My youngest son, Todd, and his wife Jenny recently welcomed their first child – Noah Tennyson Chaytor-Lee – a beautiful name for a beautiful child. If there could be a perfect entry into the world, that would be the birth story of little Noah.
Not so with his father! Three months into my 1973 pregnancy with Todd, we moved to Montreal. Because my then-husband was already working there, it was up to me to pack up our Ontario home and move the family. Boxes had to be packed, heavy things had to be lifted and I did what I had to do, all the while looking after my active, eldest son. On top of the physical stress, there was tremendous emotional stress in our marriage.
At five months pregnant (now living in Montreal and away from family support) I went into labor. While the pains eventually subsided, my doctor feared that there had been a separation of the placenta. He warned us that if the child made it through the pregnancy, it would probably have severe disabilities and that we should begin thinking about institutions for his care.
In the seventies, there was little understanding of the effect of nicotine or alcohol on a developing fetus. At the time, I was not a Christian and was smoking a couple of packs of cigarettes every day. To make matters worse, the obstetrician’s directions included four months of bed rest, during which time I was supposed to have a drink of alcohol whenever I felt any twinges of labor pains. The result was that I stayed half cut on Cointreau for the last four months of the pregnancy, sitting in bed doing jigsaw puzzles, chain smoking and eating my way up to 200 pounds! If the baby hadn’t been disabled at the beginning of the pregnancy, one would certainly think that I was ensuring disaster!
However, my mother and others were praying. My mom did a lot of praying in those years!
Nine months finally passed and the real deal labor began. However, with no exercise for four months, I was totally out of shape and had no muscles. Thirty-two and a half hours later, my beautiful little red-headed boy was born, perfect in every way except that his head was so big that the doctor did tests for hydrocephaly. It turned out that his head was so big simply because of all the brain power locked inside! (And maybe because he[‘s so gorgeous!)
Long story short, God answered Mom’s prayers. Todd was an Ontario Scholar in high school, developed a wonderful personality and went on to McMaster University where he excelled in everything he did, earning honours degrees in both natural sciences and computer sciences. He now develops software for medical devices in Waterloo, the Silicon Valley of Canada.
Todd has always been a very special gift to me, a son of whom I am very proud and a constant friend all through the years. A true miracle – by God’s design. Thank you Mom, for your prayers.