In a heartbeat: the miracle of J.T

• Published in: The gazette (Colorado Springs, Colo.)
• Main Author: Mikki M.A. Shepard
• Format: Newspaper Article
• Language: English
• Published: Colorado Springs, Colo Freedom Newspapers, Inc 22.10.1995

Wendy had told her friend, Sharon, about us that very morning. Sharon had confided that the best thing she could do for her baby was to give him a family and a chance for a good life. Sharon had visited a state adoption service that morning and was very upset that they would first place the baby in a foster home. She wanted her baby to go home from the hospital with his "parents." She felt that initial bonding was very important. During this conversation I realized our son had been working his way toward us for some time! Sharon had been driving through Dallas in November of 1989, on her way out of Texas. Tom and I had been in Dallas in November 1989. Sharon said she'd always remember the day she was in Dallas because of a major traffic jam she was stuck in when President Bush and Mick Jagger were in town the same day and staying at the same hotel. The traffic jam was vivid in my mind because President Bush was there to address the Realtor convention that Tom and I were attending, and that traffic jam took place in front of our hotel! Is this what they mean about "ships passing in the night?" Was it all coincidence? Were we really just a heartbeat away from him then? I took Sharon's advice to go check into a hotel, call Tom and change my clothes. I went back to the hospital about 10:30 p.m. Seconds after I walked into Sharon's room, she was in pain. We had originally discussed natural childbirth, but she now wanted something to relieve some of the pain. A male doctor walked in, informed her that people did this all the time, and to stop whining! I escorted him out of the room, asked when he last gave birth, and told him not to come near her again. I asked the nurses to call the female doctor that Sharon had told me about many times on the telephone. She arrived quickly, gave Sharon something to ease the pain, and thanked me for calling. This doctor had been very supportive of Sharon's decision. Then I learned that Sharon had not taken the childbirth classes we'd discussed. Fortunately, I had taken them several years before when my sister was pregnant. I was trying to be a good coach and curtail my excitement and fear at the same time. That nagging "what if" was still there. I remember massaging Sharon's right leg when she got a cramp and noticing a birthmark that I would later see every day on the right leg of our little miracle baby.