Faith Story by Irene Yong
After trying to conceive naturally for several years, my sister and brother-in-law decided to try IVF. In 2016, my sister was already in her second year of treatment. I felt heavy hearted seeing the bruises on her arms from the frequent drawing of blood samples, and from hearing about the procedures she had to go through. At dawn prayer, I surrendered this into the prayer bowl, with expectation, believing it will be done.
During 2016-2017, I quietly expected to receive good news. I thought about how amazing it would be if one year later, by dawn prayer 2017, I could surrender a different prayer request into the bowl; perhaps something along the lines of “a safe pregnancy for my sis”?
Around April 2017, sis texted me to say she had something to tell me. But when she called she said it’s not such a good news – the doctor asked her to consider using donor eggs, which give a higher chance of conception. However, the main reason she called me was to ask that I stand firm with her to believe that God can make the impossible possible. She was NOT going to use donor eggs.
So we waited upon the Lord.
One day, while I was spending my quiet time with the Lord, I clicked on Hillsong Radio instead of the usual hill song album with worship songs. There was a sermon, and the speaker spoke from Isaiah 41:18.
I will make rivers flow on barren heights,
and springs within the valleys.
I will turn the desert into pools of water,
and the parched ground into springs.
God has done it before, HE will do it again! That message was so timely, and was an uplifting moment for me.
True enough, one day, I got “the” text I had been waiting for 10 years! My sister was pregnant!!!! After some “Praise the Lord!” moments, I realized, it was the weekend before dawn prayer. God heard my thoughts, and answered them!
So my 2017 prayer bowl request – safe pregnancy, protect mummy and baby.
During 2017-2018, my sister’s pregnancy was very turbulent. Her doctor could not even give baby’s due date. During the first 4 months of her pregnancy, she bled. She also had gestational diabetes, high blood pressure, pre eclampsia, and a bacteria infection. On top of all that, prior to her pregnancy, they found a growth on her uterine wall. They hoped it would shrink during pregnancy, but it didn’t. It blocked the blood supply to baby, causing baby not to grow normally.
By week 24/25, growth had slowed down considerably. By week 28, Sis had to be hospitalized – no more growth. By week 30 they had to take baby out – her heart rate was getting slower.
She was tiny. A new-born normally weighing less than 2.5kgs is considered light-weight. My baby niece weighed 600grams.
My sis delivered in a public hospital. So she had to be discharged while baby was still in ICU. She decided to ditch her confinement period, and travelled to visit baby daily.
Baby on the other hand, had other problems.
1. A cleft palate which would require surgery later.
2. A pair of missing ribs
3. Legs were bowed inwardly
4. Mild bleeding in her brain
During dawn prayer 2018, I wrote “Healing” into the prayer bowl. I thought, “It is done, God will take care of it.”
By dawn prayer 2019, baby’s cleft palate had unexplainably disappeared. The doctors concluded that they had misdiagnosed. The missing ribs were not affecting her development nor breathing. Her legs were normal, and there was no more bleeding in her brain! Praise the Lord! Now we are in dawn prayer 2020, all I want to do is give praise, honour and glory to God!