Theresa Santoro

Last week found me telling you the story of faith and healing. Our precious Sabrina Michelle was born after a humble request to Santa Claus. As we settled into our new life with a new baby in the fall of 1997, busy volunteering in the school, and basically living la vida loca... Christmas was again upon us.

Our precocious twosome of Ariana and Alexandra thought they would try again to wish for a baby. I paid no never mind as they prayed and prayed to Santa, and to their baby sister Stephanie to please send another baby. Seriously? Go ahead...pray away. It won't work. Sabrina was simply luck and God's will. Let us count our blessings, and move along!

Well as it turns out, I knew very little about faith and prayer in young children, because shortly after the New Year, I found myself again with a "flu" I just could not shake... I swear to you it never occurred to me that I would be pregnant. Remember I told you pregnancy did not come easy to me!

I lie. Plain and simple. Lie, lie, lie... It turns out, that pregnancy comes for me, but not on my terms! Off I go. Same type of high risk genetic testing, and the same horrible sickness 24/7. I can do this, I think. I mean I have done it before, and every time I make it through. Come hell or high water. I make it through.

One afternoon not long after my CVS, the phone rings, and the Genetic counselor is on the other side. Before he says a word, I know. I know that this pregnancy is bringing me a boy. I felt a tingle all the way from my toes when he asked if I wanted to know the sex. I said "It's a boy, right?"... "WOW! You are good he tells me...how did you know?" And then I laugh...a mother just knows!

Now Steven turned out to be my most difficult pregnancy. I was very sick, and bled for nearly the whole pregnancy. In addition, as with Sabrina, I was required to be injected with heparin 3 times a day to keep my blood thin, and to prevent another pulmonary embolism... As before, I saw the high-risk doctors, and my ob/gyn who was my best friend, called every single day, and made house calls to check on me! Lucky!

Sabrina meanwhile, learned to navigate our big king sized bed. Since I was on bed rest, she made it her playground, and managed to never fall off!

Sabrina's first birthday came, and went, and I was in horrible discomfort, and really sick! This was a challenge! On September 09, 1998, I was in the hospital two weeks early for observation, and inducement began just to be safe.

Like his sister before him, Steven was born near the first day of school, and life was chaotic. Joe decided to sleep through most of my labor, as we had done this before! In the middle of the night, and unlike the birth of our girls, the excitement began. I was sick... I had dangerously low blood pressure, which had never been an issue, and I felt so faint... The nurse called a code to the doctor, who was graciously sleeping in the next room. Before you knew it, and just before dawn our son came into the world! And as is my history, I felt wonderful as soon as he came out!

September 10, 1998, our last child was born. Exactly one year and one week from Sabrina!

Now, I am not going to lie to you, because I tell it like it was to Stevie. He was the ugliest baby I ever saw! No kidding! I told the doctor to put him back in. He was not ready! HA! Poor Stevie!

He had trouble breathing at first, and suffered a pnuemothorax (air or gas around the lungs), and had to go under a tent in the NICU for his first day of life. By the time I walked over to see him, he had pinked up, and although very tiny, was cute as cute can be! A boy! What am I going to do with a boy?? At 5pounds when we left the hospital, I was going to have to figure it out!

Steven is one of the nicest most caring people you could ever meet. He has the most delicious smile, and lives without fear. Baseball is his game, and catching is his dream position. Steve is one of those guys you just like the first time you meet him. He is wicked funny, and loves an audience... As hard as that pregnancy was, there is purpose for his life on earth, and God has great plans for that boy.

Steven is a master Lego builder, and our living room proudly displays the Taj Mahal, Eiffel Tower, and Jumbo Jet all built by him.

When Pope John Paul passed, we watched his funeral on television. Immediately following Steven announced his future career plans... In this order... Fighter Pilot, Pope, and Lego Builder.

And that sums up my boy. He will defend anyone. He is deeply spiritual, and he is a great technical engineer.

The finale of this two-part tale is what became of the doctor that delivered all five of our children. Although he has relocated back to his home in Iran, he is never forgotten. He saved my life when I could have died from a blood clot. He offered hope to have children when there was none.

We thought the highest honor we could give him was to give our son his name. Dr. Ayoub Khaghani delivered each and every one of our children into this world. He celebrated with us, and he cried real tears with us over loss. And so it is. Steven Ayoub Santoro.

Ayoub ( I -- you- b) is an Arabic derivative of Job. The Dutch give the meaning of Ayoub as: patience in suffering, perseverance.

How ironic that this name suits our path to parenthood perfectly. With all of the sickness, the loss, the suffering, I would not have it any other way! Each one of our children is a miraculous gift from God, meant to do great things on this planet!

Happy, Happy Birthday Stevie Boy! You honor our family each and every single day. You are the joy in all of our hearts, and we are so glad you made it to this world!

P.S. We no longer trusted our girls to keep from wishing for more children... Joe met with a snip snip and a bag of frozen peas, and we have been a content family of six ever since!

Happy Parenting!