Our lives are stories, and when we share those stories, we find connection with each other.

Common themes and struggles and turning points.

Today, on Chris Fabry Live, I want you to meet Kristen.

Part of her story is a hard moment she had in a doctor's office when she and her husband were given some really bad news about one of the twins she was carrying.

That season of her life is what we're going to narrow down on today, and I'm hoping it will, in some way help you with something you might be going through right now.

Give you a little bit of hope.

Our featured resource is the book that she's written titled Saving Nate.

You can find out more about it and her at Chris Fabry Livorno.

Thank our team.

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That included a conversation with Doctor Michael Rudnick.

His latest book is our Thank You for January, which is quickly slipping by us.

The title is How Should Christians Think about Israel?

A Quick Guide to God's Covenants, Biblical prophecy, and the Jewish People.

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I asked Krista to join us today on this anniversary of Roe versus Wade.

In that decision in the US, I know it was overturned by the Supreme Court, but every year I look at that date on the calendar and I remember January 22nd, 1973, and there is this this reaction that I have, this lament for all of the lives lost between then and now and what that decision did to the soul of our nation, and how it shaped the minds and hearts of women and men through the years.

It's had far reaching effects.

So with that as a backdrop, I want to introduce you to Kristen Rosa.

She graduated with a Bachelor of Education degree from the University of Alberta.

She taught everything from English at the University of at a university in China, to kindergarten to employability skills for training for immigrant women.

She and her husband, But Mauricio were married in 2008, just a couple of months after this program began.

We were talking about that before the program.

He's a pastor in Calgary, Alberta, and that is where they live with their three children.

Kristen's c h I s t I n is how you spell her name.

Kristen Rosa has written Saving Nate Choosing life after a devastating prenatal diagnosis featured resource right there Chris Fabry.

Kristen, welcome to the program.

How are you doing today?

I'm doing great.

Thank you so much for having me.

My first question is, how did a Canadian girl like you who taught English in China, meet a fellow from Brazil?

Oh, yeah.

Well, I definitely didn't think I was going to marry a Brazilian, that's for sure.

Um, but I had been in China, and when it was time for me to think about heading back home to Canada, I started praying and asking the Lord, you know, what am I going to do?

I was thinking about jobs, and I'm from a city called Edmonton and but God put Calgary on my heart.

And so I was like, well, God, like, I don't know what you're doing, but I'm going to apply for jobs in both cities.

And, uh, so I didn't hear back from anyone in Edmonton, but I did actually get a couple of job interviews in Calgary and ended up getting a job.

So moved to Calgary, and after a couple of months, I was kind of like, okay, what am I doing here?

I don't really know anyone.

And my family was hoping I would move back home to Edmonton.

Um, so I was actually thinking about, you know, throwing in the towel and heading home and then and then that's actually when I met Mauricio, uh, I visited a church and joined the young adult group, and, and I happened to meet him at a Bible study.

And so the rest is history.

And we've been in Calgary now.

Well, I've been there for almost 20 years, and he's been there even longer.

Um, so yeah.

And Calgary is now our home.

We we really, really like it there.

Live in the shadow of the Rocky Mountains And yeah, it's been pretty good.

And then we'll fast forward a few years.

In 2013, you gave birth to Thomas, and at that point, did you decide?

Yeah, I think I want to I want to stay home and be a full time mom.

I did, yeah.

Actually, that's something that we, Maurizio and I discussed even before we got married, when we were thinking about marriage, was the hope that I would be able to stay home with my kids.

And, um.

And so, yeah, we had Thomas and and I was able to stay home with him and, um.

Yeah.

And then after, you know, he was a couple years old, we, we thought we would, you know, try to expand our family.

God willing.

And, uh, we experienced a little bit of infertility.

But in the summer of 2016, I found out that I was expecting again.

And of course, we were.

We were really excited.

And then in August of that summer, uh, we went for the dating ultrasound and found out that we were expecting twins.

Um, so that was kind of a shock.

But, you know, obviously we were so once we, you know, over, you know, got past the shock, we were just super excited and then start preparing to welcome two babies into our home.

And, um, so leading into the fall, we, uh, was looking forward to the 18 week ultrasound because that's the one where we were going to find out the gender of the babies.

And, you know, we were you know, we're kind of had a running kind of a bet going on with our family.

Like, what were we going to have?

Was it going to be two boys, two girls, a boy and a girl?

And uh, so we went into this 18 week ultrasound just really excited.

And, uh, there was there was not even a thought in our mind that, you know, we might hear something, uh, you know, that there might be something.

like a health concern with the baby.

Um, and so in that appointment, we found out that we were having a boy and a girl, um, which was just amazing.

Um, but then the ultrasound technician, she she kind of said that she needed to go talk to the doctor and bring him in.

And so this doctor came in and told us that they had discovered, um, that our little boy had something called congenital diaphragmatic hernia.

And he didn't really give us any, you know, much detail about the condition.

Just told us that they were going to refer us to a clinic for high risk pregnancies.

Um, and I would be going there the following week, and they were going to do an in-depth ultrasound and just, you know, find out more, um, about, you know, how he was doing and, and kind of go from there.

Um, and so the, the week leading up to that appointment, um, ratio.

And I, you know, we were we weren't overly concerned.

We kind of, I guess we were just hoping and praying that whatever it was, was going to be something that would be easily resolved.

You know, that, you know, within that week, God was going to heal our little boy and everything was going to be fine.

Um, and so we went into this next appointment, uh, really unprepared for, for the, the news that we received that day.

Um, so I went in for this two hour long ultrasound and, uh, and then after that, we were brought into a little room and a doctor came in and sat down with us, and she kind of explained to us in more detail about what CDH or congenital diaphragmatic hernia is.

So she kind of explained to us that.

So our son, he had a very large hole in the right side of his diaphragm muscle.

And so what had happened was, um, his intestines and part of his liver had moved up into his chest, and they were crowding out his lungs.

So everything was shifted over a bit.

His lungs and his heart and his right lung was almost nonexistent.

It was tiny, um, because it didn't have room to develop.

And then his left lung was only 27% the size of a regular sized lung.

And so she explained to us that because of the size of his lungs, he had around a 25% chance of survival with treatment.

Um, and of course, he'd have no chance of survival without because, you know, the moment of birth, like of him being born, he would be unable to breathe.

Um.

And so let's stop right there.

Let's stop right there.

25%.

If if you intervene medically and I assume surgically, you'd have to do something surgically here If you do that, you've only got a 1 in 4 chance of survival.

Living there.

Was that what they meant?

Survival or, quote unquote, quality of life?

As far as I understand, they meant survival.

Um, so.

Yeah.

And she actually did go on to tell us some of the long term health effects that he could have if he survived.

Um, but yeah.

So they they did not.

Yeah.

They really didn't think he, he was going to make it, you know, if he were to receive treatment.

Um, because yeah, most babies with this severity of CDH in the past just would not have made it.

Um, yeah.

So she used a a word that you had to do a double take on.

And when we come back, I want to tell you what that word is.

And my hope today as we talk with Kristen Rose, is that if you have had this kind of diagnosis, well, if you have, you're reliving this right now.

But if if you have this diagnosis or you're going to have one in the future, I want you to hear the rest of the story.

It's told in the book Saving Nate Choosing Life After a Devastating Prenatal Diagnosis.

It's our featured resource.

Click through today's information right there at Kris.

Kris.

For more the story straight ahead on Moody Radio.

We're talking with Kristen Rosa today, author of Saving Nate.

You can find it at the website.

Kris.

Kris.

We had just cut away there, Kristen, as you were describing what happened in that doctor's office.

And this is 18 weeks, and then the week later, 19 weeks, you get the further development of the ultrasound and you hear the doctor say something.

She uses a word to you that you didn't really understand.

And both you and Mauricio are there.

And the word was reduction.

So pick up the story right there.

Sure.

Yeah.

So after explaining to us the severity of the CDH, um, and I was just trying to process everything.

I'm kind of an introvert, and I need time to think about things and and so but without kind of giving any time to ask questions or anything she says to us, like, given the severity of the fetus's condition, you may want to consider Having a reduction.

And so to be honest, I was I didn't like in that moment.

I didn't know what she was talking about.

I was quite confused.

And then, you know, it took a couple seconds and I realized like, oh, like she's she's suggesting we abort our little boy, like we kill our little boy.

And, uh, I was utterly shocked.

I didn't I had no words.

I did not know how to respond to that.

Um, it was the the last thing I ever expected to hear that day when we went, you know, for this appointment.

Um, but I'm really thankful that Mauricio was there because, you know, he he immediately spoke up.

He he said, you know, we know that you're talking about abortion.

And we want you to know that, you know, we we're for life and and we're going to fight for our son's life.

And, uh, you know, I in that moment, I, I wasn't expecting I wasn't expecting any of this, to be honest.

But I was a little embarrassed that he spoke so forthrightly.

But I'm also really thankful that he did, though, because I wasn't prepared to to speak up for our son at that moment.

So yeah, that's kind of that's kind of what happened.

Um, yeah, it was very, very difficult thing to hear in the moment for sure.

Right.

Because there's, there's a thousand things going through your mind about, okay.

So what is the treatment?

What are we going to do here.

And then you hear reduction.

It's like they're giving up.

And Mauricio was saying, uh, time out here.

No, we're not going to do that.

So but that wasn't the last doctor's appointment, right?

No, no it wasn't.

Um, from that moment onward, I needed to go every couple weeks to this clinic, and, um, you know, they.

Yeah.

It's interesting.

I just want to go back a little bit, but she didn't talk.

This doctor didn't talk about treatment at all.

Um, and, uh, it wasn't even part of the discussion at this point.

But, you know, we made it very clear that, you know, we weren't going to abort our son.

And, um, but, yeah, they so the following week, they they set us up, uh, to meet with a geneticist and, and I, you know, after this initial appointment, receiving the full scope of the CDH.

And I told Marissa, I'm like, you know what?

Now I really think they're going to suggest again that we have an abortion.

And Reese was like, really?

Like, I don't know.

I'm like, oh, yeah, just you wait.

And then sure enough, we go for this appointment.

And they didn't have any genetic information from the baby or from us, but they they kind of explained that they thought he probably had some additional congenital issues.

And once again suggested that we consider having an abortion.

Um, And once again Mauricio spoke up and said, uh, no, like we're not going to do that.

Um, so and then yeah, so going on like through the pregnancy, every couple of weeks, I was meeting with a different doctor in this clinic.

You know, I didn't actually have one doctor.

They were on a rotation, so I didn't know who I was going to see every week.

And we were offered abortion, you know, a couple more times.

And then once they realized, like, we were not changing our mind, um, they, they then suggested we choose Palliation.

And so what they meant by that was that we would give birth to our son and then, uh, and then they would not do anything to treat him that, you know, we would just, you know, I'd probably get to hold him and and then he would, he would pass and, uh, and with this suggestion, same thing we just said, you know, I don't know, I guess God put it in us, but we just really wanted him to receive treatment like we we wanted them to fight for him.

And so we said no to Palliation as well.

And I've since learned that it's it's called perinatal hospice.

And for babies who, you know, really, truly, there is no treatment available for them.

It's actually a really beautiful option.

It's a it's a life honoring option for those babies.

You know, who who aren't, um, expected to survive because the parents actually get to hold their babies and, and meet them and love them and give them the dignity and honor of of being loved.

You know, and receiving a name and, um, which is something that does not happen with abortion.

Um, yeah.

So, so, so did you name your son and daughter in utero?

At what point did you choose names?

We did.

Yes.

So I think so.

We received this the prenatal diagnosis in November.

And I think by January we had chosen their names, uh, for, for our son.

We named him Nathaniel Joshua.

And we really wanted to choose a name for him that was meaningful, that would show everyone, you know that he wasn't a mistake and that God had a plan and purpose for his life.

And so Nathaniel means gift of God.

And we chose that one very, very meaningfully because we wanted everyone to know, like, this boy is a gift.

He's not disposable.

And, you know, God's the one weaving him together in my womb.

And, uh, you know, and so that was his first name.

And then his middle name is Joshua.

And Joshua means the Lord is my salvation.

And we chose that name because we really believe that, you know, well, we didn't know the outcome.

We didn't know if he was going to survive.

But we we we strongly believe that God was going to save him one way or the other.

Either, you know, save him physically and that he would eventually come home from the hospital and and live his life, or that God was going to take him home to be with with the Lord in heaven.

And and our son was going to live eternally there with with the Lord.

So one way or the other, he was going to be saved.

Um, and so we we chose those names for him.

And then, uh, for our daughter, we named her Emma.

Elizabeth consecrated to God.

And at the moment, I'm actually not remembering what Elizabeth means, but, um.

But.

Yeah, so we actually had a baby shower at the end of January, and we were planning to keep the names kind of a, you know, keep them a surprise for when the babies were born.

But, um, Mauricio decided to share the names with everyone who was there.

And we had quite a large turnout with family and friends and from people from the church.

And, uh, but he, you know, he just he wanted to share like, these are the names of our kids.

This is and this is, you know, Nathaniel's name?

He's a gift.

And, uh, God has a plan for his life.

And so, uh, it was a really beautiful baby shower.

And, um, you know, they prayed for us.

They prayed for Nate, and, uh.

Yeah.

You know, we had our whole community behind us, supporting us and praying for us through all of this.

So, yeah.

I believe Elizabeth, uh, from the Hebrew name Elisheva, uh, means God's promise or God is my oath.

Uh, so there you go.

Now, now, you know, a little bit, a little bit more.

Thankful for the internet.

Um, so the thing, the frustrating thing about as I read this book is like, I'm so glad that you and your husband were fighting for Nate.

But those who took the Hippocratic oath, those who said first do no harm.

that there was nobody there on the team saying, okay, this is the decision.

Good for you.

So here's what we're going to do.

Here's the plan.

Here's it's like you didn't get that, did you?

No, we did not.

Not at all.

There was not one doctor that we came across through the whole pregnancy who was willing to fight for our son, you know, who's willing to, like, recognize.

Okay.

Yeah.

He he's a child of worth and value, and he's, you know, worthy of being treated.

Right.

Um, we found that it was very, um, surprising.

Surprising, I guess, but also frustrating.

Like, very frustrating that no one was willing to have his back, you know?

And, yeah, when I went to that clinic, it's supposed to be a clinic for high risk pregnancies.

I expected to receive excellent health care.

And in the end, they weren't willing.

They weren't willing to treat my my son like there.

Yeah, there.

Thought of the best treatment for me was to take his life and that was very baffling for sure.

I really pointed to just a different worldview that these, these doctors kind of practice their medicine by, you know, um, so yeah, it was yeah.

That was my question.

Why, you know, and you can't know the motivation of people.

And I know you're not trying to be mean to anybody, but it, it.

No.

It screamed to me that this is and I mentioned, you know Roe versus Wade since 73.

This this is the, uh, the cake that we've been baked in this culture that we've been baked in that says if there's something wrong with, you know, look at, look at, uh, kids with down syndrome and how few kids there are born.

There's a reason for that.

And that's because the culture says, no, this is this is something we want.

We don't want.

You know, this is too hard when everybody that every parent that I've ever talked to, someone with a down syndrome who a child who has down syndrome is like, you should see the life this kid brings into our family and I.

So I wanted to emphasize that not to have you say all the doctors are terrible, but this is reality.

What you experienced, right?

It is.

Yeah.

It's they really have, you know, embraced that message like, uh, that if the baby, you know, is, is this idea that if the baby's not able and not going to contribute to society, I guess, or they're going to be a burden to society, then that baby should, you know, shouldn't be, shouldn't be allowed to to be born, which is, you know, obviously, we know that that's just not true.

Um, you know, God says that we're made in his image and, you know, each and every one of us, regardless of what we're able to do or not able to do, is precious.

You know, it's precious in his sight.

Um, but unfortunately, yeah, that's not, um, an understanding that everyone has.

And I certainly didn't find any doctors who would agree with me on that.

Um, but I think, you know, when we have this, we have this view.

We know that that each child has value.

You know, I think God gave me this opportunity to to share.

Okay.

Well, you know what he was going to he says something different.

God says something different.

And he gave me the opportunity and the opportunity to say, no, our baby does have value.

Let's do what we can to save him.

You know, even if you don't agree, you know, God would agree.

And let's let's do what we can.

And, um, and that's what we did.

So much of our culture says exactly that you are valued because of what you can contribute or what you do for society.

You know, what are you going to add here?

The gospel says you are valued and loved simply because you are a.

You're part of his workmanship, that he has created you for good works, that he's prepared in advance beforehand for you to walk in them.

You know, for those who are believers.

So we've just kind of scratched the surface of the story.

We'll take a break when we come back.

I want you to go into something that you mentioned a little earlier, and that was that you didn't know the outcome.

And our listeners, unless they've heard your story or read the book, they don't know the outcome.

Uh, and so we're going to talk about the outcome.

But what happened to you in the process?

I want to go into that and see how the Nate's life has changed you.

The book is saving Nate, choosing life after a devastating prenatal diagnosis.

It's our featured resource at Chris Fabry Livorno.

Click through today's information.

You'll see it right there.

And our guest today is Kristen Rosa.

She and her husband, Mauricio have been married since the beginning of this program back in 2008.

He's a pastor in Calgary, Alberta, and she's telling her story about saving Nate today at the radio backyard fence.

We are telling Nate's story today at the radio backyard fence.

Saving Nate is the book by Kristen Rosa choosing life after a devastating prenatal diagnosis.

Have you been there?

Are you there right now?

Uh, get a little closer to the the radio, to your device, because you're going to hear the outcome of that choice that Kristen and her husband Mauricio, made.

But I want to go back to something you said just a minute ago.

Um, process over outcome.

You did not know the outcome of this when you made that decision.

You didn't know what was going to happen and that that's.

I put my finger on this, on the nerve in my own life.

Faith is not knowing the outcome of the thing that I'm praying so hard about, knowing that what's down the road, faith is okay.

God, I'm going to put this in your hands.

I believe you're sovereign.

I believe you're good.

Whatever it is that you want me to walk through here, I'm going to walk through this with your help.

I can't do this alone.

I'm going to do it with your help.

So what?

In that process that you walk through on those next 21 weeks, what happened inside of you.

Mhm.

Yeah.

That's a great question.

Um, you know, when we after that, that appointment where we received the diagnosis, I remember Marissa and I, we we went down the elevator and got into the car, and we just sat there, you know, so I we felt I felt so sad in that moment.

And then we did what we could like the only thing we could do, which was to pray.

I remember now like bowing his head and leading us in prayer.

Just just praying for strength, praying for our son.

Um, and I think that was just that was the beginning of this, this process of, okay, God, what's happening here?

What do we do?

And, and and turning to him with all of the, the worries, the fear, the sadness, um, for myself for that that following week, just that first week, I, God brought me from a place of utter, just hopelessness, like, okay, our son, he's going to die like, this is it.

We're going to be preparing for, uh, to receive one healthy baby and one baby that's not going to survive.

And and he brought me back to Scripture to, you know, his word.

Um, and, you know, I grew up in as a, in a Christian home.

I came to Christ at a young age.

And when I was ten, I started reading my Bible and, you know, and I was pretty diligent about reading the word.

And and so, you know, his his word was in me, right?

Like, I knew it, I knew in my heart and I and I believed it.

But I think in this moment, this was the first real test of my faith that I'd gone through in my life.

And, and I needed to go back to Scripture and go back to his promises and trust that he was going to be with me and be with us in this, in this hardship.

So some of those verses I had memorized when I was younger came back to me, you know, for, for example, like Proverbs three verses 5 to 6.

A lot of us know this, but trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.

In all your ways.

Submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.

And I had to like.

I clung to this, and there were a few verses that I just, I literally, I clung to.

I would go back to them in my mind throughout the day.

You know, when a fear or that sadness would hit me, you know, I have to go back to to Scripture because this is the way that God speaks to us, and these are his promises.

Another verse that really strengthened me and helped me was Joshua one nine says, have I not commanded you?

Be strong and courageous.

Do not be terrified.

Do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.

And there was this daily like, Call Kristen, be strong and courageous.

And it's interesting.

You know, we sometimes forget that first sentence.

It's a question have I not commanded you?

It's actually command to be strong and courageous and to not be terrified or discouraged.

And so I had to just yeah.

Trust that God this that what he says in his word is true and that I can I can lean on that for my strength.

You know, we like to think that we have to be strong on our own and be independent and all these things.

But the reality is that when we go through, like God will allow us to go through hard times.

Um, because he wants us to rely on him and not on ourselves.

And you know, I, I found this to be be true.

I needed him, I needed to turn to him and and cling to him to help me get through this time.

And I know it was the same for Mauricio.

Like we together, individually and together, you know, he was working on our hearts.

We were, you know, um, in trying to be in the word as much as we could.

And we were in prayer, um, asking for his strength to go through this.

And actually, just one more verse that really spoke to me too, of just quickly shares just the one from Philippians 467, do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ.

And I feel like the peace of God did start to cover me and fill me.

You know, especially during that pregnancy where I there wasn't really much I could do in the pregnancy.

It was a waiting game.

You're waiting and waiting, waiting to actually give birth to the kids, um, the twins.

And then.

But in that process, I learned to like, okay, I'm going to give this to him.

I don't know the outcome.

He might choose to take my son or he, you know, our son might survive, but I'm going to trust that he's got this and he's got me.

And I truly did have a sense of peace.

I wasn't, um, I didn't live those months in fear and sadness.

Um, I was able to give it to him, which was such a blessing.

Really?

Questions, though.

Questions about, you know, how is this going to.

How's this all going to turn out?

What is God going to do in, in and through?

Um, if there's if there's somebody listening right now and they are where you were or, uh, 50 years from now, somebody gets this podcast and and they hear it.

Well, I want you to come beside especially the pregnant mom who's had this kind of diagnosis.

What do you want to say to her?

I want to say, first of all, don't give up hope.

Um, there's like there's hope every for every day.

Um, there's there's.

God gives us strength for today and grace and mercy for today.

And I would I would tell her, just bring your, your your worries, bring your cares, bring your anxieties to the Lord and and ask him to carry it for you.

You know Jesus.

He is so beautiful.

You know, he he came to this world and he lived and he suffered.

And he knows what it's like to endure hardship and pain.

And because of that, we, you know, he's, um, he can understand what we go through, and we can we can give him everything.

We can trust him with these things.

You know, uh, Jesus said like, come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

So my encouragement to that woman is turn to Jesus.

Turn to him.

Give this to him.

And and and allow him to carry these burdens that that you have right now, you know.

And and even if the outcome isn't what we expect or hope or even the diagnosis is not what we had been hoping for.

To trust that God can use this for good in your life.

If we allow him to use it for good.

Um, if we allow ourselves to trust in him and become a better person through it, rather than a bitter person, and and that would be my encouragement.

There's no easy answer.

There's no easy fix.

But I do know that there's hope for each day.

Hope to get through the day.

And ultimately, we have that eternal hope that we know.

You know, one day, these trials, this pain, the tears.

God's going to wipe all of our tears away when we get finally to our eternal home and get to see Jesus face to face.

Um, so yeah, Nate, Nate's you know, he has this one lung that's not developed at all.

Another lung that's you said 20% or somewhere around in there.

27.

Um, yeah.

Was there any medical intervention done then before the birth?

So not before the birth.

They told us that if he weren't a twin, there actually is a procedure that can be done, um, on babies that can help their lungs to, to grow a little more before they're born.

Um, but I guess it was too risky to do, um, being a twin pregnancy, so no intervention before he was born.

Um, but they did prepare us for what to expect after he was born.

Uh, basically, like the moment.

So he was he he actually came first.

And I remember, uh, hearing him cry one cry.

And then that that cry quickly disappeared as he used up all the oxygen that I had been able to give him.

And then he was silent.

Um, and we I gave birth in an O.R.

filled with, you know, uh, doctors and nurses, and so the the NICU team whisked him away and they intubated him and started, you know, uh, just getting him all connected to all the different wires and tubes that were necessary for his survival.

And so the the first thing that was really important was just to get him stabilized and getting enough oxygen that he could survive.

And, um, so they actually worked on him for about 45 minutes.

And looking back at pictures, I could see there were I counted nine different wires and tubes connected to him.

Um, all this to keep him, you know, breathing, getting oxygen.

And, uh, and so actually, the doctor, um, met with Mauricio after they brought him to the NICU.

And they told him that that Nate had done better than expected.

And, uh, this is something that we heard multiple times throughout his treatment that he, he like each step of the way.

He had all these little, little steps he needed to pass through, you know.

And with each and every step, people were praying like Mauricio was sending out, uh, daily messages, sometimes more than one a day, depending on what was going on.

Um, to our wide network of friends and family and churches, uh, in Canada and Brazil and, uh, even the United States, you know, praying for him.

And, and so, you know, we would see that God was with him, you know, with these each little step like Mauricio's hope was that when he was born, God would just heal him miraculously.

He would breathe on his own.

You know, that was the hope.

But that didn't happen.

But that didn't mean that God wasn't with him.

Um, as he was going through these, these, these the medical intervention that was necessary, um, but basically.

Showed up too.

Did they?

It was like the ones who said, uh, we think that these doctors showed up and did the, you know, all the work that Nate needed them to do at that moment.

So let me take our final break and come back.

Kristin Rosa is with us.

You got to read the book, Saving Nate Choosing Life.

After a devastating prenatal Diagnosis.

You'll hear a little of the rest of the story in the remaining moments.

Click through today's information right there.

Chris Avery lives.

Don't you dare miss our final segment Straight Ahead on Moody Radio.

What a story from Kristin Rosa today.

Saving Nate, choosing life after a devastating prenatal diagnosis.

You can find it at Chris Avery Livorno.

Click through today's information.

You'll see it right there on the right hand side.

Chris Livorno.

Now I was assuming Kristen, I didn't remember this from the book that the delivery was.

Would have been a C-section because of, you know, the nature of of how of the nature of things.

And you said, you told me in the break, no, this was a natural birth.

And Nate came.

The Nate train came and was whisked away.

So he was given, if there was medical intervention, 25% chance of just survival.

And then all of these, you know, maladies that he's not going to do this and he'll never do that, etcetera, etcetera.

Even if he survives, wasn't given any of that.

And so you weren't given any hope of, of his survival.

So what happened?

Nope.

Yeah.

Well, uh, for the first week, they just had to keep him calm.

And, uh, actually, CDH babies are usually put into the quietest section of the NICU, and it has to be dark, super quiet, just to keep, you know, these babies stable.

And so once they determined he was stable enough, getting enough oxygen.

Um, then when he was eight days old, he actually had surgery.

And so they they opened.

They kind of they made an incision under his rib cage and actually had to go in there and move the liver and the bowels back down into his lower abdominal area.

And then because the the hole was so large in the diaphragm, they actually patched it with Gore-Tex.

And so, uh, yeah.

And actually that that patch will stay there for his whole life.

It's still there.

And, um, and so this was obviously this had to be done, this surgery, but they told us the next step after this was just as critical.

It was, you know, uh, making sure that he didn't struggle with the pulmonary hypertension, keeping blood flowing, keeping the heart strong and then and and just time to allow his lungs to begin growing.

And so, uh, this this started happening, you know, um, it was a long process, but little by little, uh, he, you know, started not needing quite as much oxygen from the, you know, the ventilator.

And, um, but unfortunately, after a few days, a few days after the surgery, um, it he started showing signs of infection.

And we, we went into a period of a couple, 2 or 3 weeks where it was really touch and go for, for that time where we really didn't know if he was, if he was going to pull through because his liver was, um, damaged, his kidneys weren't working and his, his organs were at risk of just shutting down.

And so, you know, that was a time where we and all of our family and friends were just crying out to the Lord just to save his his little life, to heal his body.

And, um.

Yeah, but the the.

Yeah.

God was with him.

He eventually started showing little, you know, just a little bit of progress, a little bit of progress.

And, uh, and eventually he, uh, he was able to breathe.

Actually, the story of him, the day that he came off all breathing support was pretty special.

Uh, we went into the hospital on Mauricio's birthday.

It was May 21st.

And the nurse, uh, she's like, do you notice anything?

And we we hadn't noticed.

And we looked down and.

And Nate was off of all oxygen support, the nasal prongs that he'd had the day before they were gone.

And he was breathing on his own.

And that was the two month mark for him.

Just over two months.

Yeah.

And, uh, so at that point, it was just, you know, um, helping him to learn to take food from a bottle and start gaining weight.

He was a scrawny, tiny little guy.

He looked like a wizened old man.

Um, and but, you know, he just.

Yeah.

He just continued.

Little by little, it was.

This was a story of just a healing by little increments.

But, you know, day by day, you know, he improved.

And, uh, if you were to see him today, you would never have.

You could never have known that he had once been so sick.

Uh.

I've seen the picture of him.

I've seen the picture of Emma.

Emma gets short shrift here.

We gotta talk about Emma, too, because I'm sure she.

How come you're talking about Nate?

You know, I'm pretty special.

You are.

Um, but just to see him and his.

His smile and his face, this little miracle, they both are miracles, you know?

Every child is loved and cherished.

And my guess is those doctors would say the same thing.

The doctors that gave the dire diagnosis would be just as happy.

I don't know if you've talked with any of them since then, have you?

I actually haven't, and some of my friends are like, you should go back and bring Nate and say, hey, look, here he is.

Um, not not to, you know, to be mean or anything.

I like to rub it in their face, but just to be like, hey, look like, look what God did.

Here's this little boy, and he's so healthy now.

But I haven't done that.

Um, I don't know if I will.

Maybe.

Maybe I should.

Yeah, well, and I know that writing this has has changed you because it was 5 or 6 years ago that you started as, like, I want to tell this story and we are better off for it.

We are recipients of this.

And I want to mention, again, saving Nate, choosing life after a devastating prenatal diagnosis.

It's not just about Nate's survival.

It's about life.

It's about abundant life.

It's about not knowing, but hanging on to.

I think of the Joanna Weaver book.

Her the title of one of her books is Embracing Trust.

And that's what you had to do.

You had to hang just like you would hang on to a little baby.

You've got to trust in God, and you've got to hold tightly to that and realize he's holding on to you.

Right.

Mhm.

That's right.

100%.

Yeah.

I'm so thankful God did a work in my life and obviously a work in Nate's life as well.

It's pretty amazing.

Well and Mauricio as well.

And and Thomas and Emma.

Uh, it's a great story.

We've only scratched the surface, so I want to encourage you, if this has touched a nerve in your own heart, your life, or there's somebody in your church or your neighborhood who's going through this kind of struggle.

Uh, tell them about the conversation we've had.

Tell them about the book Saving Nate.

It's our featured resource at Chris Lives.

Chris did a great pleasure to get to meet you.

God bless you and your family.

Thank you so much.

It's been a pleasure to meet you too.

Go to Chris and you'll see the book, Saving Nate Choosing Life After a Devastating Prenatal Diagnosis by Kristen Rosa.

C h I s t I n Rosa.

You'll see it right there and then come on back tomorrow because we have a couple.

Unless there's a big ice storm.

I hope not, but we have a couple that I want you to hear from.

And a song that became famous, world famous and a big change in a family.

Oh, we're going to talk about it right here at the radio backyard fence.

Chris Fabry Live is a production of Moody Radio, a ministry of Moody Bible Institute.

Thanks for listening.