We Invite You to Take a Glimpse at The Miracle Within.

The Miracle Within is both an educational experience and a joyous celebration of new life. Please click the links below to read the book’s introduction and jacket copy. Then, check out the Miracle Milestones section of the site for some compelling excerpts from its pages.  

Introduction
Back Cover Copy
Inside Jacket Copy

            Please keep in mind neither the book nor this site are intended to be all-inclusive. Use them along with other resources, such as the Internet, additional books, and your healthcare provider, to inform you about your pregnancy.
            As you progress through your pregnancy, it is our hope that the book and this site will help you to envision “The Miracle Within.”
 

Introduction

When you look into the mirror, what do you see? Do you notice the color of your skin, the shape of your nose, or the beauty of your smile? Do people tell you that you look like your mother or your father? Do you ever stop and wonder how you began? Did you know that the way you look now was determined the exact moment when sperm and egg united? Did you know that the makeup and personality of the baby you are now carrying was determined many years ago when you and the baby’s father were still in the womb? 
Pregnancy is a creative work in progress. Your unborn baby represents the most complex litany of systems management ever imagined. When sperm and egg meet, life begins to unfold in a series of cell divisions and development that have only recently been witnessed. In the past we have been limited to viewing the miracle only from the outside of the human body. Today, in this book, we can give you a glimpse of your pregnancy and its progression from the inside. We will show you what miracles actually look like.
            This book is not intended to be all-inclusive. Use it along with other resources, such as the Internet, additional books, and your healthcare provider, to inform you about your pregnancy.
            The book is divided into trimesters that celebrate and acknowledge the unique changes that are occurring. As you progress through your pregnancy, it is our hope that this book will help you to envision “The Miracle Within.”

Back Cover Copy

“There are two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.”
—Albert Einstein

            The Miracle Within is the stroke of illustrated magic that we’ve all been waiting for. Journaling life in the womb through spectacular images, this dazzling book captures the beginnings of human existence in a way that can inspire only amazement.
            In addition to its stunning photos and loving quotes about childbirth, The Miracle Within provides a manual for mothers-to-be filled with practical advice and wisdom from two very experienced healthcare providers, Jack H. McCubbin, MD, and Catherine M. Schaffer, PA-C.
            The Miracle Within was not written just for expectant mothers. It was written as a teaching guide for children and adults. It was written for parents to share with their teenagers. It was written for everyone who would like to witness the miracle we call life.
            The Miracle Within is a gift of love that will change your understanding of life forever.

“If I had my life to live over, instead of wishing away nine months of pregnancy, I’d have cherished every moment and realized that the wonderment growing inside me was the only chance in life to assist God in a miracle.”
—Erma Bombeck

Inside Jacket Copy

            Pregnancy is so human, so fundamental to everything we are, and yet it remains a profound mystery even to the women who experience it. The Miracle Within takes you on a tour of the tiny secret world inside the womb to reveal the magic of nature, creating all that makes us human.
            Jack H. McCubbin, MD, and Catherine M. Schaffer, PA-C, guide you through the growth and development of human life from the ovulation of a single egg to the full-term infant. Spectacular color photographs illuminate the unseen stages from the first moments of cellular existence to the moment of exiting the womb as an independent being.
            The Miracle Within offers several resources all in one. It’s a daily handbook for mothers-to-be. For children, it’s an educational guide for how life begins. For Dad, it’s an illustrated encyclopedia that makes pregnancy and birth real for teenagers. And for grandparents it’s the chance to share in the step-by-step development of their grandchildren.
            As an educational tool for schools, universities, libraries, and resource groups for pregnant teens, The Miracle Within offers an invaluable resource that answers the big questions while filling its readers with a sense of awe.
            The perfect gift for expectant parents and the perfect reference for anyone curious about conception and birth, The Miracle Within will forever change your view of this process.

“Before you were conceived I wanted you
Before you were born I loved you
Before you were here an hour I would die for you
This is the miracle of life”
—Maureen Hawkins