MICHAEL- My Miracle Baby

 Dear Friends----July 18, 2011 Baby Michael will turn 4 years old.

 

This story and photo album is my gift to him.

Once upon a time in a far off land, in Uganda---a country referred to as the “pearl of Africa”, a baby boy was born in the town of Kisoro. That baby boy was YOU, Michael and you did not come alone, but with a twin brother. Sadly, your twin brother, who I will call Gabriel, because you are both angels sent from God, was too little and not strong enough to stay on earth, but immediately returned to heaven, where he awaited his Mama Idah and you to join him.


Your Mama Idah was very ill and you were very, very tiny and everyone believed you would soon all be in the heavens together, but God had other plans for you. Although your sweet Mama Idah did join Gabriel in three days, you did not. I never met your Mama, but I know she loved you very much, so much so that she wanted you to have the one possession she had, a white wrap with pink edging.

You were so very tiny that no one, not even Sr. Vastina, expected you to live on the earth very long. Yet, she fought with all her strength to keep you alive and refused to allow you to leave the hospital until God said it was time. Even though you were small, you were feisty and took the feeding tube out of your nose, which was to give you nourishment. When you could eat, there was no milk to feed you, so sometimes your only brother would ride his bicycle all the way from your village, where he lived with your Dad Robert and your two sisters, just to bring you some cow’s milk. But that was not enough and months went by and you continued to fight to live, but you were not gaining any weight. No one understood why you still survived, but God knew: He had a Plan for you and soon we would all know what that was to be.

One day at Mass, Dr. Jerome told everyone about you and your amazing fight to survive and we took a collection to buy you some milk. That night, I, Mama Michael, had a dream and angels (maybe it was your brother Gabriel and your Mama Idah) came to me and told me to go to the Nursery and take care of you. The next day I went to work at Public Health and told Sr. Justine my dream and she said “let’s go over at tea time and meet this miracle Baby”. So we did: you were two months old at the time and still so very tiny, but when I held you and we looked into each other’s eyes, somehow we “knew” each other.

I understood that God had sent the angels, in a dream, to tell me to take care of you and so I did. I made baby formula every day and took it to the nursery to feed you. There was no refrigeration, so I sometimes made it several times a day, and when I could not come to give you a bottle, Sr. Vastina and the nursing students (especially Jennifer and Justine) fed you every two hours, until you finally started to gain some weight. Many times I felt someone tugging on my heart to wake up in the middle of the night to go and feed you and when I arrived, I found that the nurses and midwives were so busy; they had not had the time. I would sit in one of those low little stools and feed you and sing to you: do you remember? “Michael row the boat ashore, Alleluia”. You may have been tiny but you were strong and sucked all the milk. I would burp you until your tummy was soft. Then, you would smile and my heart would melt for love of you.

 
 

One day your daddy came to see you, and even though you were 5 months old and still just like a newborn baby, your daddy held you and cried tears of happiness that you were still alive. But he worked in Kampala, far away from your sisters and brother and was unable to care for you. Dr. Jerome and your daddy decided (in rufumbira language) that you would come to live with me for awhile until your were stronger. I was very, very happy, and a few of days before Christmas 2007, you came to live in my home. That Christmas, with my friends Bert and Diana, I received my very own Baby Jesus, only named Baby Michael, my miracle baby. I know you can’t remember any of those magical days but you were *“the best gift I ever got”.

I am a missionary sent from the USA, because Bishop Callist requested “Lay Mission Helpers” to send me to help the sick people of Uganda, but it was a Call directly from God that led me to you. When you grow up and read this story of your birth, I hope you will remember and know how very much I loved you from the first moment I saw you.

You lived with me for over 6 months and we were very happy. You had a bassinette to sleep in, but mostly you slept in the big bed with me. I would set an alarm clock to wake and feed you a bottle because you rarely cried and I wanted to make sure you gained enough weight, to become the big boy you are now

Michael and I had pneumonia at the same time and here we show off our twin IV cannula's

Sometimes I would take you to work with me and carry you on my back “African-style”. It took me some time to learn how to do this as it is not our custom in the United States, to carry a baby on our back. But I was persistent and you were patient. Often I felt you were laughing with me when I put the wraps on the bed and propping you on them, I would bend over backward to put you on my back. You see, just in case I should drop you, you would only fall on the soft bed, not the hard floor (ha). At times, you would give me a quizzical look but somehow you understood that my intentions were good and I never wanted to hurt you

When I came home from work at lunch, or at the end of the day, we would always have a dance around the living room. Do you remember that? You would giggle when we went around in circles and would gently tug on my ponytail to say you wanted to dance some more. When you were a little older and could sit up, I would put the pots and pans on the mat and you used a wooden spoon as a drum stick.




Even when you were still small, you loved to read and would spend hours “reading” the books friends had sent me just for you. Then, at night, I would read them to you and you always seemed to know when to turn the page.

When you started to eat solid food, I didn’t have to get up through the night to give you a bottle, but I learned to fix avocados and cook pumpkin. You really loved the small, sweet bananas and my American cold cereal.

You soon became a big boy and much too soon, it was time for you to leave my home. I was very sad to see you go, but as a missionary, I was not allowed to keep you. I cried many tears of sadness but also prayed that God would continue to show us his Plan for you and He did. That is when you went to live at Potters Village, with many other babies. I will always be grateful to Rev. Jenny and Mr. Ezra and all the caregivers for taking such wonderful care of you.

Shortly after you moved there, you became very sick with a rash all over your body. They suspected chicken pox, so they asked me if I could take you back home until the bumps went away, so the other babies would not catch it. Of course I did, and I would cover you in calamine lotion to stop the itching. After that you often got those bumps, so I do not think it was really chicken pox’s , but I was always happy to take care of  you anyhow.

 Sometimes I was able to bring you home for a visit and we would go around the hospital grounds and to Mass on Sunday to visit all the people who had known you when you were a tiny baby. They could now see what a big, handsome boy you had become. Remember when we would take your books to church to share with the other children? You never minded sharing your things. I hope you will always be so sweet and kind to the other children.

 One night you were crying in bed and I tried to console you, but you kept crying. I checked everything and finally when I couldn’t find out what was wrong, I sternly told you to go to sleep, that I was tired. I will never forget how you reached your little hand over just to touch my arm. That was all you wanted, just to be close to me. I felt very sad that I had not understood and had spoken harshly to you. Even now, years later, I feel sad and mad at myself for this and ask your forgiveness. You were the sweetest, most loving baby God ever created and I was too tired to see what you needed.

Another time, when you were older, we had just come home from being in the hospital and neither of us had slept very much because you were too sick. I said to you “Well, Michael, you have an old Mama Michael and I am very tired and must go to sleep, but you can sit up and read in our bed until you are ready to go to sleep”. You smiled, gathered all your favorite books in the bed and with the mosquito net covering us, you read and sang for about 30 minutes. Then you gently placed the books at the bottom of the bed and curled up next to my sleeping body. It is a memory I will always cherish, as I cherish you, my miracle baby Michael.

I miss you very much, more than you could possibly ever know. But I carry you in my heart and pray that part of God’s Plan for you is that we see each other again, either here where I live in the USA or in your country, Uganda

You are, indeed, a Miracle baby, not just because you survived from being so tiny into a big strong boy, but because you taught me how to love with my whole heart. Your gentleness, sweetness and laughter are the gifts you brought to this world and I was fortunate enough to be blessed by them for two and one half years. Now Sr. Vastina has taken you into her home and her heart. I hope you will continue to share your sweetness with her and all of those at St. Francis Hospital.


Remember: I always used to say to you…. ”I love you—to the sky!” …. I will always be your

Mama Michael

note: the pics and words (or songs ) for Michael to hear from the birthday book I made for him. All he has to do is push the button .Most of me singing to him but one is of his delightful giggle and one of him singing as he read his favorite books