Sensei Charles

Part 2 of 2 for “The Subtle Mind"

I have seen this connection of mind/body/spirit first hand in many areas of my life. I could write an entire blog of my experiences, but I will narrow it down to one.

Twenty years ago, I went into labor at only 20 weeks gestation. My mother rushed me to the ER and while there, the doctors informed me that because my amniotic sac had busted, that I would deliver the baby, and because the fetus was not viable, would die soon after birth. They were preparing me.

My mother began crying and started calling the ladies of the church to put me on the prayer chain, and I went into a deep meditative state. I completely blanked out the beeps and noises of the hospital and went to a waterfall in my mind and kept myself calm.

They brought in a portable sonogram machine, and once I saw my baby's body, the head, the tummy, the legs, and once the technician said, "watch this!" And she pointed out nourishment flowing from my body into the baby's, I knew my child would survive.

The next morning, the contractions had stopped and I was admitted to the hospital. The doctors all expected me to be delivering and leaving soon. But one day turned into a week, and even though I was instructed to "stay in bed" I got stir crazy and would get up to walk for exercise. As soon as I felt cramping, I got into bed and reached for my Bible. My mother saw to it that I had absolutely no stress, and because I worked at home for my step dad, all of my bills and insurance were paid. Mom brought my work to me at the hospital, and I was able to work off my laptop.

About two weeks into my stay, I began suffering severe anxiety. The doctors suggested they give me some kind of medication, but I refused it. I asked my Mom to open my window and help me to the window for fresh air. As soon as I stuck my head out and took in fresh air, my anxiety subsided. It was then that Mom lobbied for, and got me a wheel chair and took me outside every afternoon.

Well, the doctors then began to worry about the baby's lungs not developing because a fetus will swallow amniotic fluid to develop their lungs and this baby had none. So, they gave me steroids to develop the lungs which caused me to be so alert that I couldn't sleep for two days. I got steroid shots once a week. That, to my knowledge was the only type of medication that I did take.

Even though the amniotic sac never closed, I managed to hang on to the baby, and I strongly feel it was, in large part, due to my faith and my ability to keep calm in all adversity, and my Mom. I was told that they never had another woman stay as long as I did with ruptured membranes. And even though I was healthy in mind, body and spirit, their prognosis for a viable baby was still poor.

Well, Charles Daniel Hilbert was born on November 4, 1989, 10 weeks premature and weighed in at 3 lbs. I brought him home when he was 19 days old on a heart monitor. Except for some upper respiratory issues when he started elementary school, and a tonsillectomy when he was 10, he's never sick.

He is a 2nd degree black belt and Sensei in Martial Arts, and the apple of my eye. He received a full scholarship to attend college from his good grades and I thank God every day for my blessing. I think his Dad is pretty proud of him too, and I know his brothers Shayne and Kevin, and his sisters Melissa and Brenda think he's kind of great too.......