Saturday June 7, 2014, will remain the happiest day in the life of Mercy
James. Reason? That was the day she miraculously gave birth to a baby
girl after 14 years of being pregnant.
The baby was aptly christined Miracle. And why not?
If
the mother had delivered at the expected time the child would have been
a teenager by now and possibly in secondary school at the JSS 3 level.
Mercy, a single parent, speak about her ordeal for the 14 years she was pregnant but could not give birth:
“When I first took in, I knew that I was pregnant with signs and test
that confirmed that I was. Four months later, I went to hospital for
another test, the result showed that I wasn’t pregnant, but had
fibroid.
"Subsequently, I began to experience bleeding, at least once a day.
Sometimes, my tummy would protrude in the semblance of pregnancy. I went
to different hospitals, and I kept on receiving the same result that
nothing was wrong with me. But deep down inside, I knew that all was not
well with me...
Churches and native doctors
“So I was taken aback when a midwife told me I was pregnant. But
considering the test which showed I had fibroid, I was angry with the
midwife for giving me what I felt was a false prophecy of hope.
Thereafter, I started going from one church to another and from one
native doctor to the other. The results that I got from them all
remained the same. I became more feeble and confused that I prayed for
death to come.
“I went again to the midwife two years after and complained to her about
the pains that I was going through, she told me again that it was not
fibroid but pregnancy; she advised me to be more prayerful so that God
will deliver me from the hands of the devil. I kept on praying and at
the same time asking myself that if truly I’m pregnant, why is it that
the baby was not kicking?
“I bought many concoctions that they said could cure fibroid and drank
them. I even drank 12 bottles of a local cleanser but to no avail. This
went on for years. Then God took pity on me and decided to wipe my
tears.
"On the day I gave birth to my baby girl, I initially thought that worms
were trying to come out of my body not knowing that it was a baby. This
was what I told the midwife when we came to her. But after examining me
she told me to push.
"I ignored her. I became unconscious for about 15 minutes and when I
regained consciousness, I heard the cry of a baby. I was surprised and
confused seeing my baby. I couldn’t believe my eyes. Hmm,I thank God for
my life and that of my baby Miracle. I named her Miracle because she is
truly a miraculous child”.
Miraculous child
According to Vanguard, the midwife at the Celestial Church of Christ,
Kadoso Parish, Ajegunle where Mercy gave birth confirmed the
development, especially the role she played.
The woman who simply gave her name as Mrs Ajetima informed thus: “She
was pregnant for 14 years and was unable to give birth during this
period. Then on Saturday around 6:30am I saw two persons carrying her to
this place. When she came inside, I laid her down and asked one of my
daughters to examine her, after the examination, I found out that it was
a baby that was about coming out and not worms. I asked her to push and
she refused. My daughter gave her a hard slap on her laps since she
refused to push.
Behold a baby with placenta came out! I started shouting, calling on
people to come and see for themselves that Mercy was truly pregnant,
because if not, people will start to say that that Celestial woman has
given Mercy a baby. Within a twinkle of an eye, the whole place was
filled with people. God is wonderful”.
Also affirming the happy development, Mercy’s closest friend, Odunayo
Odeyemi had this to say: “I have known mercy for over nine years now. I
met her with the pregnancy . In fact, she did not know that she was
pregnant. I followed her to many places but her problems kept on
increasing. Merely looking at Mercy then before she gave birth, you will
notice that she wasn’t okay. I kept advising her to have faith in God
because I had experienced the same thing. I was pregnant for three years
and three months and God delivered me.
“Mercy came to me on that fateful day around 4am begging me to give her a
pain reliever, that she was having pains all over her body. I dressed
up and took her to a man that sells drugs. After taking the drug, on our
way home, she started having serious pains. I called her brother and we
both took her to the midwife. Hours later, she gave birth to a bouncing
baby girl. We all were surprised because we never expected such a
miracle to happen. She had a complete baby.”
Robert Davidson, one of Mercy’s friends, said that he concluded after
seeing Mercy with a protruded tummy for three years that she had
fibroid. So, “it came to me as a shock to learn that she delivered a
bouncing baby girl.”
For Chidimma Ibe, a neighbour: “She always complained to me that she had
stomach pains all these period. She told me that she had fibroid and
sometime, she will complain of different things. She was totally
confused as to what her condition was. I’m very much surprised and happy
she gave birth to a complete baby girl. It was truly a miracle. God was
on her side. God is wonderful because all the concoctions she took were
enough to kill the baby.”
When asked about the father of Baby Miracle, Mercy said that they got
separated on account of the ordeal that attended her pregnancy. “Friday
is the name of my baby’s father. Actually, we are not married. He just
proposed to me and I became pregnant for him. He knew about the
pregnancy. He always gave me money for tests and scans but he got tired
and left me after waiting for me for over a year without seeing any sign
of a baby. I have no option than to go my own way,” she informed.