Karen Wollman and her husband Brian were excited to find out she was pregnant with their third child. When they got an ultrasound taken, however, they found out that things weren’t quite right with their new baby. Their new boy had Down Syndrome and hydrops, a condition that causes the body to swell with fluid. With that discovery, doctors told the expecting parents to anticipate giving birth to a stillborn baby.
Karen, not giving up hope, sang “This Little Light of Mine” to their son, Renner, every day while he was in the womb.
When the day came, Renner was born in an emergency C-section at week 35 of the pregnancy. Surprisingly, he was still breathing. Doctors put him on oxygen and told Karen and Brian that the baby was only going to live for a few days. They asked if the Wollman’s had any last requests. Karen asked for a rocking chair to be placed in her room so she could rock the baby. The medical staff allowed it.
Since that day, Renner turned around and recovered. So much so that six months after he was born, the Wollman family was able to take him home alive. Doctors can’t explain how the boy survived but Karen says she feels like her son was touched by the hand of grace. Renner is two now and lives a healthy, normal life.