WAITING FOR JONAH; COULD SCIENCE PROVIDE THE MIRACLE THIS COUPLE LONGED FOR?Byline: Jenifer Hanrahan Daily News Staff Writer This is a story about a boy named Jonah. Manny Manny may refer to: In nobility:
Manny had Damaris' bag packed for three weeks before doctors decided to induce labor. They weren't leaving anything to chance, because they considered this their last chance to have a baby. They had yearned for one for so long. But they agreed, Damaris' body already had gone through too much agony to try again. Her first three pregnancies were ectopic ectopic /ec·top·ic/ (ek-top´ik) 1. pertaining to ectopia. 2. located away from normal position. 3. arising from an abnormal site or tissue. ec·top·ic adj. , a painful, dangerous condition that occurs when the fertilized fer·til·ize v. fer·til·ized, fer·til·iz·ing, fer·til·iz·es v.tr. 1. To cause the fertilization of (an ovum, for example). 2. egg lodges in the fallopian tube fallopian tube (fəlō`pēən), either of a pair of tubes extending from the uterus to the paired ovaries in the human female, also called oviducts, technically known as the uterine tube. instead of implanting in the uterus. She underwent three surgeries to stop the bleeding. Still determined to have a child, they took out a loan, put their car up as collateral, borrowed from family, used up their savings and stopped taking vacations to pay for in vitro fertilization in vitro fertilization (vē`trō, vĭ`trō), technique for conception of a human embryo outside the mother's body. Several ova, or eggs, are removed from the mother's body and placed in special laboratory culture dishes (Petri dishes); . They spent $25,000 to conceive Jonah. He would have to be their final try. Manny, and Damaris, who goes by Dee, met when they were 14 in a church called Fuente de Vida in Sun Valley. It means fountain of life The Fountain of Life, or in its earlier form the Fountain of Living Waters, is a Christian iconography symbol associated with baptism, first appearing in the 5th century in illuminated manuscripts and later in other art forms such as panel paintings. . ``He turned around in the pew, real seriously, stuck out his hand and shook mine,'' Dee said. They became friends and started dating when they graduated high school. ``He always says I'm the one who made him come out of his shell,'' Dee says. They married at 22 with a big, traditional wedding attended by 250 friends, aunts, uncles, cousins, sisters and brothers who feasted on fajitas fajitas Noun, pl a Mexican dish of soft tortillas wrapped around fried strips of meat or vegetables [Mexican Spanish] , carnitas and frijoles. Now both 33, they have a wonderful marriage. ``He puts me on a pedestal On a Pedestal is an EP by the Swedish band Adhesive, released in 1998. Track listing
Dee smiles when she talks about Manny. He's such a romantic, she says. He put her name on his license plate. He's written her dozens of love letters and poems. One is in a frame on their mantle. If I was a great lover, I would make passionate love to you day and night, but since I'm not, I will always love you by day and hold you by night ... If I was a famous person, I would give you fame and glory, but since I'm not, respect and honor is all you'll have ... If I was determined to gain power, I would show you my accomplishments, but since I'm not, I will always share with you my dreams ... Their shared dream was building a family. Large families a tradition They both grew up in large families - a blessing, they say. Every Sunday, several generations gather for dinner. On Christmas Eve, a crinkled sea of wrapping paper covers the floor. The phone is always ringing with a relative passing along family news: who's getting married, who's having a birthday party (it seems there are one of those every week), who's pregnant. ``A family like this, you don't need to be invited,'' Manny said. ``They just show up at the door.'' Dee is one of eight siblings, who have 11 children among them. Manny has three siblings; two of them have a child, and the third is expecting. Dee, a day-care teacher, helped in the delivery room when two of her sisters gave birth. She and Manny, who does computer-assisted drafting for a pharmaceutical equipment firm, love children, and they couldn't wait to have their own. They discussed having six. ``We feel a baby is an extension of our love,'' Manny said. ``We couldn't imagine getting old without any kids.'' At 25, Dee and Manny decided they'd better get started. Manny joked that he needed to start stocking up on pampers Pampers is a brand of disposable diaper (or nappy) marketed by Procter & Gamble worldwide. Product information Diapers Pampers Diapers come in sizes going all the way up to Size 7. and baby food. A year later, Dee woke up with cramps so bad she fainted. Manny rushed her to the hospital. The doctor said she was pregnant, but she wasn't going to have a baby. The embryo had ruptured one of her fallopian tubes Fallopian tubes The narrow ducts leading from a woman's ovaries to the uterus. After an egg is released from the ovary during ovulation, fertilization (the union of sperm and egg) normally occurs in the fallopian tubes. , which are only about as thin as the tip of a pencil, causing life-threatening internal bleeding. Dee underwent emergency surgery. ``I was deathly death·ly adj. 1. Of, resembling, or characteristic of death: a deathly silence. 2. Causing death; fatal. adv. 1. In the manner of death. 2. scared,'' she said. But doctors reassured the couple that Dee still could get pregnant, even though her tubes were damaged - first from scar tissue scar tissue n. Dense, fibrous connective tissue that forms over a healed wound or cut. , then from surgery. Doctors still aren't sure why Dee's fallopian tubes were scarred, but it could have been caused by an infection she had years earlier, an infection she may not even have known about. She recovered and began taking a fertility drug fertility drug, any of a variety of substances used to increase the possibility of conception and successful pregnancy. Different methods are used to correct or circumvent the many different functional disorders of both males and females that can interfere with . Ten months later, she again had cramps and bleeding. They went to the hospital, where a doctor told the couple the words they wanted to hear: ``Mrs. Munoz, you are pregnant.'' Then he told them to wait while he did some tests. The doctor came back and told them this pregnancy also was ectopic and would require surgery. ``You grow up and you get married with the idea of having a family, then somewhere along the line you realize you are an unlucky couple that wants to and is not able to,'' Manny said. In vitro fertilization They finally turned to in vitro fertilization, a procedure in which a doctor removes eggs from a woman and sperm from the man and joins them in a solution outside of the woman's body. The resulting embryo then is placed back into the uterus. Since the first ``test-tube'' baby was born in England on July 25, 1978, more than 45,000 babies have been born in the United States as a result of in vitro fertilization. As part of the procedure, Dee injected herself daily with drugs to stimulate ovulation ovulation /ovu·la·tion/ (ov?u-la´shun) the discharge of a secondary oocyte from a graafian follicle.ov´ulatory o·vu·la·tion n. The discharge of an ovum from the ovary. . After thousands of dollars and several attempts at implanting the fertilized eggs, Dee became pregnant. And in a few weeks, the unthinkable happened. The fertilized egg had traveled back up into her fallopian tube, resulting in a third ectopic pregnancy ectopic pregnancy or extrauterine pregnancy Condition in which a fertilized egg is imbedded outside the uterus (see fertilization). Early on, it may resemble a normal pregnancy, with hormonal changes, amenorrhea, and development of a placenta. , a third surgery and a third broken heart. Only this time, she lost twins. ``That of all people, this should happen to her makes you feel so helpless,'' said Dr. Victor Zakari, Dee's obstetrician-gynecologist. ``Sometimes it gives you a guilty feeling, even if there is nothing you could do about it.'' A few months later, they got a call from the fertility clinic asking what they wanted to do with the remaining frozen eggs. Dee wanted to try one final time. This time, she underwent a tubal Tubal (t  `bəl), in the Bible, son of Japheth. ligation ligation /li·ga·tion/ (li-ga´shun) the application of a ligature.tubal ligation sterilization of the female by constricting, severing, or crushing the uterine tubes. to lessen the chance of another ectopic pregnancy. She conceived, and the baby was firmly planted in the uterus. They gave this baby a name: Jonah Isaiah Munoz. Even with the pregnancy normal, her vital signs normal, her blood tests normal, her weight gain normal, Dee was nervous. ``I'm still not going to believe it until I'm holding the baby in my arms that I'm really a mom,'' she said. Manny couldn't contain his excitement. Just three months into the pregnancy, he wanted her to start wearing pregnancy clothes. Dee rolled her eyes at him. ``Let's wait, honey,'' she said. Sure enough, in a few months, the baby started to show. As the months wore on, her belly didn't look like that airbrushed tummy Demi Moore showed off on the cover of Vanity Fair. A long, red scar cuts a swath across her lower abdomen, the reminder of four surgeries. Her husband thought she was just as beautiful as ever. ``It's a whole different attractiveness, but I think it looks great,'' he says, holding her hand as she lay on an examination table during one of her final visits to the ob-gyn's office. ``She has my baby in there.'' Their excitement was contagious. When the Learning Channel asked to film Jonah's birth for an upcoming weekly documentary called ``A Baby Story,'' featuring 60 couples' experiences with pregnancy and childbirth, they knew they had to share their difficult journey to parenthood. About 10 percent of people of reproductive age, or about 6.1 million Americans, are infertile in·fer·tile adj. Not capable of initiating, sustaining, or supporting reproduction. infertile, adj unable to produce offspring. , according to statistics from the American Society for Reproductive Medicine. The documentary, set to be shown toward the end of the year, would be their way of inspiring others. ``The way we see it, it's a miracle It's a Miracle was a television show that aired on PAX-TV (now Independent Television) between September 6, 1998 and September 1, 2004.[1] Initially hosted by Richard Thomas[2], and later by Roma Downey, [3] ,'' Manny said. ``If it wasn't for medical science, we couldn't have had a baby ... We feel there's a lot of couples going through the same thing as us, and we wanted to share with them. We feel if you keep trying, keep hoping, you can do it.'' Inducing labor The doctors told Dee they would induce labor on Monday Aug. 31. Within an hour of their 6 a.m. arrival at Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center is a hospital in Burbank, California, USA. The hospital has 455 beds, and is part of Providence Health & Services. It's adress is: 501 S. Buena Vista St., Burbank, CA 91505. , nurses hooked Dee up to monitors and an IV and administered the first dosages of the drugs that would cause the contractions to begin. Manny, wearing a hat that said ``New Dad,'' held her hand. The camera crew from the Learning Channel conducted interviews with the medical staff. And the family began to assemble, ready for the long wait. Jonah's heartbeat was broadcast from a speaker on the monitor, a rapid, rhythmic thump that was the most prominent sound in the room. But with every contraction came a message from Jonah - a drop in his heart rate, a sign he might have problems during labor. Dr. Zakari took no chances. Jonah would have to arrive by Caesarean section caesarean section: see cesarean section. . ``This is a billion-dollar baby,'' Zakari said. ``We want everything to go smoothly.'' Dee started to cry. Manny looked like he might, too, as they rolled her down the hallway to prep her for surgery. In a half hour, it would be over, doctors said.The family waited nervously in the waiting room. How many minutes had passed? Then Manny turned the corner, pushing an incubator where little scrunched-up, red-faced, adorable Jonah, weighing 7 pounds 10 ounces, lay wrapped in swaddling swad·dle tr.v. swad·dled, swad·dling, swad·dles 1. To wrap or bind in bandages; swathe. 2. To wrap (a baby) in swaddling clothes. 3. To restrain or restrict. n. . ``It's something we dreamed about and prayed about and then it's finally here,'' he said. They took the baby to the neonatal nursery. The family pressed up against the glass. ``Es perfecto per·fec·to n. pl. per·fec·tos A cigar of standard length, thick in the center and tapered at each end. [From Spanish, perfect, from Latin perfectus; see perfect.] .'' ``He looks good, huh?'' ``He's not even wrinkled.'' ``He has Manny's nose.'' ``Es milagroso,'' miraculous. Manny turned and gave them a thumbs-up sign. ``That's my boy That's My Boy was a British sitcom starring Mollie Sugden that ran for five series from 1981 to 1986. It was written by Pam Valentine and Michael Ashton, who later wrote My Husband and I, which also starred Mollie Sugden. !'' he shouts. The excited father had given relatives copies of a book he wrote, titled, simply, ``Jonah: Our Miracle Baby.'' When Jonah can read, he'll get one, too. He'll know then how very much his parents wanted him, how much they went through to bring him into this world. If only he could see his mother on his day of birth, at that moment when nurses lay him on her chest. She was still groggy grog·gy adj. grog·gi·er, grog·gi·est Unsteady and dazed; shaky. [From grog.] grog , so she didn't say much. Her smile said it all. CAPTION(S): 9 Photos Photo: (1--Cover) A labor of love `IF IT WASN'T FOR MEDICAL SCIENCE, WE COULDN'T HAVE HAD A BABY' (2) After eight years and three ectopic pregnancies, Damaris and Manny Munoz spent $25,000 on in-vitro fertilization - their last hope of having a child. (3) Amid baby books and toys, the Munozes share a tender moment as Dee's due date approaches. (4) On the way to the maternity ward maternity ward n. The department of a hospital that provides care for women during pregnancy and childbirth as well as for newborn infants. , Dee Munoz gets a warm embrace from her niece, Jenny De La Torre. (5) Donning his ``New Dad'' hat, Manny gives support to his wife as contractions begin. (6--8) Above: Dee is three days overdue, so medication is administered to induce labor, Right: Dee and Manny anxiously await monitoring of baby Jonah's heart rate. After several reviews of the results, a Caesarean section delivery is ordered. Far right: The father-to-be waits for news about his wife and child. (9) The new family: Mom, Dad and 7-pound, 10-ounce Jonah. Andy Holzman/Daily News |
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