04-03-2007, 05:33 AM

A close friend sent this to me. Don't know if its true or not. I don't care as it is nice. Pitty I couldn't get the pictures to show when I pasted it.

The smell of rain



At the end of this story, it gives you two options. I think you will figure out what option I chose.




A cold March wind danced around the dead of night in Dallas as the doctor walked into the small hospital room of Diana Blessing. She was still groggy from surgery.


Her husband, David, held her hand as they braced themselves for the latest news.
That afternoon of March 10, 1991, complications had forced Diana, only 24-weeks pregnant, to undergo an emergency Cesarean to deliver couple's new daughter, Dana Lu Blessing.



At 12 inches long and weighing only one pound nine ounces, they already knew she was perilously premature.

Still, the doctor's soft words dropped like bombs.

"I don't think she's going to make it," he said, as kindly as he could.




"There's only a 10-percent chance she will live through the night, and even then, if by some slim chance she does make it, her future could be a very cruel one"




Numb with disbelief, David and Diana listened as the doctor described the devastating problems Dana would likely face if she survived.



She would never walk, she would never talk, she would probably be blind, and she would certainly be prone to other catastrophic conditions from cerebral palsy to complete mental retardation, and on and on.



"No! No!" was all Diana could say.

She and David, with their 5-year-old son Dustin, had long dreamed of the day they would have a daughter to become a family of four.

Now, within a matter of hours, that dream was slipping away



But as those first days passed, a new agony set in for David and Diana. Because Dana's underdeveloped nervous system was essentially 'raw', the lightest kiss or caress only intensified her discomfort, so they couldn't even cradle their tiny baby girl against their chests to offer the strength of their love.

All they could do, as Dana struggled alone beneath the ultraviolet light in the tangle of tubes and wires, was to pray that God would stay close to their precious little girl.


There was never a moment when Dana suddenly grew stronger.



But as the weeks went by, she did slowly gain an ounce of weight here and an ounce of strength there.



At last, when Dana turned two months old. her parents were able to hold her in their arms for the very first time.



And two months later, though doctors continued to gently but grimly warn that her chances of surviving, much less living any kind of normal life, were next to zero, Dana went home from the hospital, just as her mother had predicted.


Five years later, when Dana was a petite but feisty young girl with glittering gray eyes and an unquenchable zest for life.


She showed no signs whatsoever of any mental or physical impairment. Simply, she was everything a little girl can be and more. But that happy ending is far from the end of her story.



One blistering afternoon in the summer of 1996 near her home in Irving, Texas, Dana was sitting in her mother's lap in the bleachers of a local ball park where her brother Dustin's baseball team was practicing.


As always, Dana was chattering nonstop with her mother and several other adults sitting nearby when she suddenly fell silent. Hugging her arms across her chest, little Dana asked, "Do you smell that?"



Smelling the air and detecting the approach of a thunderstorm, Diana replied, "Yes, it smells like rain."


Dana closed her eyes and again asked, "Do you smell that?"


Once again, her mother replied, "Yes, I think we're about to get wet. It smells like rain."


Still caught in the moment, Dana shook her head, patted her thin shoulders with her small hands and loudly announced,
"No, it smells like Him.



It smells like God when you lay your head on His chest."



Tears blurred Diana's eyes as Dana happily hopped down to play with the other children.


Before the rains came, her daughter's words confirmed what Diana and all the members of the extended Blessing family had known, at least in their hearts, all along.


During those long days and nights of her first two months of her life, when her nerves were too sensitive for them to touch her, God was holding Dana on His chest and it is His loving scent that she remembers so well.


You now have 1 of 2 choices. You can either pass this on and let other people catch the chills like you did or you can delete this and act like it didn't touch your heart like it did mine.

IT'S YOUR CALL!


"I can do all things in Him who strengthens me."


This morning when the Lord opened a window to Heaven, He saw me, and He asked: "My child, what is your greatest wish for today?" I responded:
"Lord please, take care of the person who is reading this message, their family and their special friends. They deserve it and I love them very much" The love of God is like the ocean, you can see its beginning, but not its end.

________________________
This message works on the day you receive it. Let us see if it is true. _____________

ANGELS EXIST but some times, since they don't all have wings, we call them FRIENDS

_________________________

04-03-2007, 07:19 AM

Originally Posted by MaDDoG

Don't know if its true or not. I don't care as it is nice.

It isn't true. At 24 weeks the lung's development is not compatible with life. Even if you liked the story, be careful, this kind of emails spread worms and viruses around, also they collect email adresses for spam or similars.
Sorry, i'm an angry person.

04-03-2007, 11:41 AM

So, the child's ultra-sensitive nervous system "smelled God"? And I guess God smells like rain. An interesting story. I've never heard of any premature babies younger than 6 months, so I would need to know that the story is at least real in that sense before I can be touched by it. Otherwise, it's just another story. Is there any source or real family name?

04-03-2007, 11:49 AM

yah, sounds like one of those chain letters you have in every second spam mail

04-03-2007, 12:16 PM

What is glurge?

04-03-2007, 06:21 PM

MaDDoG, I think you have a very tender heart....toward God.:flower:

04-03-2007, 07:29 PM

Here's a story that I know its true. It's also nice, and in a way it deals with God.

When I was attending community college a couple years ago, there was some construction going on campus. There was this unfinished dirt pathway that I typically took because it was a shortcut.
One winter morning, there was ice on this pathway. Very slippery ice. I decided to brave the path and walk across it. Slowly but surely, I was making progress. But knowing me, having the reflexes of a sloth, I slipped and fell flat on my face. Being a reasonable guy, I did what any guy would do when they fall flat on their face. Quickly get up and look around to make sure no one was looking.
So I looked around, and saw this one girl walking towards me yelling, "Are you ok?"
BUSTED!
She came up and asked me again if I was ok. "Yeah, I'm ok" I replied. She saw my nose was bleeding and handed me a tissue, or a handkerchief... can't remember.
She told me to be careful as she started to walk towards campus. As she walked she started to slip and she fell right on her back. I grabbed her hand and tried to help her up but I started to loose my balance again. So both of us were going crazy, trying to maintain balance. Through the commotion, my arms naturally started to wave in the air trying to regain balance. But I started to fall. As I was falling my right hand accidently slapped the girl right on the tooshie. So we both fell down again, we both got back up again.
As we straightened out and checked our bags and stuff, I gave her an embarassed look and apologized about me slapping her in the tooshie. She laughed and said it was ok considering the circumstance.
Throughout the semester, I ran into her a couple of times and eventually we started talking and I got her number. We dated for a bit, things didn't really work. We mutually broke up with each other and we remain really good friends.
Now I know this was the work of God because who else can become friends with an attractive woman by slapping her on the behind?

04-03-2007, 07:39 PM

Originally Posted by mraya

It isn't true. At 24 weeks the lung's development is not compatible with life. Even if you liked the story, be careful, this kind of emails spread worms and viruses around, also they collect email adresses for spam or similars.
Sorry, i'm an angry person.

Regarding preemies and compatibility with life, they can live as early as 21 weeks. I know. Mine was born a preemie.

04-03-2007, 08:18 PM

I did a little searching. According to snopes.com, the story is basically true as regards Dana Lu Blessing. The part about God is better left for those whose lives are guided by faith.

What the story neglects to tell is about the heroes. I don't know if there's a God or not, but I know there are some great people in this world. My baby was born a preemie.

She was 7 weeks premature, and spent 8 weeks in the NICU - the neonatal intensive care unit. We almost lost her in her first hour, and would have done so if not for the neonatal specialists, helping her breathe, hooking her up to monitors, and giving her feeding tubes. I didn't leave her presence until I knew she'd be okay. I called her my Borg Baby.

The NICU is about beating death, which can come quickly. My baby was on monitors, heart beat, oxygen saturation, and respiration. While holding my baby I got to the point where I knew my baby was in trouble before the monitors alerted everyone. She'd stop breathing, and you'd have to stimulate her by rubbing her back vigorously. I called it rebooting the baby, but there's nothing funny about watching your newborn turn blue. It doesn't take long. The NICU nurses called it "dusky". I may be colorblind, but it was blue.

Gavage feedings were fun. The Doppler blood flow monitor was an interesting device.

Throughout the roughly two months my daughter was in the NICU, there were heroes all over - the nurses and doctors, and others who supported them. I got to know the security guards at the hospital, as I'd walk around the hospital grounds outside in between visits to my wife and daughter.

Oh yeah, where was my wife in all of this? She was in the hospital too. I almost lost her too. She spent a month in the hospital after giving birth, and it wasn't because the insurance company wanted her to feel comfy and rested. What a fun year.

I was lucky. I still have my wife (and she's stuck with me). Our daughter is about to celebrate 8 1/2 years, and we've celebrated every day of her life.

Getting back to the original story, whether you believe the miracle that was described or not, know that real miracles happen every day with preemies.

The first pic is of my daughter the day she was born. That's me standing behind her. The second is a recent one taken with PhotoBooth.

04-03-2007, 08:49 PM

Thanks for sharing that, mathogre. Very touching - and I'm so glad everything turned out for the best.

04-03-2007, 08:58 PM

Originally Posted by Brown Study

What is glurge?

Have you read those headlines? Some of them sound quite tragic and would make me feel terrible, not happy.

I feel bad for that father who always has to choose between his son and someone else. He needs to teach that boy to stop hanging out with the wrong crowd and straighten up!

04-03-2007, 09:03 PM

Originally Posted by mathogre

Regarding preemies and compatibility with life, they can live as early as 21 weeks. I know. Mine was born a preemie.

Not likely. Not even the best ICU can help a human without lungs. Only at 26 weeks there is enough structure to support breathing and thus life. This link (check the last part) gives you a good idea of the development of the lungs in humans. However, the age of a fetus isn't always accurate due to external factors, thus a 21 weeks pregnancy sometimes means more.

04-03-2007, 09:16 PM

Anyway, i think i should clarify that the main point of my post is to be careful with chain emails, even if they come from people you know.
I believe in miracles, i don't believe in sad stories. I'm not a father so i don't know what it feels to have your kids in danger, but i have seen a new born die in a lapse of about 6hrs for problems during the delivery, it's not the same but is not nice either. I'm a little hard to move emotionally.

04-03-2007, 09:47 PM

Originally Posted by fleurya

I feel bad for that father who always has to choose between his son and someone else. He needs to teach that boy to stop hanging out with the wrong crowd and straighten up!

Snopes should be required reading for everyone with a net connection. I've replied to a few emails after adding the Snopes URL to the top.

04-03-2007, 10:00 PM

Originally Posted by cwa107

Thanks for sharing that, mathogre. Very touching - and I'm so glad everything turned out for the best.

Thank you! I learned very quickly how important every day is, and how lucky my family is. My daughter was at risk, but there were a lot of other kids in the NICU in far worse condition, who didn't fare so well.

Thank you again.