But God Had A Plan

~

Seven years ago today, I witnessed a miracle.

A seven pound, six ounce, red haired, blue eyed, beautiful baby girl emerged from my womb.

A HEALTHY, beautiful, baby girl.

My real life friends know this story, but I am certain they won't mind hearing it again.

Quite honestly, I never had a desire to be a mother.

I never had a desire to be a wife.

I was meant for greatness.

I was meant to be a show-stopping, life-changing, rule-breaking, feminist, liberal, career woman.

But God had a plan.

He sent a guy named Two Swords my way.

And I fell in love.

And I wanted nothing more than to be Mrs. Two Swords, and the mother of a couple of pirates.

And the clock started ticking.

And then I got Crohn's Disease.

But God had a plan.

And then we got married.

And then my new husband of four months had a heart attack.

But God had a plan.

And then I had emergency surgery to have nine feet of my guts removed.

But God had a plan.

And then we had problems conceiving.

But God had a plan.

We considered adoption.

But God had a plan.

Did you hear me?

God had a plan.

I got pregnant.

But God had another plan.

At 10 weeks, I contracted the Fifth Disease.

The Fifth Disease is no big deal. It's like a cold or a flu or something. And they call it the Fifth Disease because it is lumped in with measles, mumps, chicken pox, something else...and then there were FIVE.

The Fifth Disease is no big deal.

Unless you are pregnant.

Welcome to Fallon's Law - something will ALWAYS go wrong. Not if. WILL.

But God had a plan.

I was already a high-risk pregnancy due to the Crohn's Disease. I was doing pretty well up until this point.

My baby would not survive, I was told.

Even though I had exhibited no symptoms from the Fifth Disease, the baby had contracted it in utero, and the baby was in grave danger. Something to do with the blood, the brain, the lungs. I can't even remember it all. It feels like a dream now.

I was at the OB/GYN every week, and I was at the HIGH-RISK maternal fetal specialist every week as well.

Each appointment, each ultrasound, was met with furrowed brows.

But God had a plan.

The baby had a heartbeat.

The baby was growing.

That's all they could tell me.

Oh, yeah, and that 'it' probably wouldn't make it.

But God had a plan.

We found out we were having a girl.

We had named her on the day I found out I was pregnant - Reilly Nicole Fallon.

At 22 weeks, I began to go into premature labor.

I was put on bedrest.

For a long time.

My uterus was contracting constantly.

But God had a plan.

At 30 weeks, I was dilated 5 cm, and I was admitted to the hospital to be put on bedrest there, as well as to be monitored 24-7, and be given all that fun stuff like magnesium and turbutelin, the fetal fibernectin test, and who knows what else....I can't remember, it's like a dream.

And all this time, the doctors keep telling me, she has a heartbeat, and she is growing, but we're worried about her lungs and her brain and her blood, and oh by the way, she probably won't make it.

But God had a plan.

At 36 weeks, I had an amniocentesis to determine if our baby girl's lungs were 'sustainable'.

The test came back positive.

We went home.

And we waited.

And God had a plan.

And all the while, as I had been for months, I am contracting less than 2 minutes apart.

And all the while, I, Heather J. Fallon, never doubted for one second that my baby was going to make it.

I knew with all of my heart and all of my soul, that she would be okay.

I knew that God had a plan.

I just knew it.

I never doubted Him.

I knew there were hundreds, if not thousands of prayer warriors out there, praying for our precious little baby girl.

I was so at peace with the whole process.

Call it what you will, I choose to call it a miracle.

Two weeks later, on June 22nd, 2002, at 840 pm, against all medical odds, I gave birth to a PERFECTLY healthy, beautiful, red-haired, blue eyed, baby girl.

There was nothing wrong with her brain.

There was nothing wrong with her blood.

There was nothing wrong with her lungs.

And therein lain God's plan.

To show me the miracle.

To show us the miracle.

To show all who were willing to hear, willing to see the miracle.

And now, seven years later, I am sharing the miracle of Reilly Nicole Fallon with all of you.

To know her is to love her. You can't not.

She is beautiful.

She is spunky.

She is HEALTHY.

She is funny.

She is sensitive.

She is brilliant.

She is sassy.

She is a lover of God.

She is wise beyond her years.

She is artistic.

She is all of these things, and so many more.

She is HERE.

She is my daughter.

The only daughter I will ever have.

My firstborn.

My FIRST miracle baby.

Happy Seventh Birthday, Reilly!

Thousands of people are thinking of you today and wishing you a Happy Miracle Birthday!

That is how especially miraculous you are.