By Nancy Virden (c)2025

Thirty-four years ago, the doctor on the phone said to wait.

“Wait until they are five minutes apart.” So I waited.

Suddenly, at 1:00 a.m. on a hot Memorial Day weekend, contractions were five, three, then one minute apart within a quarter of an hour. My baby was coming now.

Like his brother, he was three weeks early. I had never heard of back labor, so it went ignored all day. Expecting regular contractions, I had simply rested all day and tried to get comfortable. The phone call is when I told the doctor-on-call that my back hurt about every fifteen minutes, but it seemed unimportant to him, too.

There was a more pressing issue. This baby was transverse. He was sideways, as my bulging tummy to the left proved. I had been denied a midwife for this reason, and the plan was to safely turn the baby pre-labor. The alternative was to have a C-section. Uh-huh.

My husband called paramedics, and they screeched down the street. After assessing the situation, the baby was internally manually turned and came out feet first. Needless to say, there was pain.

There was an even more pressing issue. My tiny son was completely blue. They rushed him out to the ambulance and shot off as fast as possible. While I waited for a second ambulance for me, baby Timothy was showing no life signs. He had none for ten minutes. The paramedic did CPR until they arrived at the hospital, when Timothy suddenly gasped and trembled to life.

God had forewarned me months earlier that this pregnancy was going to have trouble. As a result, friends and family had been praying for us. I had memorized Psalm 91 and trusted. As I was put into my ambulance, I prayed Psalm 91 aloud. When paramedics shared notes and timeframes, it was when I started to quote that chapter that Timothy breathed.

While Tim was in neonatal intensive care, he was tested for about everything that could have gone wrong. I was told he was brain-damaged, probably deaf, and unable to walk. None of that was accurate. I was the only one not panicking.

I have watched this boy grow from infancy to manhood with sharper hearing than most. He walks fine. His brain is perfectly operational. His love for music and people is evident in his empathy and actions. He is kind, generous, and still a miracle.

I’m sharing this story because Tim could have been aborted. It was never an option in my mind, even though I knew there was something wrong before learning he was growing sideways. He was at high risk for birth injury as a transverse baby. In fact, his umbilical cord did come out first, and I held it tight as if by some instinct. Some say I spared his brain, but I know God was actually guiding me. Even though my life was at risk if I birthed this child naturally, I trusted God to know what was best and carried this pregnancy through.

May is celebration month because our family has all our birthdays within a few weeks. Today, Tim’s birthday, I am so glad to know the man, and am grateful for his life.

-COMMENTS WELCOME

Today’s Helpful Word

Another Timothy of true faith

1 Timothy 1:2

 I am writing to Timothy, my true son in the faith. May God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord give you grace, mercy, and peace.

If you are feeling suicidal or concerned about someone who is, in the U.S., call 988, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. For a list of international suicide hotlines, go here.

If you are suicidal with a plan, immediately call 911 in the U.S. or go to your nearest emergency room; in the EU, call 112. (For other international emergency numbers, go here.) Hope and help are yours!

Always the Fight Ministries (ATFM) has been displaying compassion for those fighting mental illness, addiction, or abuse since 2012. Nancy is the founder and voice of ATFM and openly shares her emotional resurrection from despair. 

NOTE: Nancy is not a doctor or a mental health professional and speaks only from personal experience and observations. This website is not intended to substitute for professional mental or behavioral health care.

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