‘Miracle baby’ Nicholas thriving at 9 months

By DIANE SCHLINDWEIN
      Managing Editor

Expecting a new baby is usually both exciting and a little frightening, but last November and December were unexpectedly anxiety-filled for Sarah and Joseph Williams and their family, who were so looking forward to their family’s little addition. Sarah was fairly far along in a much prayed-for pregnancy, yet her health was in danger due to placenta previa that caused bleeding episodes, and then it was discovered her unborn baby was suffering complications from heart issues.

With four children at home and having endured the losses of six miscarried babies (including a set of identical twins), the couple was suddenly faced with news that Sarah describes as “distressing, to say the least.”  It was when Sarah was 30 or 31 weeks into her pregnancy and having problems with placenta previa that doctors first noticed issues with their unborn son’s heart. In the second weekend of December Sarah, who was 39, had a second bleeding incident and another scan showed the baby’s heart condition had grown significantly worse.

 “After they brought me back to my room the doctor on call and the pediatric cardiologist both came to talk to me and my husband,” Sarah said. “We were told at that time the nature of his heart condition was still somewhat unknown, but the function of his heart had worsened, and the narrowness of his artery was such that it would very likely require surgery after birth. Things after that just became a whirlwind. Within an hour they had a transport ready to take me to Barnes Jewish Hospital in St. Louis.”

Sarah said she was upset and concerned but continued to feel that God was was with her. “I didn’t know how or when all this would come to pass, but I knew I only had one recourse, which was to trust in the Lord now matter what lies ahead,” she said.

Nicholas (named in honor of St. Nicholas) was born at Barnes by C-section, on Dec. 20, 2024, at 36 weeks and 6 days. He was 8 pounds but soon began having issues regulating his breathing, and so he was taken immediately to the cardiac care ICU at St. Louis Children’s Hospital.

 After Nicholas was born it became apparent that his heart was not actually failing in the way the doctors thought, and his condition was deemed “heart failure of unknown origin.” Both Sarah and Joseph had genetic testing done to see if they were carriers of anything that would cause Nicholas’ heart failure, but nothing showed on the tests. The doctors were frustrated.

On Christmas Eve, Nicholas’ lung collapsed, and he was experiencing significant respiratory distress. He was intubated and put on a ventilator. Because it was Christmas, his siblings were allowed to visit. For about two weeks baby Nicholas remained on a ventilator and his condition did not change much. “They tried to extubate him once, but it failed rather quickly and they had to re-intubate him again right away,” Sarah said.

“It was on Jan. 6, the day before they were attempting to extubate him a second time, when my husband and I had a rather grim conversation with the medical team,” she said. “Essentially, Nicholas’ prognosis was poor. He was still experiencing moderate to severe heart failure on one side of his heart, with the opposite side of his heart only showing slight improvement. If the second attempt to extubate him went poorly, we were looking at an indefinite hospital stay, and likely a heart transplant in his future. It his extubation was successful, then we were still looking at a month or two of Nicholas being hospitalized, and that was if everything went very well. We would still have several hurdles to jump in regard to his mysterious heart failure, which would likely require indefinite or even lifelong medication use.”

Sarah said she and her family decided to ask family and friends to pray for a miracle for Nicholas through the intercession of Venerable Fulton Sheen, since they were familiar with him. As it turned out, Nicholas’ godmother searched and found a relic of Fulton Sheen, who had heart issues himself. She asked a Catholic priest from our diocese (who was driving a religious sister to the airport in St. Louis on Jan. 7) to deliver the relic.

When the priest and sister arrived at the hospital Sarah explained Nicholas’ dire health situation, and the need for his extubation attempt the next day to be successful. “We held the relic to his chest, right over his heart, and Father said, ‘Let’s say this Novena Prayer for Fulton Sheen’s intercession nine times’ — a so-called Flying Novena, as Mother Teresa used to say,” said Sarah. “Each time we said it I asked for a complete and total healing of Nicholas’ heart. Father and Sister said a few more prayers with me after that, and then they left.”

With the medical staff’s permission, Sarah taped the relic card to Nicholas’ crib, along with an image of Our Lady of Guadalupe. “It was that evening that a doctor on staff came and spoke to me when I was alone with Nicholas in his room,” Sarah said. “Nicholas’ echocardiogram that day had shown normal heart function, something that had not happened once since his birth. They extubated him the next day, and he just flew after that.”  Nicholas was moved out of the ICU unit within two to three days, his heart size (that had been two times the normal size) returned to normal, and he was home by the next week.

Sarah says she and her family feel that Nicholas’ recovery was nothing short of miraculous. “We are currently in contact with the Sheen Foundation, who have asked us to write up Nicholas’ story in detail for the committee to evaluate,” she said.

Even as life moved forward after Nicholas’ birth, the Williams family was going through other trials. Sarah was having health problems herself and was readmitted to the hospital three times due to complications from post-partum eclampsia.

In the middle of Nicholas’ and Sarah’s health problems, the family living situation was made more complicated as they were scheduled to move from Hillsboro to Springfield to be closer to work and family. It was left to Joseph to not only take care of the four children at home (with help from family members), but also to pack up all their belongings.

“As a father who wants to provide for his family, it is very humbling to feel like so many things are out of your hands, not only protecting your baby and caring for his mother, but in trying to pack up a house without your wife, who is the organized one,” he said.

 “There were numerous God moments though, when I had a sinking feeling of ‘Oh, I need to take care of this and I’m way too overwhelmed to think about that myself right at this moment’ and then someone texted an offer to assistance or came knocking on my door with a homecooked meal.

“God knows what we can handle, and whatever we can’t — which feels like a lot in times like these — and His grace is more than efficient,” Joseph said. “I marveled at how one small helpless baby could bring so many people together, just lying there in his hospital bed entangled in every cord imaginable. But then I reflected on the fact that God chose to save the world through the humble birth of a baby in a manger, so there was comfort in knowing I was also on the path of redemption with my own son’s story.”

Sarah admits that some people are more inclined to deem Nicholas’ health situation as something less than a miracle, but others think it was. “The medical staff at Children’s has never used the word ‘miracle.’ However, they have said that his progress is ‘remarkable.’ I don’t think anyone expected his to do this well,” she said. “Our local pediatrician read over all the medical reports from Children’s and said to me at Nicholas’ first appointment with him, ‘It’s obvious something miraculous happened here!’”

Through all the trauma that surrounded Nicholas after his birth, the family says they never gave up on their faith. “God doesn’t make mistakes, and He doesn’t waste suffering,” Joseph said. “When we are allowed to suffer, we carry our cross with Christ, and though we do not always know where the road may lead, we know the One we walk with is trustworthy and that He will never forsake His own.”

“I know that Nicholas is here in large part due to so many people’s prayers, but particularly the prayers of my children, both living and deceased,” Sarah said. “Before I became pregnant with Nicholas, my oldest daughter told me that she was offering up every Mass she attended so that I could have another baby. Every day my children prayed for another baby that could come and live with us. During my pregnancy with Nicholas, I got the profound sense that our children in Heaven had also played a significant part in his coming to be with us here. It will be a beautiful reunion when we can all be united together again in Heaven someday.”

These days, little Nicholas Williams is truly cherished and obviously surrounded with love. He is currently on an every three-month visit schedule with the doctors at Children’s Hospital. “Each time we go back, his team continues to be astounded and amazed by his remarkable progress,” Sarah said, adding that his echocardiograms continue to show normal heart function. He meets baby milestones, is gaining weight, and loves to eat, she added.

“He does still take some oral medications that help support his heart function, but it is our understanding that if Nicholas continues on his current trajectory, the medications will be decreased — or he will be allowed to outgrow his dosages — after his first birthday. I do not get the sense from the doctors that they think the medicine cured his heart; rather it is just an extra precautionary measure we are taking for Nicholas’ first year, due to the unknown cause of his heart failure.”  He also sees a pediatrician on a regular basis, just as any other baby does.

As for Nicholas’ family, they have no doubt that his good health is a miracle. “There are days and times when I just hold him so tight and close my eyes and tell the Lord how grateful I am that he spared Nicholas’ life and gave him back to our family,” Sarah said. “Nicholas is the happiest baby. He hardly ever cries, and he smiles all the time. People frequently comment on how happy he is. I think he somehow innately knows what a gift his life is.”

Note:  The Williams family are former members of St. Agnes Parish in Hillsboro — where many people supported them during their challenging times — and are now members of St. Aloysius Parish in Springfield, where Sarah is the music director.