Photos of Hans

Hans' Life Story

Hans Calvin Wiggers’ journey began sometime in December 2006. His Mommy & Daddy did not know he was joining their family until Jan. 18, 2007. From that moment on there was great excitement and anticipation to meet this little child. During an ultrasound on May 7^th it was confirmed that Marcus and Alex would be welcoming a little brother to their family. They were thrilled and began making plans of who would give the bottle, hand mommy the diaper, and how they would hold him on the couch during family worship each night. They even talked of how they would need to keep their legos, marbles, and cars up off the floor for the safety of the little baby.

The pregnancy continued through the summer without complications. The family attended two weddings, had a visit from Oma & Opa, and enjoyed tent camping at Diamond Lake along with many other fun activities.

Marcus had delivered at 35 weeks and Alex at 37 weeks so when Heidi’s contractions increased in strength and frequency in her 36^th week she thought this precious child would soon make his grand appearance.

The morning of September 1, 2007 Heidi awakened at 5:45am and realized that the little boy inside her had not awakened her in the night. There had usually been hiccups, sharp jabs and kicks, or little finger tickles through the last couple of months of interrupted nights. She immediately asked Marcel to sing a familiar Dutch lullaby to the baby. This always brought on little kicks of response, but this time there was no response at all.

In the Hospital, Heidi was hooked up to a monitor with the nurse desperately trying to find the baby’s heart rate. The heart rate she found was 112 beats per minute. Heidi placed her fingers on her pulse and realized it matched the pulse on the monitor. What anguish this brought to Heidi and Marcel.

Dr. Medley, even though not on call, soon arrived and confirmed by ultrasound that the baby’s heart had stopped beating. She held Heidi in a tight embrace and shared the tears. Labor would need to be induced so Heidi was moved to a delivery room.

An epidural was placed to relieve physical pain and then the doctor performed an amniocentesis in case there would be a need for genetic testing. After these procedures, labor was started and all there was to do was wait and cry.

Heidi called her friend, Sharon, in Sacramento who had gone through this same situation several years ago. Sharon immediately packed her bag with all her professional camera gear and jumped in her car to head to hospital. She knew how important those few precious moments would be with a stillborn child and she wanted to capture every moment on film.

Soon after Sharon’s arrival from Sacramento Heidi’s labor began to progress rapidly. Thankfully during the entire birth Heidi felt no physical pain as the emotional pain was enough to bear. Hans Calvin joined his family at 3:05pm, Saturday, September 1, 2007. During the delivery the doctor discovered the cord wrapped so tightly around Hans’ chest that it caused indentations on his skin. The cord then twisted and wrapped tightly up around the neck. Dr. Medley said it was without a doubt, a cord accident, and there would be no need for genetic testing for a cause of death. She said there was nothing that could have been done to prevent this tragedy. Throughout this tragic delivery she was not only a very competent physician but a caring healer as well.

The next several hours Heidi, Marcel, Marcus and Alex cradled and held little Hans. They introduced him to family and friends and memorized each little detail of his body that made him his own individual. Of course, he had red hair and looked just like his brothers. He was beautiful and perfectly formed with all his fingers and toes. A healthy 6.5 lbs and 20 inches long. If you had been in the room you could have felt the abundant love being given to this silent, sleeping child.

The love and support of family and friends have been heart warming and overwhelming.

Marcel’s colleagues provided not only emotional support, but took care of all his responsibilities that week. He was to be on call that next weekend but without having to ask, other doctors volunteered to take his place.

The day before the funeral the family spent their last moments dressing and holding precious Hans. He was even more beautiful than they had remembered. They look forward to the day when Jesus comes again and the angels bring little Hans to Heidi’s arms. What a glorious delivery that will be.

Marcel's letter to Hans

Dearest Hans,

There is so much I wanted to tell you but never had a chance to do so.

I took a piece of paper with me yesterday to write a letter to you in your presence, however I could not stop studying your face as I said goodbye to you. There are so many thoughts that run through my head.

You have been an active part of this family since January 18. Your mom and I were so excited about you joining our family that we took some pictures of ourselves that night holding a “Welcome to the family” sign with the date.

I’ve felt your kicks and hiccups, and felt you respond to some simple songs I sang to you. Your big brothers had divided all the chores of taking care of you between themselves. They seemed pretty confident that they could be your sole caretakers.

I’ve been asked in the past if you could have dinner with anyone, who would it be and why? Now I’ll always know the answer. Hans it would be you.

I’d watch your plate and see if you’re a separator or a mixer. Are you right or left handed? Which restaurant would we go to? Would you take me to an exotic place with foreign cuisine or would you prefer a good old’ pasta place?

Would you be creative? Analytical? Sensitive? Brash? A little bit of everything?

What would you be passionate about? Who would be your friends? Maybe you would have forsaken your genetic predisposition and be the kind of child who loved to be organized and tidy and balanced checkbooks for fun.

Hans, I’ll miss seeing you grow up. I’ll miss building tree forts and riding bicycles with you. I’ll miss seeing you as a young man at college and I’ll miss being a grandpa to your kids.

I have so many questions and so few answers, however I trust that God can be trusted and that someday we’ll all be together again as a family.

Hans, I love you! Goodbye.

Your Dad.

Heidi's Poem to Hans

September 8, 2007

To: Hans

From: Mommy

Hans Calvin we will miss you, this is not what we had planned

You were so perfectly formed by our loving Master’s hand

You slipped away so quickly in that warm, dark womb

I wish you could have felt the abundant love in the delivery room

We held you close and kissed your head, checked all your fingers and toes

Marcus loved your tiny feet and Alex your cute little nose

Daddy studied every detail of your beautiful face

And Mommy held you very tightly in her warm embrace

You never took a breath of Oregon, pine tree scented air

Or felt a warm embrace from your two brothers’ loving care

We cannot show you how to ride a tricycle or bike

Or take you down to Rainy Falls or Limpy Creek for a hike

We wanted to see your smiles and hear your giggles too

To watch you play in the sandbox or see legos built just by you

We wondered what profession that you would someday be

Would you have been a doctor, pilot, teacher, or police

Who would you have married and how many children would you have

These are things we’ll never know and hope is our only salve

There is a special place in our hearts that is just for you

Mommy, Daddy, Marcus, and Alex can’t wait to hear you coo

I think the only love for you that could surpass our love

Would be the love of Jesus that comes from up above

The next time that we see you what a glorious day that will be

We will begin to live forever as a complete family

Memorial Fund for Hans

To honor our precious son, a memorial fund has been established with:

International Children's Care*
P.O. Box 820610
Vancouver, WA 9862-0013
www.forhiskids.org 1-800-ICC-PRAY
Please designate donations: In memory of Hans Wiggers

*ICC is a private relief and development organization working on behalf of orphaned, abandoned, and needy children in 19 third-world countries.

Video of Funeral

Before you watch this video of the funeral you will need to shut off the music from the slide show at the top. There is a small speaker in the left bottom corner of the slide show which if clicked on will silent the song "Amazing Grace." To begin the funeral video you will need to select the start arrow in the bottom left corner of the video screen. If you need the video screen to be larger you may click over the bottom right corner where it says "video google." Then click on the little white box that appears and you will be redirected to the Video Google site. The funeral video will begin playing and you can choose the size of the screen by clicking on the arrow in the right bottom corner.

Our New Home Site

Here are photos of the beautiful forest property we plan to build a home on this year.