Meet Our Miracle

*You can read about our journey to 7 here in part 1 and here in part 2*

Tuesday morning of December 12th was going to be a busy morning. I had multiple appointments back to back. After getting the kids off to school I headed to the hospital in Santa Clara. First, I had my twice a week pregnancy non stress test. Then, an anatomy scan ultrasound on the baby, appointment with my high risk doctor followed by an appointment with the doctor scheduled to do my c- section that was planned for December 30th. My plan was to get through all my appointments in time to pick up the kids from school, meet my parents who were driving from Nevada to come visit and get the family to my bonus daughter’s Christmas program that evening.

God had very different plans for us that day.

The non stress test showed I was having contractions. I did feel a little off and crampy that morning, but I was so focused on my busy day that I wasn’t paying attention to what my body was telling me. As I went on to the ultrasound baby girl looked good, yet was breech and in a very uncomfortable position. The cramping got worse as I walked down the halls to my next appointment where my doctor confirmed I had started to dilate. As I moved on to the next appointment I kept convincing myself I was fine because I needed to get back home. Sure enough the doctor sent me to Labor and Delivery. Luckily, I was already at the hospital because by the time I walked over to that department my contractions were 2-3 minutes apart and I had already dilated more.

I obviously wasn’t going to make it to pick up the kids from school or to the Christmas program. I was only 36 weeks along, but it was time to have this baby.

It was a long afternoon and evening of contractions and dialing in the right pain meds until it was finally my turn to be taken back for surgery. Apparently, the night before Friday the 13th and a full moon means everyone goes into labor at the same time.

Almost 12 years ago I had a c-section with my second son. I somewhat knew what to expect this time around, yet I was still nervous. After I was all prepped and David joined me the surgery went pretty quick. Before we knew it we were hearing our precious little girl crying. The birth plan was to bring her to me for skin to skin time. As I laid on the table I kept waiting for them to bring her back over to me, but it never happened.

I instantly knew something wasn’t right. The NICU doctor was called in immediately and the team of nurses and doctors were pretty quiet. I could tell there was something wrong. Due to her breech position baby girl appeared to have deformities in her face which raises the question of neurological issues. I never got to see her face, but according to her Daddy and the surgical team it was very obvious something wasn’t right. Thank goodness the NICU doctor was already brought in because baby girl was also struggling to breathe on her own. Rather quickly she was put into the incubator and taken to the NICU. David went with her as my surgery was completed and I was sent to recovery.

I didn’t even get to see my little girl. Our parents and our 4 kids were waiting in the waiting room and were all so exited to meet baby girl. Unfortunately, they all went home with no one getting to meet her.

The surgery was tough on me and it took longer than expected for me to get out of recovery. I wasn’t going to be able to see her in the NICU until I was stable.

Finally, the next day around 10am they let David wheel me over to the NICU to meet our baby girl for the first time.

Both my boys were born early. Earlier than her actually at 34 and 35 weeks, but neither of them had any issues. Even though this was my longest term baby it was my first experience with the NICU.

She was so tiny and covered in tubes. Breathing tube, feeding tube, an IV and lots of wired monitors made it hard to even see what she looked like. It definitely hits you like a ton of bricks seeing your precious baby like that. There is no way to describe the feeling of helplessness. With the help of the amazing nurses we were able to manuever all her tubes and wires in order for me to hold her for the first time.

Thank the Lord the facial deformities went away over the next couple days. The fluid in her lungs is what was causing her respiratory issues. We spent the next 7 days visiting her in the NICU about every 3-4 hours. After I was discharged on day 4 we were very fortunate to get a room in the NICU so we could stay close to her. Unfortunately, no children under 14 are allowed in the NICU which meant her anxious big brothers and big sister never got to meet her in the hospital.

Over those 7 days she got stronger each day. We saw the same parents visiting their tiny babies day in and day out. We got to know the amazing doctors and nurses who cared for our sweet girl 24/7. We were grateful for the outstanding care she was given and couldn’t wait to get her home.

I have experienced some of the hardest things a person has to face in their life. You’d think I could handle anything by now, but that evening of my surgery when my little girl was wheeled out without me even seeing her and having to watch her struggle to breath in the NICU ranks pretty high up there on the hard scale. Yet, David and I knew God was taking care of her, God was taking care of us. Just conceiving her was a miracle let alone having her finally here with us NICU or not.

We are home now and getting into the groove of 5 kids and being a family of 7. Baby girl is doing so well and has absolutely completed our family and is the greatest blessing.

Meet our miracle