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.