The Breath of Life

 For nine months this precious baby grew and developed in her mother's womb receiving all her nutrients and oxygen through the placental "feeding tube."  All that she needed to grow came from her mother.  After hours of being jammed into the bony birth canal and somehow flipped "sunny side up," she exited the warm comfortable fluid of the uterus, entering the cold stark outside world.  As fluid drained out of her lungs and she opened to the surrounding air, her whole circulatory system immediately changed. Oxygen rushed into her lungs causing resistance to blood flow to decrease in the lungs but to increase in the rest of the body. Her skin, at first a bit blue and dusky immediately pinked up.  To me the whole process is a miracle of biology, orchestrated by a loving Heavenly Father.  In the scriptures, the initiation of respiration is referred to as God's "breath of life." 

The idea of life giving breath can be found in the ancient Hawaiian practice of the expression of "ha."  This is a face-to-face greeting, the expelling of one's breath for the other to feel.  It denotes a deep sense of brotherly love and caring. It is ironic that what has at one time been viewed as an expression of good will would now be considered as rude and reckless in today's mask wearing society.  Such action could spread disease and death rather than love and life. COVID has changed everything.  

On the very night that I was able to visit my daughter and her adorable baby at the hospital, I was on my way to the floor above hers to care for patients over night in the ICU. One patient in particular kept our attention for most of the night. His breath was coming fast and shallow, breathing 35-45 times per minute (normal is about 18 breaths per minute). His oxgyen levels were drifting lower but just barely holding steady.  The worry was how long he could keep breathing at that pace. We were doing all we could to keep him off of a ventilator since nearly half of all those with COVID who are put on ventilators never come off. This is due to both the severity of their disease but also results from cascading deleterious affects from the whole process. The patient was transitioned to the highest level critical care unit where he indeed required mechanical ventilation.  The critical care doctor expertly placed the tube and his breath of life was sustained once again.  The whole process is terrifying to the patient and anxiety ridden for the health care team. 

The juxtaposition of new breath and declining breath was a stark reminder to me of the world we now live in.  I am grateful to have a daughter and son-in-law who are willing to start a family in such a world.  Their faith, love and devotion will be a blessing to my granddaughter that she won't learn to appreciate for many years to come.  I am equally grateful for a team of nurses here at the hospital who with faith, love and devotion as they watch over the patients to make sure their current breath is not their last one.  They are being spread thin and can only do so much.  As such, I am even more thankful to all of you who are willing for the time being to cover their mouths with masks, keep their distance from others even when their heart aches to do otherwise.  The pandemic will not last forever. The day will come when we will once again embrace those we love, face-to-face sharing their breath with ours.