A woman I know had four children, three boys and a girl. Toward the end of her final pregnancy, when she was carrying her fifth child, she became more and more anxious to have another girl. She thought about it a great deal, hoping and praying that God would grant her a second daughter.

She and her husband were sleeping one night when a disturbance in the room awakened her. She awoke to see an apparition in white standing by the bed. She sat up in shock, wide awake. The presence said in a very clear voice that seemed to be female, "You can stop worrying. Your baby is a little girl." Then slowly the spirit faded and disappeared.

She woke her husband and asked him if he had heard the voice. He said that he had not and tried to convince her that she had had a dream. But she knew without a doubt that she had been completely awake. Eventually, she delivered a healthy baby, her second daughter.