and began showing signs of improvement. Three weeks later, he was able to go home. He grew up perfectly. There was no explanation. The severity of the case had even doctors doubting whether Urias would make it through. The only explanation was the one the nurse had. “You hear about miracles, but God let me see that one,” she said.