JOANNA AWAD
“When Christmas day dawned and our home was filled with a whirl of excited chatter of three young children, we gave thanks to God as we eagerly anticipated the arrival of our fourth child – the planned little one we believed would complete our family.
“We had recently arrived in New Zealand from Melbourne, anticipating a move to Wellington to plant a new church in that area. After a joyful Christmas day with close friends, we sank contentedly into our beds much later that night.
“At 2am on Boxing Day, I was woken as my water broke. I was exactly 20 weeks, and my initial thought was it cannot be my water. Perhaps my bladder has collapsed. My waters would not stop pouring out, and I wondered who I could ring in the early hours of Boxing Day morning and ask what I should do, or more importantly to pray for me. My midwife was on leave, but her backup advised me to get to hospital as it was unlikely to be a bladder issue. We needed to wake someone to come and watch over our three children, who were sound asleep in their beds, so my husband could rush me to hospital. Interestingly, we called a close friend from church who had been lying awake almost in anticipation of our call.
“I was angry and yelled at the enemy, this is not going to happen! Is this because of Wellington? I believed he would try anything to try and stop us from answering God’s call to go to Wellington to plant a new church.
“Once in hospital, tests revealed the amniotic fluid had drained, leaving our baby in a very vulnerable position. There were many medical people around my hospital bed, and one lady Doctor was consoling me, rubbing my knee telling me ‘I’m really really sorry but you are going to give birth to this baby. We can help you give birth in the next hour, so you don’t have to wait. We do not resuscitate a baby up to 24 weeks. So, your baby is going to die.’
“My husband took control, interrupted the Doctor and asked if anyone in the room had ever seen a baby survive this? One Doctor said she had seen it twice in her career of 23 years. He declared ‘well guess what – we are going to be the third. You are going to see a miracle!’
“The Doctor told me there was no hope a baby of 20 weeks would survive without amniotic fluid. There was no chance of me regenerating amniotic fluid and both me and our baby were at risk. They showed me in the scan the baby’s face pressed against the uterus sac. They put me into a birthing suite number 7, to wait for me to deliver my baby. We later found out this was the ‘grievance room’ where expectant Mothers are made comfortable until they deliver. But we believed it was a biblical number and it boosted our faith.
“We had no other information, no stories to draw on. We knew nothing about the survival of our baby and whether survival was possible except what the hospital doctors told us. We immediately started googling miracle births and interceding for all the unborn babies, asking for strategic angels to be present.
"Three years before the pregnancy results were confirmed, I was given a prophecy from the Lord. God told me I would have one more son and his name would be Joshua. I remembered this word and believed this babe would be born healthy and his name would be Joshua. I held onto this truth. Before Christmas the words of a Bethel song based on Psalm 23:4 “even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil” kept repeating in my mind. I wondered at the time if God was preparing me for something and told the Lord, even though I have not walked in that shadow, if anything happens to me or my children, I would still praise you. I played this song over and over in my hospital room blaring it out and dispelling any dark shadows. I knew there was a promise here. God had not done this. I believed He was telling me to hold on and believe the words He had given me. This was my time to hold onto the word of the Lord.
“We invited others to pray with us, and one person was given confirmation on the way to hospital that ‘our David’ would be born in God’s time and once told, we knew his name was to be Joshua David. It was a powerful declaration, and we stood on that assurance and felt God was right there beside us.
“My body was in complete shock, and my stomach was half its size without the amniotic fluid. The Doctor's approached the situation from a medical perspective, explaining the risks and preparing us for a stillbirth. They warned of the high risk of infection with the complication of sepsis. Every few hours a new Doctor would come in and repeat the same thing. I had to speak faith and belief. Over and over they asked for assurance that my husband and I understood the risks we were taking. I repeated back to them over and over again, yes, I am willing to take that risk, why – because I believe in God and He has done so many miracles and this will be another one. I will be having my baby, full term! I will regenerate fluid and the hole in my uterus will be healed.
“My body showed no signs of infection, so I was discharged and sent home. We saw a slight increase in regeneration of amniotic fluid, plus my cervix was shut and our baby was not coming until God said. I had a divine encounter with the Lord, heard His voice and His reassurance bolstered me for the days and weeks ahead. My body came into complete agreement with the word of God. Every three days I was checked with scans, and blood tests and everything the Doctors scheduled. Every week a milestone and achievement.
“At 28 weeks I was still on complete bed rest, and they were still telling me my baby could arrive at any minute of any day. No! I studied everything to do with regenerating fluid and found other women worldwide who faced the same situation. Their stories added to my sense of reassurance. Resealing the sac can be helped by taking collagen, vitamin C, and all the things that make the amniotic sac strong.
“I was so careful how I moved and even how I bent my knees! Although I regenerated, I also leaked every single day. I could not leave the house for 8 weeks. I was in a bubble as my own family and church community provided everything for us. I had no choice but to slow down and focus on the Lord and our baby.
Joshua 1:9 “be strong and courageous Do not be afraid or discouraged for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go”. “This was my statement of faith. I was determined to walk this out refusing to doubt. I would stay in the lane of faith. Full house, full term and full in the Lord. I had to fight to stay in that place. When a body leaks amniotic fluid, it's a natural signal the body is going into labour. I had to remind my body and tell Joshua he was not coming!
“If a moment of anxiety overcame me, my husband was my rock and refused to believe anything other than we would welcome Joshua David into our family, healthy, strong and in God’s perfect timing. ‘It is done, Joanna! There is no option except our faith in Jesus’.
“Every week when I had blood tests and scans, the staff would celebrate another milestone, I told them, I am going the whole way. They still believed I was going to give birth at any moment. Any talk of abnormalities I dismissed.
“It was a slow journey, but my hope was in Christ, and we stayed in faith. God promised and we believed. Joshua was moving and kicking me often. Without the buffer of amniotic fluid, the feelings were sharp, and the scans showed his baby face pressed up against the wall of my uterus.
“At 35 weeks and 4 days, my body went into natural labour after I’d been up and moving around. The contractions were powerful, though I was told prem labour can feel different, and I was not fully dilated. Still, I felt certain something was happening, so I asked the midwife to examine me again. She was shocked to find I was already 8 cm and about to deliver. I simply knew it.
“I knelt not just to give birth, but in awe and worship before the God who formed this child in my womb. Our perfect and healthy Joshua David weighing (2.94 kgs or 6.4.lbs) arrived 14 April exactly as God had foretold.
On this Christmas Eve, as we cradle our miracle baby boy, we celebrate the faithfulness of the God who brought His son into the world. On this Holy night, we honour the greatest act of love. God gave His only son to save the world”.
Ephesians 3:14-21 “For this reason I kneel before the Father, 15 from whom every family[a] in heaven and on earth derives its name. 16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God”.