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Lily's Testimony
By Angela Martin
November 21, 2005

When I was pregnant, I had a condition called polyhydramnios. This occurs when you have excess amniotic fluid surrounding the baby. This can sometimes be an indication that something could be wrong with the baby.  In my case, after many ultrasounds, our daughter was diagnosed with hydronephrosis. This meant that her kidneys had fluid on them. When Lily was born she was rushed to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit for observation. She was later diagnosed with pneumonia and the doctors told us that one of her lungs wasn't inflated. Her breathing was very squeaky and rapid. They were going to put a tube in her lung to help her out, but as prayers went up from family and friends, God inflated Lily’s lung.

Lily was sent home, but they wanted her to see a pediatric urologist in three months for her kidneys. They said they couldn't tell whether or not she'd have kidney problems until she was around three months of age. Lily was home for 2 1/2 weeks and during that time spent about 70% of her day crying.  The rest of the time she was clearly uncomfortable. We were in and out of the doctor, searching for the problem.  At first they thought she just had colic. Lily's crying only grew worse and soon she spent all of her day crying and even turning purple. We took her in on a Saturday and the doctors ordered a urine culture. Her pediatrician put her on an antibiotic just to cover an infection in case that's what the problem was. Monday we received a call from her pediatrician stating that they found an unidentified organism and wanted Lily admitted that night.

At the hospital they confirmed the organism was Listeria and Meningitis. Listeria is found in contaminated processed foods and can invade the central nervous system and result in brain infection, death, and Meningitis. From it Lily got Meningitis. Wes and I had Lily prayed over on Sunday night (the night before she was to be admitted).  That Monday night at the hospital as they ran more tests to find the Listeria and Meningitis, what they found was that these problems had disappeared somewhere between that Saturday and the Monday that she was admitted to the hospital.  They did many other tests on her because she still had a kidney infection and was in a lot of pain. They also found cysts on her kidneys which would require surgery and we were told that we'd have to keep a close eye on her blood pressure. The next day after our pastor prayed over Lily in the hospital, the doctors mysteriously found no cysts. One night Lily's IV came out and between 10:00 P.M.-4:00 A.M. they poked my baby 13 times. That night I lay over Lily crying and said, "God, if the sacrifice of my uncut hair accounts for anything, let it be for my children. I command that You place Your healing hands upon her and free her." God allowed her veins to close so they couldn't poke her anymore, but Lily was healed.

Her tests came back showing she had reflux on one kidney which would heal on its own, and on the other she still had the hydronephrosis, but they didn't require surgery.  She had no cysts and we'll only have to monitor her until she's one. Lily's pediatrician said the antibiotic she put her on wouldn't have healed her of her Listeria or her Meningitis. We were scheduled for a consultation at the urologist the day after Lily was admitted, which would've put Lily's first test 3 months from then, but instead God had her admitted on Monday.  This is a miracle, because we wouldn't have known about the Listeria, Meningitis or kidney infection, and we could've lost our baby girl. Lily's Aunt Laura said God won’t put more on you than you can handle, and that God gave Lily a testimony before she could even talk.

Our baby isn't the same baby as the one who went into the hospital and we're just now getting to know her. She's peaceful and happy.  I just want to say we're so blessed to know God the way we do. God just wants an opportunity to restore, heal and deliver, or whatever it is in your life that you need, He wants the opportunity to do it for you.

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© 2005, Angela Martin

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Angela Martin resides in Pontiac, Michigan, where she is a wife to Wes, and a mother to Nickolas and Lily.  Aren't they lucky?