Breaking Christian News

A Promise from God Fulfilled—a BCN Exclusive Interview with the Mother of Amillia Taylor, World's Smallest Surviving Preemie

Aimee Herd : Mar 26, 2007
BCN exclusive

"We always said, you know-God has it. We're not worried about it. God is going to take care of it. So we never worried."

EDITOR'S NOTE: At the time I contacted Sonja Taylor, mother of Amillia-the world's smallest surviving premature baby-she told me they were not doing any more interviews. But when she heard we just wanted to let her story be known, giving God the glory for taking care of tiny Amillia, she was anxious to share her amazing testimony. -Aimee Herd, BCN.

Breaking Christian News: Sonja, you gave birth to Amillia at almost 22 weeks of pregnancy, what were you and Eddie your husband feeling as you first began going into labor? It must've been a very scary time for you, knowing that it's usually too early in gestation for a baby to live outside the womb.

Sonja Taylor: I didn't know I was in labor. I did not have one labor pain-nothing. I just happened to go to the bathroom, I saw something, and thought, "Okay, this is not normal, we need to go to the emergency room." When I went, I was 10 cm. dilated, I was completely dilated, at that point I really did not have a worry or a fear or anything. Because God had already promised us a baby!

BCN: Really? Tell me a little about that...how had God promised you this baby?

ST: I prayed. My family is strong in church, we're strong pray-ers. Eddie & I have been married for 17 years, and we'd been praying for a baby. We had tried earlier and nothing happened. But, everything seems to happen to us around March. [So, this time] I was praying, and [as] I did, a total calmness came over me, and my husband said "we're going to get pregnant this time, huh?" I said, "Yeah" and Eddie said, "Yeah, God promised me too." So that was it. My Mom called a week later-before I went to do the in-vitro-she said, "Don't worry about anything, God promised me this child, you're gonna give birth, the baby's going to be fine. Don't get me wrong, you're gonna go through something, but everything's going to be fine."

My brother, who is really strong into the church, (he wanted to become a preacher at one point) called me up (I had called him and asked him to pray for us) and said, "Don't worry, you're gonna get pregnant, you're gonna have this baby, not a worry, don't worry about her." It was already promised, the whole family had come to the conclusion that it was promised to us. So it wasn't a worry, even when I went to the hospital, they told me, "Don't move, we're going to put you upside down." I was like, "Okay, fine." Actually the nurses thought something was wrong with me! Even when [Amillia] was in an incubator, and she was so small, they asked me how I see her, and I said, "As a perfect baby, she's just a little small". And they said, "You don't see anything wrong with her?" I said, "No, she's my baby, she's fine. When is she going to go home?" They told me she has to get bigger, she has to get strong. I was like, "Ahh! She'll be fine!" Whenever they came to me and said "this may happen..that may happen..this may happen..." (they were trying to give me all the negative things) I would tell them, "She's fine, God promised her to me, she's coming home, nothing will be wrong with her. Whatever you have to do, go ahead & do it. She'll be fine."

BCN: Do you feel that you & Eddie made an impact on the Doctors, because of your faith and the way you were trusting in God?

ST: I think we did. They even said that they were surprised because during the whole ordeal, no matter what they hit us with, we were always positive. We always said, you know-God has it. So we never worried. And that was their big concern, they thought we were pushing everything down and that we were worrying about everything. When they [finally] realized that we didn't worry because we knew that God had it all taken care of, they really saw, and they were like "Okay." What more can you say to somebody when they say, "You know God has this, I don't have to worry about it." There's nothing to say but, "Okay."

BCN: So now during that time, did you have a lot of people from church come, to rally around and pray for Amillia there in the hospital?

ST: I had not only people from our church, it was friends, [and] people on our jobs. It was everybody that we told about the baby. (And we tried not to tell that many people about the baby, even when I was pregnant.) From my last job, no one knew that I was even pregnant, until the news story hit and then people were calling me up, "Are you crazy? Why didn't you tell us? We could have come, we could have helped you." But God had already taken care of it, we didn't need anything. And that's the way we looked at it, because our faith sustained us and carried us through. We didn't need the big rally and everybody around-everybody pitching in-because God had already taken care of it.

BCN: So at that moment when the Doctors felt that Amillia was actually going to be alright, (you already knew that because of your faith) when the doctors finally came around and said, "You know, This baby is going to live, she's going to be fine," what did that do for you and Eddie? What were you feeling?

ST: I'm a big "I told you so" person, so you can imagine that I said, "I told you so...I knew it, God told us she's coming home." [The hospital staff were like, "Yes, she's gonna make it! Yes! She's coming home." One of the doctors-who first saved her life-he is the kind of person who is very reserved. He doesn't want to get anyone's hopes up. Then one day, I was in there talking to him, and I said, "Look, look how big she is! When is my baby coming home?" He said, "Okay your baby's coming home in February." That was a big thing for him to say, (your baby's coming home in February) because he's always the one who would say, "I don't know...let's wait and see." [When he told me February] I said, "Okay I have you nailed down...that's all I wanted you to tell me...when she was going home, because I knew she was, it's just that I needed a date." They told me February, and she came home in February.

BCN: Now that Amillia is home, and everything is a reality and God's promise to you has been realized, what has that done for you and Eddie and your faith?

ST: I can only speak for myself. For me, people can tell you all day long about their miracles-with God, with Jesus-they can tell you everything they want about them. Everything about how He's transformed their life, saved them and helped them. But until you really go through something, and you have nobody else to turn to, but Him to pull you through, I don't think you know how life-altering it is. Then you can finally see. I was talking to my girlfriend the other day, and I said, "It's funny because all the time I would say, HOW TO PRAY AND DECREE! Bill Johnson's message is not for the fainthearted! This word will empower you with one of the most important revelations you will need and want for this present hour. We all know we must do something to engage Heaven and it's resources in our lives here and now -- today. But sometimes it is difficult to know what to do and how to do it. This word is clear, plain and able to be implemented into your life -- even as you listen to it! 'I put my faith in God, I put my faith in the Lord, and I put my faith in Jesus.' But until Amillia, I had never realized how powerful those words really are, and how much strength you can get from those words."

[There is also] strength you give out from those words. We told other mothers in the NIC unit, "Don't worry, God has your child. It's a baby, God takes care of all babies, don't worry." I was reading the blogs on the internet and one of the people wrote on there, "How can you say that God is using this as a miracle, if God wanted her to be saved, does that mean that all the other babies, [who did not live] God didn't want them to be saved? [What about] all the other millions of babies, and premature babies that die every year? It hurt me for them to say that. But it also strengthened my faith too, because I realized that they don't have a sense of who God is. Because He did not say, "I'm choosing your baby over this baby," He just said, "This is going to be a miracle, this is your miracle."

I think every birth is a miracle. And everything has a reason. We may not know what it is, but it has a reason. So I even look at the babies who passed, when [Amillia] was there [at the hospital], seven other babies died around her. And she was the one that everybody thought [would die]. There was even a baby that was 32-weeks-old, that died in the bed next to hers. And you think 32 weeks...that is almost full-term. Even looking at that, my faith was strengthened, to know that there's a reason for everything-even though those parents were hurting. I could feel their pain, but there's a reason. I'm not to question that reason, but I'm to rejoice in what He gave me. Period. And that's the way I look at it. I look at everything that happens in our lives, with our family, as a reason to rejoice. Because for 17 years we'd been married and we never had a child. So now we have a baby. I'm not going to sit back and say, "Lord why did you give me my child, and You took these other people's children?" [Instead I say] "You know Lord, I'm trusting You, and I know everything You take for a reason, and I'm going to rejoice in the miracle that You gave me."

When I talk to some people who are not true Believers, or who are not real strong, they just look at me in amazement. The people who can understand [are the ones] who have been somewhere, or have been through something, who now have that faith that He always pulls you through.

BCN: Right. When God gives you a promise like that, and then you see it actually come into fruition, it's just amazing, isn't it?

ST: Yeah it is, because I know that all things are possible. There is not one thing, that if you pray for, you ask for, and it's promised to you, that you're not going to get.

BCN: How is Amillia doing now?

ST: She is 5 lbs 12 oz. She gained like a pound, at the hospital, she hasn't been out a month yet, [at the time of the interview] but she's gained a pound and 4 ounces. She's doing great, she's laying on me right now.