#30DaysofHope - Gracie

"We found out I was pregnant around August we honestly couldn’t believe it just because 3 weeks prior I had surgery and I was around 5 weeks pregnant, they did an ultrasound and told me that I might be having an ectopic pregnancy because they couldn’t find a sac so they did more blood work and kept me overnight at the hospital and saw that my HCG levels doubled and they discharged me and told me that it wasn’t an ectopic pregnancy because of the HCG levels going up. I went to my OB/GYN and he said everything looked great and I got to see our baby girl. When I was 17 weeks I went to get her anatomy scan that’s when the first bad news came. They told me that she was running 4 weeks behind on her height and weight and they wanted to do some genetic testing to rule out any genetic malformations. One week later the test came back negative for any genetic deformities. The Fetal Specialist wanted to see me again in two weeks to measure her again. During said check up, the specialist found out I had a marginal umbilical cord insertion ( which means that the umbilical cord is on the side of the placenta instead of being in the middle), as well as they informed us that she is still four weeks behind on her growth. The Fetal Specialist wanted to see me every two weeks to check on her growth, the specialist decided to schedule an Echo Ultrasound on her heart to rule out any heart problems due to her growth. At 23 weeks I got put on bed rest due to some leaking complications. But the following week the Fetal specialist did the Echo Ultrasound, he found out that her left side of her heart was larger then her right and that she had a hole. During said check up, the specialist also found that I was having Absent End Diastolic Flow indicative of increased placental resistance. I was scheduled to see the specialist twice every week, as well as NSTs had to be done. I was going to have to deliver at 37 weeks (they knew I wasn’t going to make it) and it had to be a C- Section. At 27 weeks I went to my Fetal Specialist check up, the specialist saw that the baby was sending too much blood to her brain and I was directed to head to labor and delivery. When I arrived they gave me a room and we waited for my Doctor’s instructions, at that time I didn’t know if she was going to be born that day. My doctor made a plan which consisted of me getting two steroids shot to help mature her lungs, NSTs three times a day, sonograms twice a week with the specialist and try to make it to 34 weeks. We also had a consult with the Neonatal Doctor which he told us, if the baby was born at that time that her chances of her surviving would drastically go down just because of her being underweight. Three weeks later I delivered via C- section her weighting 2 pounds 9 ounces, she was rushed to the NICU and we finally got to see her 2 hours later. For the first two days she was stable but later that night she had to get a blood transfusion due to her lungs not working probably which was because she had a heart PDA (Patent ductus arteriosus) and a hole. They also decided to start a PICCU line to give her extra nutrients due to having severe IUGR and Anemia. By the third day her doctor told us that she had to be transferred to a hospital in Plano, reason being that she needed another breathing machine. As the days passed she was doing better each day, she finally told us she was done being intubated by pulling out her tube and her doctors decided to try Bubble CPAP, which she stayed on for about two weeks. We had to wait about almost 2 weeks to be able to hold her due to severe Jaundice, her not being stable enough, and an infection. As the weeks passed she was stable we were just waiting to start bottle feeding and be completely off oxygen which she was on it for about 5 weeks. The bottle feeding is what was keeping her there, for a moment I was sacred that she might have to go home with a G tube because she just wasn’t finishing her bottles, but then she suddenly did. We spent 75 days in the NICU and it became our second home for all of those days. We can’t thank the nurses, therapist and the doctors enough that took care of me and our little girl. I also can’t thank enough, my mom and my sister for calling me everyday, as well as my family for checking up on me and coming to see me at the hospital . I also can’t thank my husband, Caleb, enough, because he was my rock through all of this. I’m still trying to come to terms that this wasn’t my fault and that it can happen to anyone no matter their age and how healthy they are. But we can’t thank God enough and all the people that prayed for her because there are somethings that we can’t explain nor could the doctors or specialists.

She’s honestly our little miracle."- NICU mom, Gracie