L’chaim, Chaim

Shifra Wagner’s six-year-old son Chaim Eliyahu has been medically fragile since birth. She tells a story of powerful love, powerful emunah, and powerful determination as she fights to keep the precious neshamah she’s been entrusted with not just alive, but thriving

How can I describe the joy that wrapped around me when I realized that Hashem was gifting us with our fifth child? My husband, Yitzchok, and I were filled with gratitude and wonder. A new neshamah to guide and mold, another light in our home.

I picked up my siddur to daven, and my tefillos took on new meaning and greater intensity.

As my pregnancy progressed, my nausea tipped the charts, more intense than during my other pregnancies, and lasted well past the time it normally abated. Something didn’t feel right, and I was worried that my severe symptoms indicated a problem with the pregnancy.

When I shared my concerns with my doctor, he reassured me that everything was fine.