This is a true story about my friend, Carla and her husband, Dan.
They had two daughters:
Bethany Moriah and Ashley Jordan.
They love place names ( especially Bible places)!
Carla was severely ill when pregnant and they decided to have no more babies, but God decided to give them one more
Again she was even sicker and this time it was diagosed as something called Anti-E (similar to Rh factor problems). It has to do with the mother's body reacting as if the is a foreign substance and beginning to build immunities against the baby to get rid of it.
The fact that it was called Anti-E was ironic because they had decided to give her a name starting with an E because their names started with ABCD,Ashely, Bethany, Carla and Dan, and always signed their cards and such "ABCD".
When they found they were expecting they even sent out cards that said "ABCD" on the outside and
"Here comes Baby E!" on the inside!
They were told baby would die.
Or, IF she survived she would have to be born early by C-section, baby would have to have a total blood transfusion and would not be healthy or "normal".
They were planning her funeral. Carla's mom even made a dress for her to be buried in.
I remember praying and crying for them many, many times. Then, one day, just before the baby was born, I was sobbing and suddenly stopped. It was as if a switch was flipped. A peace just washed over me. I called Carla and told her that I didn't want to get her hopes up, but I had such a feeling that things were going to be alright. She shared with me that several had shared similar things with her!
When she was born that Spring, (not early, not by c-section, needing NO blood transfusion), and with the exception of a little jaundice, perfectly healthy, they named her Cana because it was the place of Jesus' first Biblical miracle (the turning of the water into wine at the wedding feast).
Her middle name is Elise. (There is that E!)
It is kind of a place name in that it means, "Abiding Place of God".
Cana Elise will be 9 in April and is everything the doctors said she would never be!
[A side note: around the same time, another friend had a baby with spina bifida and he is also a testimony to God's grace and provision and is many things the doctor's said he would never be, but most of all a huge blessing!]
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