Samantha Klopp’s second pregnancy went exactly as planned. When she went into labor, however, she was rushed to the operating room so that doctors could try to save both her and the baby. When there seemed to be no hope left, her husband did something incredible. Craig and Samantha were ecstatic when they found out they were expecting their second child. They had been trying to get pregnant and have a child for at least a year. Their son, John, had specifically requested a younger brother.
Despite the fact that the gender of the child could be determined during the ultrasound, Samantha requested that the doctor not tell them. The consultant then scribbled the result on a piece of paper and handed it to Samantha’s friend, who is in charge of planning a small gathering for friends and family.
Between sweets and a cake, the announcement was made. Everyone rejoiced when purple and pink balloons floated down and stuck to the apartment ceiling, indicating a girl, but no one cried harder than Craig. The soon-to-be father kissed his wife and son as he realized his dream was becoming a reality. It was heartwarming to see how excited the father was for the arrival of his daughter.
Then, as a Red Sox fan, he exclaimed, “I’m going to teach her to play baseball too,” which elicited laughter from everyone in the room. Craig and Samantha met during their college years. Because of his hitting abilities and as the regional champion at the age of 16, he was admitted to a good university.
Unfortunately, due to a shoulder injury, he was unable to play professionally, but he did play for the university. His best athletic performance, he always claimed, occurred during campus practice. Craig noticed Samantha, a lovely girl he had never seen around there, after hitting a ball and sending it into the sky. She was accompanied by a friend.
“That was the best hit of my life because it brought me you,” Craig told Samantha during their wedding vows in front of all the guests. Samantha’s graduation ceremony was simple and elegant a year later. Craig traded in his bat for a calculator to become an engineer, but he remained a baseball fan. His greatest joy in life was the birth of John, who was already hitting balls with his father at the age of three.
Craig and Samantha never expected their son to be as athletic as his father. They enjoyed throwing balls around the yard, and he loved taking him to Red Sox games. Craig and John used to lie next to Samantha in bed, listening to the baby’s kicks and movements as they were expecting a daughter.
Everything appeared to be perfect, but the family’s fate would take a dramatic turn. As the baby’s due date approached, Craig and Samantha purchased more items to ensure her comfort: a crib, colorful clothes, toys, and an abundance of diapers filled the baby’s room. The delivery date was set for ten days later. Samantha was calm because she had gone through this process before and thought she knew what would happen. However, something unexpected happened in the penultimate week.
Samantha awoke to the sensation of a slight contraction. However, because it did not appear to be serious, she and her husband went to the hospital with little concern. They wanted to ensure that everything ran smoothly. During the doctor’s appointment, however, the contractions became more intense, and the water burst. That’s when things began to go wrong for the woman, who became dizzy and nauseated.
She was nauseated as the contractions disrupted her breakfast. She hadn’t had this experience when she first gave birth, but she assumed it wouldn’t be a big deal. Who knows? Her daughter had simply announced her arrival earlier than expected. Samantha, however, was mistaken. She passed out in front of the doctor a few minutes later.
Craig was terrified. He’d never seen his wife in that state, and not even a baseball player’s concentration could have prepared him for it. “What’s going on?” “What does she have?” he’d ask in vain to a squad rattled by the unexpected event. The woman’s heart rate slowed and her blood pressure dropped to zero.
Samantha turned blue and appeared to be having difficulty breathing as the doctor and nurses tried to figure out what had happened. Her body was soon on top of a bed, connected to various devices that monitored her health and the baby she was carrying in her womb. The issue was that the baby’s vital signs began to decline as well. Craig felt a shiver run down his spine. He couldn’t do anything and could only stand there stunned.
Finally, the medical team realized they needed to act quickly and ran additional tests. Samantha had an amniotic fluid embolism, a rare allergic reaction that occurs when amniotic fluid enters the mother’s bloodstream. As a result, the heart and lungs stop working. The woman was transferred to a different section of the maternity unit, closer to where the surgery would take place. Craig was refused entry by the nurses.
He stated that he needed to spend time with his wife and daughter. Even so, the nurses warned him that the situation was serious and that the doctors needed to concentrate because she might not survive. If Samantha survived, she would never be the same. When Craig heard that, he felt the weight of the world fall on his shoulders. In the maternity ward hallway, he wanted to punch the walls until his fists bled. Instead, he knelt and rested his head against the wall, using all of his strength to quietly talk to himself.
Those who witnessed the scene couldn’t tell if he was praying or hoping for the best. However, it was a terrifying scene. Craig needed to be strong because he was about to face one of his most painful defeats. Samantha’s condition worsened in the operating room, and no precautions taken by the medical team could prevent the worst. Samantha was pronounced dead at 10:20 a.m. that morning.
Despite the fact that it was a terrible situation for everyone, there was no time to mourn. The team was still determined to save the baby. Craig, on the other hand, was pacing back and forth outside. He couldn’t handle it. The couple had spent the previous months preparing for the baby’s arrival, imagining what family life would be like, and fantasizing about their baby’s face. They hadn’t even decided on a name yet.
They wanted to look at their daughter and then name her. And now he was alone, having to say goodbye to the woman he’d met by chance ten years ago at a baseball game. Craig was terrified and helpless. He’d never been through anything like that before and was taken aback. Even so, he tried not to lose his cool; his daughter was still fighting, and he wouldn’t give up if there was a 1% chance of turning the situation around.
But he couldn’t let his wife go without a fight. Craig then took on the challenge in the only way he knew how. He got down on one knee and asked the most painful and honest question of his life: “I know this is more than I can take, and maybe it’s more than I can ask.” Maybe that means there’s a plan and a reason for all of this. That’s what I’m going to believe. “All I ask is that you let me hug my wife one more time,” Craig said from the hallway floor.
He was in desperate need. He then stood up and called his family and friends, requesting that they come to the maternity ward as soon as possible. They held hands once everyone was in the waiting room. They reaffirmed their wishes and prayers for Samantha and the baby. The pleas spread on those people’s social networks, and soon people who didn’t know Samantha or Craig expressed their support for the family, hoping for the best.
Following prayers, everyone gathered in a corner to await better news. Samantha was still in the operating room, and doctors were attempting one last desperate resuscitation. Fortunately, the girl was saved by the child’s care team. She was born crying, but more importantly, she was separated from her mother and would live.
Despite the victory, it was unclear whether the newborn could be comforted by her mother on her first day of life. Craig was crying and laughing at the same time as he held his daughter. The sensation was indescribable in both good and bad ways. He’d heard about these weird experiences that mess with one’s minds and senses, but it wasn’t until now that he realized what they meant and how difficult they were to explain. He had no doubts about what name to give the girl in the few minutes he had to look at her.
Grace—what that’s she’d be called. Craig was content with having Grace, but the prospect of losing his wife cast a dark cloud over his happiness. Then fate took a chance on the former athlete’s optimism. Samantha, according to the doctor, had responded to the most recent resuscitation attempt.
Even if her pulse remained low, she was at least breathing again. Nobody knew what had happened, but the doctor said they would do whatever it took to get the woman stable again. Craig embraced his family and friends. When he heard those words, it was as if a heavy burden had been lifted from his shoulders.
Samantha was transferred to the ICU, where doctors did everything they could to keep her breathing. However, she began to experience a drop in vital signs once more. Samantha’s brother, a surgeon, arrived at the hospital and requested access to her medical records. He knew it was a bad idea and that the risks were high, but he did learn that his sister was having a heart attack. He went into the waiting room and informed everyone of the situation. It was a bleak and frightening moment.
Craig then stood up, looked at his newborn daughter, and decided pay a visit to his wife in the ICU. While the doctors and nurses checked the charts, monitored the situation via graphs on the screen, and administered medication, the engineer approached Samantha and took her hand. “I will always love you.”
Grace is already with me, and she is stunning and flawless. “Please fight if you still have some strength!” Craig was convinced that his wife’s condition would improve, but Samantha’s did not. Despite two blood transfusions, the situation was still classified as critical. Her heart was failing, and she was getting less and less blood pumped through her body. Her lungs eventually stopped working, and she had to rely on machines to breathe.
Samantha was out cold and unconscious. She could have died at any time, but one of the doctors noticed something that had previously gone unnoticed. He noticed that one of the organs had been cut by mistake and was still bleeding without any attention being paid to it while reassessing one of the exams and looking at the patient’s situation. Then, just as she was about to be declared dead for the second time, she was wheeled into another hospital’s operating room.
The building was better suited to that situation. It had an extracorporeal membrane oxygenation machine. This would restore the ability of the heart and lungs to function. They also reduced Samantha’s level of sedation until she awoke so they could assess how well her nervous system was functioning. Craig walked back into the room and was right in her line of sight when he saw the woman showing signs of life again.
“Hi, my love,” he said, taking her hand. Samantha returned the smile, despite her confusion and disappointment. The doctors hadn’t anticipated such a reaction after everything she’d been through. Not only was her brain not dead, but her nervous system was functioning better than usual. Craig realized at that point that there was a way to permanently save Samantha.
The doctors then informed her that they were going to try a new surgery on her and that she would soon pass out from the anesthesia. Craig brought Grace running and placed the newborn for the first time in Samantha’s lap, allowing the mother to touch her daughter for the first time. “My love, her name is Grace!” Our daughter has arrived and is healthy! “We’ll be waiting for you when you wake up!” Craig exclaimed, choked up with emotion.
Samantha was frail, but the look on her face and in her eyes changed dramatically; seeing and feeling her daughter seemed to awaken something within the woman and help her regain her strength. Samantha was determined to fight for her life. Samantha fell back asleep as soon as the anesthesiologist administered the medication. Craig had nothing to do but look after Grace and wait. John was at his grandparents’ house and had no idea his mother was in such danger.
The entire episode was the most difficult test of faith and resilience that Craig and many of his friends and family had ever faced. Finally, the surgery was over, and Samantha’s condition was miraculously stabilized. The doctors were exhausted and befuddled by this point. How could a woman’s body experience both death and the birth of life? Craig wept in relief.
He almost couldn’t tell his parents the good news over the phone because he was still shaking. They could now come to the maternity ward to meet Grace and bring her brother with them. Samantha was able to breathe normally again after the ventilator was removed 24 hours later. Craig, John, and little Grace finally got to talk to her after a few hours of waiting. The woman had clearly been through a lot, but she couldn’t recall much of it.
Despite her lack of strength and heavy head, she wanted to hold her daughter in her arms one more time. Craig helped her by placing the child on her lap. Samantha’s eyes welled up with tears as Grace opened her eyes and met her mother’s for the first time. Craig sat down next to his wife… and quietly thanked God.
Good is able indeed.