By Liz Townsend
Five-month-old Daniel Hughes is starting to be weaned from the ventilator that has breathed for him since birth. While his small lungs fight to take a breath, his mother Karie can only watch and pray. But she has already won her own battle for Daniel's sake, fighting against physical problems and pressure from doctors who urged her to have an abortion, giving Daniel the gift of life.
Karie Hughes became a dedicated and active pro-lifer after dealing with the intense guilt and sadness of an abortion she had as a teenager. But when doctors told her that the baby in her womb was in serious trouble and recommended abortion as the preferred "management choice," even she felt tremendous pressure and fear of going against the opinion of members of the medical profession.
Luckily, however, Hughes's deep beliefs and the unwavering support of her husband, Fred, and her friends gave her the strength to ignore the doctors' dire predictions and give her baby the chance to live. Daniel was born on July 5, and the Hughes family of Chandler, Arizona, can't imagine life without him.
"When I see him I am so thankful that I can look into Daniel's eyes and talk to him," Hughes told NRL News. "I know God has a plan and a purpose for Daniel."
Karie Hughes knew there was something seriously wrong when her water broke during the night of May 11, when her unborn baby was only 18 weeks old. Her obstetrician immediately sent her to the hospital, where tests showed that the amniotic sac had a tear and the fluid was almost all gone.
The fluid is produced from the baby, so there was no way to artificially refill the sac.
"Without the amniotic fluid, Daniel couldn't move," Hughes said. "I never felt him kick."
Hughes was immediately placed on bed rest, which lasted for 54 days. For an active, involved pro-life speaker, this time spent in bed was especially difficult. But Hughes wisely used the enforced rest time to train others to give presentations for her.
Until Daniel's birth, Hughes had ultrasounds two or three times a week to measure the fluid level. Several times during these visits, doctors would discuss what they termed "management choices" with Karie and Fred Hughes.
The "management choice" they favored turned out to be "termination," known in plain language as abortion.
The doctors presented the "termination" option as the only sure outcome to the pregnancy. With the lack of amniotic fluid, there was a chance Daniel could be born with a number of problems, all explained in stark detail by the doctors.
"They told us Daniel could be crippled, we could end up spending millions of dollars on his care, he could have a difficult and painful life," Karie Hughes said. "One doctor said he was 'pro-life' and 'pro-choice' - - 'pro-choice' when the choice can be made because of medical and financial reasons."
Despite her deep pro-life convictions, the doctors' authoritative and dire warnings took a toll on Hughes. "I was falling apart," she said. "But my husband was very strong the whole time. He kept saying, 'It's going to be OK.' "
Hughes's pro-life friends also gave constant support. "One friend said to me, 'If a teen came up to you in this situation and asked if she should listen to the doctors and abort her baby, what would you say?' I told her I would say, 'Of course not,'" recalled Hughes. Conversations like this reinforced Hughes's determination to do what she knew was right for her baby and give him the chance to live.
She also knew from her past experience that abortion is never the "easy way out," no matter what the doctors might predict could be in her baby's future. Hughes had an abortion when she was only 15, and thought at the time that she didn't want anyone to know about her "mistake" and that the abortion would just get "rid of the problem."
"But the baby's never the problem," Hughes said.
It was after she watched pro-life videos that she was finally able to confront the truth about what she had done. "I was completely broken," she remembered. "I decided right then that I would speak out on this issue."
Hughes later formed a ministry called Passion and Principles to bring her message to teenagers.
Armed with her strong pro-life beliefs and the support of her husband and friends, Hughes made a firm decision to reject the doctors' advice. She had hoped to carry her baby to term, which would be in October.
However, in early July, the amniotic fluid was measured at only two centimeters - - the normal level is about 15 to 20 centimeters. Daniel began to experience fetal distress and stopped moving completely on July 5, and he was born in an emergency Caesarean section at Good Samaritan Medical Center in Phoenix that day, only 26.4 weeks into the pregnancy.
Daniel weighed one pound, ten ounces, and has since been faced with several problems common to many premature babies. He still breathes through a ventilator, since his lungs were not yet fully formed when he was born, but he has begun to be weaned off the machine. Daniel has also been given several blood transfusions and had heart surgery two days after birth to fix a valve that wouldn't close properly. He also has hearing loss in one ear.
"But Daniel is responsive," Hughes said. "He gazes at you when you're talking to him."
Daniel remained in Good Samaritan until November 17, when he was transferred to St. Joseph's Medical Center, also in Phoenix, for continuing therapy. He is receiving speech therapy to help him learn how to use his muscles to suck so he can receive food and fluids through his mouth, as well as physical therapy to stretch his leg and arm muscles so they develop properly. "They can stretch almost fully," Hughes added. "He'll run one day."
As of early December, Daniel weighed seven pounds, six ounces. "When he can breathe, swallow, and suck on his own he can come home," Hughes told NRL News. "That will probably be when he weighs about 13 pounds." Daniel will join his three older siblings, who are 15, 13, and 10 years old.
Karie Hughes plans to bring Daniel with her when she gives presentations as soon as he is ready. "Before, I used fetal models to give a powerful pro-life message," she said. "I want to speak with Daniel and show the real thing."
Hughes is also eager to speak with the doctors who urged her to get an abortion and show them the little boy who would not be alive if she had listened to them. "I hope Daniel would have an impact on the doctors' lives," she said. "They sure have an impact on their patients!"