A MIRACLE BABY

A MIRACLE BABY

by Vachiravan Vanlaeiad

A seven-month-old baby boy named Matthew is the first-born of Sunisa Khoonpon (nicknamed Fon) of Yasothorn, a Northeastern province of Thailand. Matthew is a very cheerful and smiling infant with tall stature which he’s inherited from his mother. However, he has derived his facial feature as well as his dark-colored skin from his father Jay from a Southern province. Matthew is one of the most loveable and lovely babies all the personnel in Bangkok Christian Hospital’s Neo-Natal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) have ever seen. He’s very easy to handle, hardly ever making any sounds even in his numerous painful medical experiences. Moreover, after being discharged from the hospital, he has been keeping growing strongly and developing steadily since. He’s the apple of his parents’ eye as well as the darling of everyone. Everybody loves him at first sight. 

But the story behind this darling and lovely child is one of the most painful and difficult as well as the most incredible, as related by her mother and confirmed by many witnesses, especially Dr Pichai Lue-prasitsakun, one of the hospital’s best and competent specialists in Obs/Gyn. Before telling more of Matthew’s story, a glimpse of his parents, especially his brave and God-fearing mother Fon should be taken:

Fon was born in Yashothorn into a very poor family of farmers. However, she and her other 5 siblings had been greatly loved and taken care of by their parents as though in compensation of their poverty. Fon was very close to her father, enabling her to easily feel loved by her Heavenly Father in the latter part of her life. She had received only a secondary education as a result of the meager family income. After completing Prathom 4 (Grade 4) from a school in her home town, she had come to Bangkok to seek job (as commonly practiced by other young people from provinces).

While working in Bangkok, she had met her present husband and Matthew’s father. Jay is also from a province in the Southern part of Thailand. They both fell in love and finally lived together as husband and wife (without marriage). Jay has converted to Christianity since he was a teenager. Although he’s young: physically, mentally, and spiritually, he’s never forgotten or ignored his duty to God. He’d tried to tell Fon about God despite her unbelief and protest. Finally, out of love for Jay, Fon had gone to church for a few times. She’s a shy person by nature, feeling uncomfortable every time seeing a lot of people. So, although she’s not a religious Buddhist, she didn’t feel anything about this new religion called Christianity either. Even after accepting Jesus Christ into her heart, she didn’t know God and still couldn’t pray. She automatically went to church to sing and listen to sermons and then hurried back home without even having met or had lunch with other believers.

Praises be to God that after following Jay to church every Sunday, one day she started to feel wanting to go to Church and know God more. She thus began to pray to God asking for many things from Him and she was surprised that even the most trivial things, God had always answered her prayers. At first she thought that was coincidental. But when her prayers were answered often and for a long period of time, she’d realized that this was not coincidental at all. She then felt the strong urge inside her to go to church by herself and to know God more. She had also changed from being very timid to being a little more sociable. It’s not so difficult at all to feel loved by, as well as to give love back to, her Heavenly Father because of her closeness with as well as her wholehearted love towards her father him.

When Fon and Jay had met and decided to live together, she was only 17 and he 20. And after going to church together for about 2 years, they had decided to marry at her provincial home. But they had not entered into a marriage contract yet.

While working for the whole 4 years as a sales girl at a department store in Bangkok, she’d not gone to church at all for Sunday was not her day-off. But Jay was a regular churchgoer. During these times, Fon’s spiritual life was so dry that she had to ask God for granting her a new job with Sunday off. Although never going to church for those long 4 full years, she’d never stopped praying to God and God was still faithful to her by constantly answering her prayers. When her father was seriously ill with last stage cancer of lymph node, she had to take leave often to take care of her beloved father. Finally her father died, despite her fervent prayer for him for the full 3 months in hospital. However, Fon had never blamed God. She only thought that this was because of her lack of faith.

After her father passed away, she went back to Bangkok and tried to find a job with Sunday off. Praying so hard about this for approx. 4-5 months, God had graciously answered her prayers by granting her a job as a salesperson in a company doing the business of car rubber mat. Moreover, the company’s owner is Christian. This had made her witness the greatness of God as well as made her feel more of His love and care for her.

While working in this company for 4 years, God had lavishly provided her with knowledge and understanding about this business. Besides, her relationship with God was more closely. All these years, she had been greatly blessed in almost everything. However, on the third year working here, she’d contracted some symptoms of tuberculosis: persistent and chronic cough for half a month, etc. The doctor had her lungs x-rayed and her blood tested. While waiting for the results, she’d been praying so hard that she must not contract tuberculosis. For when her mother was contracted with this disease, she had taken care of her until she died. She had thus prayed so hard to be spared of this contagious disease for this would be great obstacle to her career as a salesperson. Thank the Lord that on the appointment date with the doctor, the blood test result was negative. This had made the doctor so puzzled since black spots were shown up on the x-ray photo of her left lung, obviously indicating the existence of tuberculosis.

After working in that company for 4 years, she and her husband had decided to open up their own business producing and selling car rubber mat. They had started the business with the capital of only 10,000 Baht for buying a small sewing machine and using their rented house as the factory cum office. However, God had abundantly blessed their business for the whole 8 years. When they felt secured in both their married lives and business, Fon wanted to have children. Even though more than over 10 years since marriage they’d never made birth control, Fon never conceived. She then thought that she (not Jay) was sterile. Before their business was secure, Fon had never thought seriously about having her own children. So she started to pray, on January of 2012, so hard for God to grant her a child. She’d not only poured her heart out to God like Hanna in the Bible, but also went to be hand-laid on her in every special or revival meeting. And on April, she’d finally and specially anointed by God and confirmed through the sermon made on the topic about Abraham and Sarah that she was not barren and would surely conceive.

About 2 days after the sermon, one morning when Fon woke up, she’d found that she’s pregnant. And this pregnancy was confirmed by her regular doctor who she’d constantly seen and consulted on the account of getting pregnant. This news had surely made the doctor so very surprised for he’s the one who knew so well how difficult for her to conceive.

During pregnancy, Fon had confronted with many problems and difficulties in life. She had been so distress and almost every night had to pray and cry herself to sleep. On top of that she also had the problem of weak cervix, resulting in having to tie it closed for 3 times to prevent abortion. However, during these very hard times, her belief and trust in God had never wavered. She’s so sure that this child was given by God and she’s also confident in His greatness. Therefore, after 3 times of tying the cervix closed, which had not only rendered great pain to her but also consumed much time and a great amount of money, she’d refused to tie the cervix closed for the 4^th time when her pregnancy was only 27 weeks. Together with her steadfast belief, she’d been praying with the child in her womb by stroking her stomach while saying prayers as well as singing praises to God. Strangely enough, even only 27-week old, her child had responded back by wiggling itself inside her womb.

When being pregnant for six and a half month and after refusing to tie her cervix closed when being 26-week old pregnant, the doctor had ordered her to stay in the hospital under his close watch for 10 days. Then one day Matthew was naturally delivered when he was only 27-month old and he had inverted his head 2 days before due date. However before, during, and after Matthew was born, there’re numerous miracles happening during those times which enable him to be called by all witnesses: “A Miracle Baby.”

One night while staying in a hospital under close watch of the doctor, Fon felt having definite pattern of labor contractions since midnight until 4 o’clock of the next day. The doctor had checked and found that her cervix was 7 centimeters dilated. They thus wheeled her to the delivery waiting room and told her not to push (but to try to constrict the cervix to prevent the delivery instead). But there’re no incubators available at this hospital, they thus sent Fon to Bangkok Christian Hospital for incubators there were available. This is the greatness of God because usually this Christian hospital never accepts any pregnant women who have not been patients in their pre-natal clinic. This is an iron rule. But in her case, with God’s intervention, it was an exception. Upon arriving at the hospital, her cervix was 10 centimeters dilated, but her water had not broken yet. And praises be to the Lord also that the doctor in charge of her case is a God-fearing one. His name is Dr. Pichai Lue-prasitsakun.

Finally, at 17.46 hrs., Matthew had easily entered into the world with only 1,200 grams weight. Fon had another reasons to thank God for Dr. Pichai had told her that this delivery time is the best for the infant’s lungs would be strong. Despite pre-delivery and Fon’s weak cervix, there had been no problems at all. Although tiny Matthew had to be sustained by some life-saving instruments in the incubator according to general standard practices, in Matthew’s case, not many instruments needed. And during the time in the NICU, Fon had constantly visited Matthew and hold his tiny hands while praying and singing praises to God. And every time he’d responded back to her by curving up his lips a bit in the gesture of smiling. This had greatly amazed all the medical personnel. Besides, Matthew had great endurance and patience, never crying while having innumerous injections. Matthew had rapid development and adjustment too. He had received much love and adoration as well as appreciation from all NICU staffs. They said they’d never seen any easy infant like him before (in their whole career life!).

After only 2 months and 6 days in the NICU (at least 3 months for other infants), he was discharged, saving a lot of his parents’ money. Fon had seen various miracles of God that since conceiving Matthew, a great amount of money had been pouring into her from the unknown and unexpected sources, relieving her great financial burdens.

Now Matthew is rapidly growing up and developing. He’s always smiling and laughing, being a very cooperative baby. He’s the darling of everyone. He’s genuinely a miracle baby.