Well, obviously I have many many stories to catch up on, if I am going to keep this blog current, so keeping in line with my last blog, I will pick back up where I left off.

David and I moved from Nacogdoches to Tyler in 2005, and bought a house - David started working for the family business and I started work for a local hospital. As for Mia, she was having her share of medical problems including pneumonia at least a couple of times per year and of course multiple other illnesses-- fortunately, we found a daycare who would love her and take her in despite her physical disabilities. And thanks to great insurance through my job, Mia started going to physical and occupational therapy twice per week. Needless to say, we had our hands full, but still I wanted more...

Late in 2006 I had suggested trying to have another little one. Keeping in mind all of the complications with my last pregnancy, I went to see my OBGYN in November to discuss my options. Since Mia was delivered in Nacogdoches, my Tyler OB was unfamiliar with my case, and when I told him that my last OB suggested a cerclage, he reviewed my records, and of course agreed that I indeed needed to do something if I became pregnant again.

In January 2007, I found out that I was pregnant. David and I kept the pregnancy somewhat quiet for awhile, but then felt sure that the trouble with Mia was a fluke. Once I was 12 weeks pregnant, my doctor placed a MacDonald suture in the tip of my cervix (a transvaginal cerclage). Following the cerclage, I had had occassional Braxton Hicks contractions, but otherwise no further complications. At 19 weeks, we found out that we were having a boy and were estatic! Then at 20 weeks, my doctor started me on P17 shots to prevent preterm labor. As you can imagine, I thought that I was in the clear this time. Unfortunately at 25 weeks on June 24th, I noticed some spotting; I went to the doctor the next morning who was very displeased to find the stitch blown, my cervix dilated to a 4, preterm labor, and possible premature rupture of the membranes. Following that office appointment-- unaware of the severity of the situation-- I was wheeled to the hospital and placed in trendelenberg position. My doctor made calls to Dallas, but a helicopter ride was out thanks to thunderstorms throughout the area, so I was stuck praying that I could stay stable and keep my baby growing. The next morning, my OB checked me: I was dilated to a 6--my cervix was opening and nothing was slowing it down, not even all of the medications and repositioning that they were trying. A NICU CareFlight team was called just prior to the delivery of Nathaniel Ross, born 1 lb 15 oz via c-section. He was tiny, but looked much healthier than Mia did following her delivery, so we were confident that he would do great -- too confident, I think.

Early morning (more like middle of the night) after Nate was born, I awoke in septic shock, feverish and shaking from the severity of pain and escalating body temperature--I will NEVER forget that night. The next day, the doctor and nurses worked extra hard to break my fever, which didn't break until 9:00 PM. Then, the research for the "why" I had this fever began. Infectious disease doctors and my OBGYN came together to find that I had a uterine infection, which later, we traced back to premature rupture of the membranes which occurred when I dilated with the cerclage in place. At that point, they began treating me for my infection, which kept me in the hospital for a week and a half. After more than a week of IV antibiotics and when I was at least a few days fever free, I was I was discharged from the hospital July 6th, my birthday.

Going backwards: a week after Nate was born, the NICU called to say that the baby had ruptured his bowel, and he required emergency surgery - my uterine infection had reached him. Somehow, he was able to survive the surgery and then another surgery... and yet the downhill slide began. Nate had begun to go into multi-organ failure, and hope of life was lost for our son. So as painful of a decision as it was, on July 12, 2007 we chose to withdraw care. Though painful to lose him, holding our little one as he drifted was incredibly peaceful. And as much as we would love to have him with us today, those few moments of having him in my arms were worth every second. I love him and always will miss him.