My motto since she was in NICU. ☺️ 

She is our miracle baby. She didn’t have abilities to take her first breath on her own, but thank God for EMS and first responders. 

 

She was meant to be here. I was meant to be here raising her. 

 

I haven’t had the band-width to write and share a full birth story, with all of the details. 

So the shortest version is: Amelia was a home birth that ended in a hospital transfer for the both of us. Complications arose at the end, and we both needed major medical attention. 

 

At the time, our home was .4 miles, or a quick 2 minute drive to our nearest hospital. (My security blanket for choosing a home birth.) This means EMS, once called on, arrived in 4 mins. We would come to find out that timing is everything in these situations. 

 

What seemed like at least 10+ people were huddled in our tiny bedroom and spilling outside of our door… EMS, firefighters, police - literal angels on earth to me. In a matter of seconds, Amelia was whisked away in the hands of experts with Kenton riding in the back of the ambulance. He receives a thumbs up - stating that they had a heartbeat within minutes of her being cared for. Relieved - and still clueless as to what her lack of oxygen for those several minutes really meant. 

 

Thank God for naïveté in that moment. As I didn’t have the time to worry about Amelia or imagine our future…I had a job to do. 

 

I was still at home, with a retained placenta. No contractions were happening. Two shots of Pitocin wouldn’t help me let it go. After two hours of attempting everything possible for me to pass my placenta, in a matter of seconds my bleeding out turned scary. My blood pressure dropped & with only my sure will power keeping me from passing out; my brave mom drove me to the hospital. After a failed manual removal (don’t want to experience that ever again), I had an emergency D&C and 2 liters of blood transfusion. Before I went in to surgery I had to sign a form stating they could perform a hysterectomy, if it was deemed necessary to save my life. In complete shock, and with a pause of hesitation I signed. Not that I wouldn’t choose to save my own life…but I didn’t even know if my first baby would live…and I didn’t want them to take my chance away for another. After signing I informed them, only if absolutely necessary. The first question I asked when I woke up was, “Do I still have my uterus”. Kenton said I did and I could breathe easier after that. Praise God for that moment of grace, because now, I am able to grow another life - our 2nd child, our 1st boy! 

 

While I was in surgery, Amelia was being treated quickly. She was placed on a cooling blanket, lowering her body temperature to allow her brain to heal and to prevent further damage. She was transported by herself to our Downtown hospital to provide her with the highest level of care. She was kept on this blanket for 3 days and then gently warmed back up. We could only barely touch her while she was at this stage of recovery, but boy did we talk to her and admire her! 

 

— After I recovered for an hour or so, I was gently transported to our downtown hospital where we would stay for a few nights while I was recovering and visiting Amelia in NICU. My favorite day of NICU was when we got to hold her for the first time on the 5th day of her life! 

 

I was weak and Amelia was weak, but we are here to live and tell the tale. 

We are both miracles - I thank God he saw fit to continue our stories, that Kenton didn’t lose us both on 11/9/23 and that it was His highest good that I get to mother her.  💕 

 

We are blessed and we are here, “for such a time as this”. Esther 4:14