For nine months, my wife, Brooklyn, carried our baby boy. And for nine months, we lived in a place between hope and heartbreak.
Early in the pregnancy, we learned something was terribly wrong. Around the three- to four-month mark, doctors told us our son had severe hydrocephalus — fluid building so rapidly in his brain that it pushed everything aside. They used to call it “water on the brain,” but the simplicity of the name didn’t soften the reality.
We were eventually referred to Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, where some of the best fetal specialists in the country met with us. And they gave us the kind of news no parent is ever prepared to hear.
His condition was so severe, so extreme, that they stopped measuring. There was no point, they said. The MRI images were devastating. We were told there was a greater than 90% chance our son would either:
• Die shortly after birth, or
• Survive with such profound cognitive impairment that life — real life — would not be possible.
We sat through meetings no parent should ever sit through. Conversations about breathing tubes. About how long to try. About the moment we might have to make the decision to let him go.
Brooklyn moved to Cincinnati to be close to the hospital. I drove back and forth — working, caring for our daughters Sophie and Lily, and trying to keep our home standing while our world felt like it was falling apart.
Then came July 8th.
Just 15 minutes before Brooklyn’s C-section, we sat with doctors again and discussed when — not if — we might have to remove life support and let our son go to heaven.
I don’t have words for that kind of pain.
And then — Charlie Edward Schnarr entered this world crying.
A strong, loud, defiant cry.
The most beautiful sound I have ever heard.
He stayed in the NICU until yesterday… and now we are home. Together. Holding him. Loving him. Watching him breathe. Watching him live.
He has mild ventricular enlargement we will keep an eye on — but otherwise?
He is thriving. Eating. Wiggling. Yawning. Gripping our fingers. Looking around at a world that was never supposed to be his.
The doctors have no explanation. They said his brain somehow cleared the blockage on its own — something none of them have seen in a case this severe. The word that kept echoing through the NICU from seasoned nurses and top specialists was the same:
“Miracle.”
“Divine intervention.”
They said it. Not us.
We know thousands of people — family, friends, coworkers, strangers — were praying for our son. I believe with everything in me that God heard those prayers. That He placed His hand on Charlie. That He said, not this one.
I will spend the rest of my life thanking Him.
To every person who prayed for us — every text, every message, every whispered intention — thank you. You carried us when we were too exhausted to carry ourselves.
Prayer is real.
God is real.
And miracles… they still happen.
With a full and grateful heart,
—Nick
In the UK the law prohibits the inhumane killing of third trimester vertebrate fetuses.
The only vertebrate species not included are human fetuses.
We literally treat unborn babies worse than rats.
Chris Coghlan MP has a good Catholic priest.
One cannot vote for the killing of babies on Monday, the killing of the elderly and the vulnerable on Friday, and expect to receive the Body of Christ on Sunday.
Repent!
@Grotesque_tory Plenty of scientists agree. Most of modern scientific knowledge was established by Christian scientists. Both the Father of Physics (Newton) and the Father of Genetics (Mendel) were Christians. You would be wise to take note of that.
Nothing quite says "I can't debate bioethics" like intellectually lazy, personal attacks on people of faith by bad faith activists. These individuals have nothing of value to add to any discussion, because their knowledge is embarrassingly superficial and juvenile.
@Grotesque_tory Nope; you have it backwards, it's not a 'argument from authority' when you bring up someone's credentials as being a prerequisite for debate, and then attempt to accuse me of such when I defend my own background. That's not how it works.
@Grotesque_tory The capacity to have an argument about morality in a unique way not shared by other animals, not to mention the existence of morality itself is evidence for God.
@Grotesque_tory Show me evidence that randomness can come up with a complex biological coding structure/template such as DNA without direct intent in design and foresight. I'll wait.
@Grotesque_tory I hold a PhD in genetics, and have seen plenty of evidence of design in that field. The strongest arguments for God are teleological, and informed by biology.
@Grotesque_tory It's not a fallacy to point out the illogical nature of alternative views. Nowhere did I say a lack of understanding of the universe is evidence of God, that's a deliberate misread.
@Grotesque_tory There isn't "zero evidence" at all. There's significantly more evidence for God than there is evidence that everything came from effectively nothing for no reason.
@ALongHardDay@AstrelGelin@to_discussion@BryanKemper Abortion will be remembered historically the same way slavery was; as a grave act of injustice against a large group of people. Like slavery, the unjust act of abortion will eventually be abolished in law.