Life-Threatening Conditioned Risked Mother and Child

“Her face started turning blue and the doctors were like, oh my gosh, we got to do something!”
December 3, 2023. Chris and Sofiya Vercelli’s newborn, a girl they named Natalie, had fluid in her lungs. At once she was put on oxygen and taken to the NICU. Sofiya was unable to comfort her baby 

“I was definitely praying, but I was also feeling like I was feeling so hopeless in the situation,” said Sofiya. “I can't help her, and I couldn’t be with Chris and the baby and I really wanted to.” 

That’s because the new mother was too weak to leave her hospital bed. The 28-year-old had lost copious amounts of blood during delivery and her platelet count was critically low. Even then, she and Chris prayed, believing in God’s healing for herself and their daughter. 
Sofiya said, “Just please save my baby”

“But I kept remembering when I was praying and going through this, I kept remembering those things that He told me, that there’s going to be miracles and that His name will be magnified through this. He'll be glorified through this. And so I definitely was remembering those things.” 

This hadn’t been the first time the couple’s faith had been tested during this pregnancy.  During her third trimester, Sofiya was diagnosed with placenta previa. It’s a condition where the placenta blocks the birth canal endangering both mother and child, and forcing a c-section. The natural birth they’d hoped for was out of the question. Faith and prayer was all they had.  

Chris said, “I went into like kind of a mode of desperation and I really didn't know what to expect.”

Then, with no explanation it cleared, giving Sofiya the green light for a natural birth. 

“She told us right away it was 2.1 centimeters away, I can give you the report and you can give it to the midwife and if she has any questions she can call me. And we left there that night celebrating, it was such a victory,” said Chris.  
Sofiya said, “We were like praising God for sure.”

Now they needed another victory. After showing signs of clearing, again Natalie’s lungs were filling with fluid, oxygen support had to be raised to 70%.

“And so that's when the doctor came to me and said, sir, I don't think that that she's going to recover on her own,” said Chris. “I think the only way that she's going to pull through this is if we do something very drastic.”

Which meant putting the baby on a ventilator in a medically induced coma and on a ventilator, something the new parents didn’t want to do. The baby’s doctor said they needed to make a decision and quickly.

“She said, I’ll give you an hour, sir. but that's all. Cause we can't wait any longer than that. 
This situation is too dire, it's too urgent. We have to act fast,” said Chris.

“But like, she’s saying, her life depends on it, right? And so that was when it all just hit me, like, oh man, like, this is a battle.”

Standing beside the incubator that held his daughter, Chris prayed.

“Here I was faced with two different realities. Either, you know, my daughter could die from no treatment, or she could die from the treatment. I had to have a miracle. You know, I had to have a miracle.” 

“So, the hour ends, and the doctor comes back in, says, well, it looks like she's doing a little better. I’m going to try turning her support down from 70% to 66% and we'll see what happens,” said Chris.

“And three hours go by, and it hits me all of a sudden, that that entire time I didn’t hear the machine beep once, and I look at the oxygen support monitor, and it says that it's at 38%.” 
Now breathing on her own, Natalie was taken off oxygen, and x-rays confirmed her lungs had cleared. 

“And I just busted out in celebration,” said Chris.
Sofiya said, “So, praise God. Praise God for our precious baby girl. We call her precious girl.”

They say by then another prayer had been answered - Sofiya’s platelet count had returned to healthy levels, with no medical intervention. 8 days later, the family was home just in time for 
Natalie’s first Christmas.  Today, the Vercelli family continue that tradition, celebrating the birth of Jesus, their miracle baby, and God’s faithfulness to heal.  

“It feels like the biggest miracle in my life,” said Sofiya. “I can tell that He's real, and that I can trust Him.” 

Chris said, “I just know that I can always trust the Lord, no matter what things look like. It definitely gave me a, a different view of, of God's power and His ability and His timing and His sovereignty. It's like, wow, look at God.”