Photo by Impressive Studios
Photo by Kevin Craft
Watch a special video about Kamden at: https://youtu.be/dvX5lrMWUNw.


Kamden Scott VanDeusen
by Jason VanDeusen


It has been about a year ago that my wife was put on bed rest by her doctor due to a trip to the ER with what the doctors called a “threatened miscarriage.” Little did we know that this would be just the beginning of our adventure.  Ashley had a large blood clot that was putting the baby in danger, and Dr. Adams thought the best bet would be bed rest until the blood clot dissolved.

We made weekly trips to the doctor, and finally the blood clot was almost gone. After a couple of months, two more trips to the ER, and weeks of bed rest, Dr. Adams referred us to OSU maternal fetal medicine where they would work with Dr. Adams to give us the best results for our baby. Every trip to the ER and the doctors brought uncertainty and helplessness because we didn’t know from day to day how the baby was, but every time we started to doubt, the ultrasounds showed a healthy baby.  

Then “THE DAY” came at OSU that every dad would love to hear “IT’S A BOY!”  They also said he was growing right on track and everything looked great. Ashley and I were so excited to be having a boy and felt that now our family would be complete with a beautiful little girl and now our boy. The ultrasound tech barely made it out of the room before I was texting family and friends letting them know the good news as we waited for the doctor to come in to talk with us.

The next few minutes would be the most difficult few minutes I have ever experienced as a dad. Our happiness was turned to worry in a matter of minutes. The doctor walked in, looked at the ultrasounds and said that the fluid around the baby was dangerously low. We were then told by this doctor that she recommended that we terminate the pregnancy. I can’t even describe that feeling to anyone. Our answer was immediately NO, but that didn’t seem good enough for the doctor.

She then went on to tell us all of the things that could go wrong and all of the things that could happen and again recommended that we abort the baby and move on. Our answer for a second time was NO!! As she started to speak, I could tell that Ashley was done talking to this woman, and there was never a doubt in our minds that we had already given this child to God and put the pregnancy in His hands.   I spoke up and interrupted the doctor and told her “whatever you have to say to try and make us abort the baby isn’t going to help, IT’S NOT AN OPTION.” She left the room, we looked at each other, gathered our thoughts, and left the appointment.

After that appointment, the doctor treated us a little different the next time to the point that we requested a different doctor. When we talked with Dr. Adams back at home, he said that we were unchartered territory for them when we refused to abort.

After the first appointment at OSU, things did not get any easier, but Ashley and I always had a peace about how things were going. It seemed that every time we would get knocked down, God would pick us right up and let us know that He had everything under control.

Dr. Adams and the new doctor we worked with at OSU developed a plan to put Ashley in the hospital at 28 weeks and try to get her to the 34-week mark and take the baby six weeks early. At about 4:15 in the afternoon on January 27, 2014, I got the phone call from my mom to get to SOMC as soon as possible something was wrong. When I got there, Ashley was already in surgery, and as I walked into the nursery with one of the nurses to wait, one of the nurses ran past me holding a baby.

The only thing that came out of my mouth was “Is that mine?” He was here.  Kamden Scott VanDeusen was here, and he was here and crying, something they said wouldn’t happen with the low fluid during pregnancy. He was here 10 weeks and one day early, but he was here, and he was so small – three pounds and nine ounces. He was flown to Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus that night already in stable condition and doing great.

For the next 67 days, Kamden was in the NICU there until we got to bring him home. All of the things they were worried about didn’t happen, and our minds continuously go back to that afternoon that we were asked to abort. Even though it was never a thought in our mind, I can’t help but think “What If?” We would have missed out on the biggest blessing of our lives: OUR BABY BOY.  By the way, Kamden Scott VanDeusen is doing AMAZING!!!!