Our Miracle

An Angel Baby Overall, I had a great pregnancy. Little to no swelling, few cravings for unhealthy food, and only a small amount of morning sickness in the beginning. However, when I was about 6 months pregnant I found out I had gestational diabetes. Huge bummer. I then had to check my blood sugar levels 4 times a day and follow a strict diet and work closely with a dietician and my doctor to keep the G.D. in check. As my pregnancy progressed, my G.D. became harder to control and my little guy wasn't gaining enough weight. We were told to prepare for the possibility of having to be induced if things didn't improve. At 38 weeks, my doctor was unhappy with my progress, and I was sent to the hospital to be induced. My first induction went alright. Little pain, however, my cervix would not ripen. So, the next day I was sent home having gone through about 12 hours of contractions with no baby to show for it. Sad, sad day. One week later, on Friday August 10th 2011 we went in for our appointment with the OBGYN. Things had taken a bad turn in that week. My blood pressure was high and I had been having horrible headaches.We were sent to the hospital. The doctor used Cervadil to induce my labor shortly after arriving - I then endured 11 hours of contractions. At 7:30 Saturday morning the doctor broke my water. I went through 5 more hours of strong contractions and my labor seemed to be progressing great. My cervix started to dilate as planned. I finally asked for an epidural at about 11:30 that morning. My contractions were just OFF the charts! I was surprised... the epidural wasn't nearly as bad as I imagined it would be. An hour later (this part all happened REALLY fast), T's heart rate started to drop with every contraction. All of sudden the room filled with nurses. The doctor came in and let me know that i would need an Emergency C-Section.   Apparently his heart was not detectable on the monitor. About 15 minutes later we were hearing him cry for the first time! After his first little cry- ( we did not know this was happening at the time) T's heart stopped beating. His chord was wrapped around his neck when he came out. The Lord was watching closely over him though and a nurse was able to resuscitate him quickly. He was taken to another room and soon after Billy was able to see and hold him while i went into the recovery room. At birth, T was 6 pounds (not quite as small as expected) and 19 inches long. After that scare- the Labor and Delivery staff nicknamed him "the Angel baby". Actually, we didn't find out about him having to be resuscitated until days after he was born!  We are very proud of him :) He was and still is quite the little fighter. During my pregnancy, we never dwelled too much on the "what ifs" and looking back, it's probably a good thing we didn't. We believe that things have a way of working out- in ways we never could imagine. Prior to having T, we had endured the pain of a miscarriage. It was a short lived pregnancy. I like to think that somewhere that sweet Angel was looking over T and telling him that he still had work here on earth to do. A Mommy and Daddy that needed his love as much as they desired to give him their own. I pray for that baby every day and vow to love the one I have here on earth (and any to come) with all my heart- unconditionally. Do you have an Angel baby or similar story? Share it here! God Bless! -M