It was the 27th of June, 2023, when my wife, Shamine, and I went to visit the doctor after our pregnancy test came out positive. After a quick consultation, our doctor at a renowned hospital in Bangalore congratulated us on expecting our second child. The next step was a scan to check if everything looked fine with the baby in the womb.
On Friday, the 30th of June, 2023 (the day of the scan), we were immediately informed by the doctor who performed the sonography that we should meet our gynecologist as soon as possible, as the heartbeat had not been detected. We consulted her the very next day, and she told us there was no chance of the heartbeat appearing. In her 25+ years of experience, she explained that if there is no heartbeat at this stage, it almost never comes back. I pressed her on the odds, hoping against hope, and asked if it might be 50–50, 75–25, or even 90–10. To this, she said there was no chance... except for the chance of a miracle.
Shamine, my mother-in-law, and I left the consultation room in disbelief. What followed were hours of reading medical literature online, consulting different doctors, and, above all, asking our near and dear ones to pray to God for a miracle.
I kept wondering what might have gone wrong: maybe the scan wasn’t done correctly? perhaps the doctor had misread the report? maybe the machine wasn’t working well? Yet each fragile hope faded against the confidence with which our doctor had declared that the heartbeat would not return.
We still had another scan scheduled for the 10th of July, meant to be more a confirmation of the doctor’s verdict than a source of hope. Around that time, my dear friend, the director of the centre of Opus Dei in Delhi, gave me the Novena to Venerable Isidoro Zorzano. We resolved to pray it together and, by what felt like a providential coincidence, both happened to miss day 6. Still, we carried on to day 9, which then fell on the day of our decisive scan.
On the 10th of July, we went to a different hospital, a different radiologist, and a different gynecologist. After an anguishing 15 minutes of Shamine being inside the laboratory, the doctor finally called me in. To our greatest surprise, our baby’s heartbeat was visible: 170 BPM, perfect for the baby’s age. The doctor showed us both the blood flow and the heartbeat with complete clarity. This was indeed our miracle, a gift we believe was granted through the intercession of Venerable Isidoro Zorzano.
We took both reports to our new gynecologist, who could hardly believe the conflicting findings. She even called the doctor at the laboratory to double-check the results. All she said was, “God is good.” Truly, God has been kind to us in this episode. While we know there are still seven months left in my wife’s pregnancy, no one can ever take away this moment and the joy of hearing our baby’s heart beating loud and clear.
I hope this testimony brings hope to many others who are praying to our loving God, especially through the intercession of friends in heaven such as Isidoro Zorzano.
N.N. – India