A Blue Baby

Some sixty years ago today I was brought into this world by Dr. Averitt. Even now, I do not know his first name, for he was always called Dr. Averitt. He literally brought me into this world for I was born by C-section. In the early 1950s, this was not a common surgery. Only about 5 % of the deliveries were done by C-section as compared to roughly 30 % today. The reasons for this surgery was that my older brother had been born by C-section, and the medical standard of the day was "once a C-section, always a C-section". My Mom and Dad have always told me that I was a "blue baby"...all 5 pounds 2 ounces of me. This would generally mean that I was most likely premature, and at birth had underdeveloped lungs. Poor lungs, poor oxygen exchange, and cyanosis, thus a "blue baby" I would become. It would have been much harder to tell the exact gestational age [how long you have been in the oven since the ultrasound was some 30 years away. Only recently has my Dad shared that on this morning some sixty years ago, he prayed for me to live. He tells me that it was not real clear that I was going to make into this world. He had gone outside the hospital, sat under a tree, and started to bargain with God to let me live. I am not all sure what the bargain included, but I seem to have made it these sixty years. How many times has this happened? A Dad, or Mom, or both, asking God to save their child. The asking is part of the struggle. Often the answer is more of a struggle. Well Dad, thanks for the prayers. I believe that I was the one to get the most from this bargain. An Old Testament prophet from around 700 B.C. says: "He has told you, O man, what is good, and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?" [Micah chapter 6 verse 8.] That morning sixty years ago, Dad, thanks for your prayers. Hopefully, I will have some more walking to do.