Reunited After 25 Years 58: Miracle

He held her until she was able to talk again. "When...can I see her?" she asked.

"Very soon," Anton promised.

Dr. Keller arrived. "Oh, good, you're awake now!" She smiled at Andrea. "You gave us quite a scare."

"Please, can I see my baby now?" asked Andrea.

Dr. Keller quickly examined her. "Your vitals are stable. I'll send an orderly soon."

The orderly arrived with the wheelchair about twenty minutes later. Anton helped his wife into it and then wheeled her to the NICU.

Andrea gasped in shock at the sight of her new daughter. Never before had she seen a human being so tiny, yet so perfect in every way. She gazed in wonder at the long, graceful fingers with nails so miniscule that they were hardly even visible.

"Look, Anton, she has your fingers!"

"I think that perhaps she will grow up to play piano," he replied.

"Can I hold her?" Andrea asked a nurse.

"I'm sorry," the nurse replied. "Her condition's just too tenuous right now. Any kind of contact at all would cause her too much stress."

Disappointed, Andrea let Anton wheel her back to her bedroom and help her back into bed. "You need to rest now," he said gently. "You have been through a long, hard ordeal."

She looked at him with eyes full of fear. "Is there something you haven't told me yet?"

"After the baby was born, you bled a lot," he replied. "They had to remove your uterus to stop the bleeding. I was so afraid, Andrea. So afraid."

She turned white as a sheet. "My God...I really could have died, then."

"But you did not die, Andrea. You are still here for me to love and cherish, to hold in my arms and protect."

She went into his eager arms, and he held her as he had before. "Oh, Anton, she just looks so...fragile." She sounded as if she were about to cry again. "Do you think it might have happened because of something I did or didn't do?"

"No, Andrea. You must not blame yourself. You did not do anything wrong. It just happened. That is all." He held and caressed her until she fell asleep, then gently lay her back on the bed.

A couple of hours later, another doctor appeared, a young woman with dark hair pulled back in a ponytail and a friendly smile. "I'm Dr. Manning, your daughter's pediatrician," she told Anton and Andrea. "She seems to be perfectly normal in every way, except that, of course, her lungs and liver aren't completely developed yet. We're administering steroids to hasten the development of her lungs, and if she develops jaundice, we'll treat it with ultraviolet light."

"What about brain damage?" asked Andrea.

"She's at increased risk of developing hearing or vision problems or cerebral palsy, of course, but so far, there's no evidence of neurological damage."

"But will she be...mentally retarded?" Andrea could barely get the words out.

Dr. Manning gave them a reassuring smile. "Several of my current patients were also born prematurely, a couple of them even more so than your daughter, and all of them are now functioning at, or even above, grade level."

"There, now, you heard what the doctor said," Anton said to his wife after Dr. Manning had left.

"But you don't know how many more there are that are functioning below grade level that she just didn't tell us about."

Anton sighed heavily. "It is no good to worry, Andrea. Yes, you are afraid, of course you are. I am afraid too, but all we can do is wait and see what happens."

"Will you stay with me tonight, Anton?"

"Of course I will."

The following morning, the data clerk arrived with the birth certificate.

"Daisy..." Andrea glanced at Anton. "Alexandra," she finished. Anton nodded in agreement.

After lunch, Denny, Darya, and Fawn arrived. "Oh, Papa, she is so tiny!" Darya exclaimed. "She is the tiniest baby I have ever seen!"

"Are you all right, Mom?" Denny looked at Andrea with concern. "You look awfully pale."

"I'm all right," Andrea told him. "Just a bit tired."

"Would it be better if we came back another time, then?" he asked.

"Oh, no! That's all right," Andrea said quickly. "Please stay." Although greatly comforted by Anton's presence, she longed to spend time with her son as well.

After her visitors had left a couple of hours later, Dr. Keller came back. "It's time to get you up and walking, Andrea," she said. "We don't want blood clots to form in your legs."

"I don't feel like I can," Andrea said helplessly.

"Of course you can," Dr. Keller said brightly.

"I know that it hurts, Andrea, but you must do it," Anton said tenderly. "Come on, golubushka. You can do it. I will help you."

Leaning heavily on her husband, Andrea gingerly stood for the first time in over twenty-four hours. It felt as if her belly was being ripped open. Tears came to her eyes, but she said nothing. Dragging her I.V. pole along, she slowly began the trek to the NICU.

All awareness of her physical discomfort disappeared as soon as she saw little Daisy lying in her incubator again. A feeling of intense love welled up inside her, and she longed to hold her new daughter. She could feel Anton's arms around her, supporting her, and she knew that he felt the same way she did. With a reluctant sigh, she turned to begin the arduous journey back to her hospital room.