When The Unborn Doesn't Go Quietly To His Execution, "Tiny Tim"

2-28-98 | Sharon Dunsmore, RN, Bob Edwards

[Coleus]

When The Unborn Doesn't Go Quietly To His Execution

Michael Reagan Show
2-28-98 Bob Edwards

When the Unborn Doesn't Go Quietly to His Execution

It was a relatively calm day in my hospital's Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. I and two other nurses were trying to have a conversation amid the customary sounds of ventilators and heart monitors. I was in mid-sentence when the shrill ring of the red emergency phone halted everything. "Come fast," the voice said urgently, "We need a neonatal nurse here STAT!" (that's immediately). Fear gripped my heart as I ran into the delivery room, but instantly I knew the situation was critical, and I was now prepared for what I was about to experience. "What's happened here?" I asked. "It's an oops abortion, and now it's your problem!" responded one of the nurses. For us, an 'oops abortion' meant that the fetus had survived the abortion procedure.

A pediatrician had also been called to the scene. He ran by me with the fetus, (now called a baby), in his hand and yelled in my direction. I followed him into the resuscitation room adjoining the delivery room.

I looked into the bed of the warmer as I grabbed equipment. There lay a baby boy...... a very, very tiny baby boy. The doctor and I immediately made an attempt at intubation, that is, inserting a tube down the windpipe from the mouth or nose of the infant to the tip of the lungs to try to ventilate, expand and get oxygen into them. The doctor's efforts at intubation failed. All it did was further traumatize the baby. I glanced at the doctor and hesitantly asked, "Will you attempt intubation again?'

"It would be inhumane to attempt to intubate this poor little thing again. This infant will never survive." "Well", I said, "it is my job to ask." The doctor softened, "I'm sorry, Sharon, I'm just angry. The mother doesn't want the inconvenience of a baby, so she comes to the hospital so she can pay somebody to get rid of it -- all neat and tidy. Then the whole thing gets messed up when the little one has the audacity to survive."

"And then everybody takes it seriously, and they call the pediatrician, and I'm supposed to fix it, or get rid of it." With anger in his voice, he went on, "Some lawyers will fight for the right for the mother to do whatever she wants to with her body, but watch out for what they do when abortions aren't so neat and tidy!!! A failed homicide -- oops! Then all of a sudden everybody cares, and it's turned from a 'right' into a 'liability' that someone is blamed for!"

We looked at our pathetic little patient. He was lying in the fetal position in the wrong environment, trying to get air into underdeveloped lungs that could not do the job.

In a calmed voice, the doctor said, "Okay, Nurse, I'm going back to my office. Keep him comfortable and let me know when it's over. I'm sorry about this. Call me if you need me. I know this is a hard one. If it helps, please know it is tough for me too."

I watched the doctor retreat and then glanced back at the infant before me. He was gasping for air. 'Lord, help!', I prayed. Almost instinctively, I measured the baby's vital signs. His temperature was dangerously low. I pushed the warmer settings as high as they would go. His heart rate was about 180 - 200 beats per minute. I could count the beats by watching his little chest pulsate.

I settled down a bit and began to focus on this tiny little person. He had no name, so I gave him one. Suddenly, I found myself speaking to the baby. "Tiny Tim, who are you? I'm sorry you weren't wanted. It's not your fault."

I placed my little finger in his hand, and he grasped it. As I watched him closely, I marveled that all the minute parts of a beautiful baby were present and functioning in spite of this onslaught. I touched his toes and discovered that this premature baby was ticklish! He had a long torso and long legs, and I wondered if he would have become a basketball player. Perhaps he would have been a teacher or maybe a doctor.

Emotions swept over me as I thought of my friends who had been waiting and praying for years for a baby to adopt. I spoke aloud again to this miniature baby. "They would have given you a loving and happy home. Why would people destroy you before ever considering adoption? Ignorance isn't bliss, is it, Tiny Tim?"

So little Tim put his thumb into his mouth and sucked. I hoped that gave him comfort. I said, "I'm sorry, Tim. There are people who would risk their lives for a whale or an owl, but they wouldn't even blink an eye about what is happening to you." Tiny Tim gasped, and his little chest heaved as if a truck were sitting on it. With my stethoscope, I listened to his tiny, pounding heart. It seemed easier to focus on his physiology rather than on this tiny baby's humanity.

And then he wet...and my mind took off again. Here was Tiny Tim with a whole set of kidneys, a bladder and connecting tubes that functioned with a very complex system of chemistry. His plumbing was all working! I turned the overhead light up and little Tim turned away from it. In spite of eyelids that were still fused together, he wanted to protect his precious little eyes. I thought about them. They would never see a sunset, a mother's smile or the wagging tail of a dog.

I took his temperature again. It was dropping. He was gasping for air and continued to fight for life. I stroked him gently and began to sing to him.

Another nurse walked in. "How's the mother?" I asked. "Oh she's fine. She's back in her room resting." The family said they don't want to see or hear about anything. They said, "Just take care of it." The nurse retreated with one last glance at the tiny patient. "For such a little person, he sure is putting up a big fight," she said.

So there I was with this tiny, tiny preemie who had survived an abortion. The doctor had left. The family had said, 'Just take care of it'. Sharon had found the toes ticklish, and she watched him suck his thumb. She had turned the heat lights up, and he had turned his head away from the bright light to protect his eyes. And now he was wetting...his plumbing worked too.

I looked at Tiny Tim and wondered if he knew that what he was fighting for so hard was life -- and I knew he was losing his fight. He was dying...and his family was not even interested. Their words tormented me, "Just take care of it!" No muss, no fuss.

Then Tiny Tim moved and caught hold of my little finger. I let him hang on. I did not want him to die without being touched and cared for. As I saw him struggle to breathe, I said, "It's okay, Tim. You can let go.........You can go back to God." His gasping started to slow down, but he still clung to my finger. I stroked him ever so slowly and watched him take his last breath.

"Goodbye," I whispered, "You did matter to someone."

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A few years later, the same Sharon Dunsmore became the manager of a psychiatric unit. One day, Kathy, a young, severely depressed woman, came to see Sharon following an unsuccessful suicide attempt. As Sharon interviewed her and heard her story, she told of an abortion she had received three years before and was having recurring nightmares. A baby was crying for help and kept calling her name. In her dreams, Kathy kept searching for the baby, but could never find him or her. She did not even know the sex of her baby.

As Kathy gave the name of the hospital and the names of the doctor, a disturbing realization dawned on Sharon -- Kathy was Tiny Tim's mother. But because of hospital regulations Sharon could not tell Kathy what she knew.

But time passed. Sharon was no longer a nurse or a therapist. Kathy was no longer a psychiatric patient. They ran into each other at a restaurant, where Sharon gently unfolded the story that had been hidden for so long. Tears flowed as she gave Kathy the gift of answers. Her baby had been touched and loved by a mother. He had been given a name. He didn't die alone. He was sent back to a loving God.

They held each other and wept. Sharon looked into Kathy's eyes and saw new strength and calm. There were scars, but she was beginning to heal. The nightmares were being put to rest.

Sharon still lives with the haunting impact of this experience. A CHOICE that was intended to be 'no big deal', turned out to be a very big deal for everyone.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I was brought to tears by this story. In all my travels and experience in the Army, I have never witnessed anything like what Sharon Dunsmore did. I have seen people killed, I have seen the effects of war, and I have helped kill other human beings. It amazes me what human beings will do to each other. Still, in everything I have seen, I wonder how people can call 'Tiny Tim' just a piece of tissue, just a choice. We as a nation will answer for the infanticide that we practice. We as Christians will answer for what we have or have not done to stop this holocaust.

In Nazi Germany in the 1930's and 1940's the Christian Churches were well aware of what the Nazi's were doing to the Jews and other undesirables. In most cases the church chose to do nothing, reasoning, that they should let the state take care of earthly matters, while the church worried about saving the soul. The price for inaction, the destruction of Germany. Do not sit idly by while this country mortgages her soul through infanticide.

'Just take care of it.' How convenient to rationalize life by calling the baby 'it.' If you choose abortion, you choose stories like this! Unfortunately, we pay for our choices in life, Kathy paid a terrible price, as did Tiny Tim. But so did Sharon, the doctors, nurses and family involved. However, it is more than that, this nation is paying a price for treating our most helpless citizens as tissue. God says He knew us before we were born. He also says a man and a nation will reap what it sows.

Yours In Christ,

Bob Edwards

Sharon Dunsmore has Tiny Tim's story available in booklet form.

"Tiny Tim", PO Box 84, Smiths Creek, MI 48074-0084

Bible Reference:    Psalms - 1:1-5, Psalm 4:6, Malachi 4:16, Psalm 119:105, Proverbs 2:12-22,
                        Proverbs 4:18-27

Needs Repeating, Posted 1, 2, 3,

[RogueIsland]

This one deserves a bump. Makes you hope that God isn't the Old Testament God, or we're in for some trouble.

[TXBSAFH]

bump

[Iam1ru1-2]

Your response only further reveals your absolute disdain for the "sanctity of life." You are a person who can easily be persuaded to kill the lame, the aged, the mentally compromised, and the "inconvenient". You have revealed to all of "Christian Conservatives" whether you believe in abortion at any time or any reason. Do you? When do you believe life can no longer be snuffed out? 2 days after birth, 2 months after birth, 2 years after birth, any time it becomes inconvenient for your lifestyle?

[Twinkie]

Your use of the word "subset" says it all, your
judgment of anyone else as a member of a "subset"
is condemnation of yourself out of your own mouth.
Thou shalt not kill. Don't like it? Tough.

[Mr. Silverback]

ProLife Ping!

If anyone wants on or off my ProLife Ping List, please notify me here or by freepmail.

[dcwusmc]

Well, isn't this one HELLUVA note to add to the list? What a story! "Take care of it," indeed. Yes, perhaps murder of the pre-born WILL be the straw that breaks the camel's back... if anything does.

Solution: REPEAL ALL LAWS DEALING WITH ABORTION IN ANY FORM. Then treat it under the murder statutes. Why even bother with "Anti-abortion" laws? They are redundant and needless. Set a time linit (over 30 days would work) and say that after that time, it's murder to kill the 31-day old baby. Prior to that, I would say that it could be argued that retroactive birth control pills would be able to be used. This would take care of the "rape and incest" issue. A woman would have that much time and ONLY that much time to use her RU-whatever. IF she had already filed a criminal complaint of rape and/or incest. After all, while it IS a woman's body and her right to decide, her decision to engage in behavior which is KNOWN to create new lives ENDS her decision making until AFTER the baby is born. She becomes responsible for that child inside her.

[ApesForEvolution]

I can't argue with anything you said, but rather wholeheartidly agree with nearly every single jot and tittle you most eloquently articulate sir...

[Vic3O3]

I was brought to tears by this story. Me too...me too.

Me too...I need to hug my little ones right now.

[Vic3O3]

I was brought to tears by this story. Me too...me too.

Me too...I need to hug my little ones right now.

[Nonesuch]

I wrote:

...rather than making an attempt to sway their opinion with something other than bible verses.

Former Fetus wrote:

Let me get this right... you think that quoting Bible verses is "stooping down", right?

Trying to justify an argument about changing the law by quoting from the Bible is not conducive to swaying non-christians to your point of view.

How would you feel if somebody chose to justify their viewpoint by quoting the Kama Sutra at you?

And I am not a Liberal. is it truly impossible that somebody can be conservative and not Christian?

Murder is a sin in your religion, and a crime. There are actions which are sins and which are not crimes.

Be thankful to be in a forum where people will quote the Bible to you

No thanks, I've read it already, I'd be less insulted if you quoted the Koran, at least some of those verses would be new to me.

[Former Fetus]

"stooping down"

You said it, not me. Look at the bottom of your post #112

quoting the Kama Sutra

I wouldn't like it, this is supposed to be a Christian country! At least that's what I concluded from studying American history for my citizenship exam. This is a Christian country and we don't persecute people of other religions, but our laws are (or should be) based on Christian Scripture. Other countries may base their laws on the Kama Sutra, but not this one.

I'd be less insulted if you quoted the Koran

Have it your way, but the Koran will not show you the way to eternal life and the Bible will. What kind of person would I be if I knew about God's love for me but refused to tell others about it? I'd rather offend you quoting the Bible, hoping that the Holy Spirit will touch your heart, than be nice and friendly quoting the Koran and let you go to eternal damnation.

[victim soul]

This is why Alan Keyes decided to run against Barak Obama.

Obama voted against a bill that declared even aborted living babies deserve the right to life.

[Nonesuch]

I wouldn't like it, this is supposed to be a Christian country! At least that's what I concluded from studying American history for my citizenship exam. This is a Christian country and we don't persecute people of other religions, but our laws are (or should be) based on Christian Scripture. Other countries may base their laws on the Kama Sutra, but not this one.

Interesting conclusion -- I've taught the citizenship exam study material, the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and never encountered the phrase "Christian nation" in these materials, nor did I draw the same conclusion as you.

Funny how a "Christian" country somehow neglected to mention Christ anywhere in the founding documents that define this nation!

The Constitution contains no references to "God" (unless you are willing to read a lot more into the phrase "..in the year of our Lord..." than is reasonable).

The founding fathers were not Christians.

Thomas Jefferson was a heretic (Rationalist) who rewrote the Four Gospels of the Christian New Testament, eliminating all references to the divine nature of Christ! (but don't believe me, buy your own copy and read it for yourself).

I assume you intend to ignore The Treaty of Tripoli (written by Joel Barlow, a friend of Thomas Paine), a treaty with what is now Libya, which reads in part "the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion". This treaty was signed by president John Adams, and ratified by the Senate in 1797.

[Stakka Skynet]

Anyone that can read that without crying (not just a few tears) is evil beyond belief. John Kerry would laugh at that child's suffering. He has a 100% consistent pro-abortion record including voting for partial birth abortion. And yet, in his own words, life begins at conception. How truly sick and depraved is this man? Just seeing his image makes me want to physically hurt him after reading an article like this. I can't understand why people don't put this issue out on the forefront. If voters were aware of the actual partial birth abortion procedure, democrats would never win any elections.

[Wicket]

Jefferson wasn't a Christian. It is my understanding that he was a Deist. He is one of the founding fathers. However, that does not refute that the nation was founded primarily by Christians.

The article you cited is not well researched, nor is it very accurate.

Our nation is certainly living in a post-Christian, postmodern era. There have been ebbs and flows in both the practice and the expression of faith throughout our history.

I commend to you a book by Peter Marshall and another author whose name I don't recall. The first in the series is The Light and The Glory. It may not persuade you, but you might find it an interesting and different take on the subject.

I think it likely that you would agree it is wrong to kill a baby. Interestingly enough, some have argued that there should be a "buyers remorse" sort of provision for the parents of infants - notably an "ethicist" named Peter Singer.

I'm not very fond of the slippery slope argument, but I think it has occurred in the practice and acceptance of abortion in our country. The justices started with a "we don't know where life begins" approach, and it has slid from there to where, literally, babies that in a few inches/moments would be born normal and healthy have surgical instruments pierce their brain and have their brains sucked out.

The question is not what hath God wrought, but what have we as a "never want to be inconvenienced" society found to be acceptable.

I don't have all of the answers, and I don't think you are implying that you do. However, the notion of abortion as a back up form of birth control has, IMHO, brought us to where we are today.

I would also say that the laws regarding the destruction of a condor egg are far more protective of a developing condor than our laws protecting developing humans. Do you not think that is an odd set of priorities?

[Nonesuch]

I suppose the really tough question is, if there were a means to, from the moment of conception on forward, remove a developing fetus from the mother without killing him or her, and transplant it alive, would that replace abortions for women who do not want to be pregnant?

[Coleus]

Thanks for the links.