“’We did find a few things wrong.’ They rushed him into emergency surgery. ‘There’s something wrong with the baby’s heart.’ Once again, we were faced with the possibility of not bringing him home. Once again, he beat all the odds and baffled all the doctors.”
‘What the hell did you do!’ He looked at me. ‘You’ll likely be planing a funeral.’: Mom describes years of ‘medical issues’ with son, but he still ‘beats all odds’
‘If this ruptures, it will kill your wife and baby.’ My wife looked at me. ‘Save the baby.’ Our excitement turned to dread.’: Mom births baby with Complex Congenital Heart Disease, dad in awe of son’s ‘strength, resilience’
“Two months before our due date, I heard my wife scream, ‘Brian, come quick!’ I hurried upstairs to find her crouched on the bathroom floor, groaning in pain. After hours in the waiting room, I was called back to see her. Even under all the stress and exhaustion, she looked beautiful. ‘Can you handle a child like this? With heart defects?’ We both answered, ‘Yes.’ We never felt so scared in our lives.”
‘Is this the last time I can kiss him?’ I’d just learned my baby had Down syndrome. Now, he was blue, floppy, and not breathing.’: Mom says baby with Down syndrome, heart defects has taught her to ‘focus on the positive things in life’
“5 minutes into our drive, he began crying but stopped. I found it odd. It was a cry I hadn’t heard before. The light turned red, I pulled over. In seconds, I was down on my knees in the middle of the road, holding my floppy baby. ‘God, this can’t be it. Please don’t take my baby away!’ Giving mouth to mouth, I screamed his name for him to wake up. When he ambulance arrived, Noah was going in and out of consciousness.”
‘Must be nice to have a vacation from your baby every day.’ Tears welled up in my eyes. I know she didn’t see it.’: Mom’s emotional encounter with woman after son endures open heart surgery
“I was in line for the fitting room when the lady in front of me commented she really liked the pants I was holding. ‘Thanks, I’ve really been needing to buy some post-pregnancy work pants,’ I said. ‘Oh, where is your baby while you work?,’ she asked. Nonchalantly, I replied, ‘He goes to daycare and really loves it.’ As she walked away, she mumbled it. When she said it, I knew she just didn’t know.”
‘We lost our precious Amie. We knew surgery was coming. She was in the best hands. Try as he might, we lost her.’: Mom’s emotional journey to adopting their ‘fierce, spunky’ daughter, only to lose her 2 months ago
“Then that fateful phone call. Oh, how that phone call would change our lives. We were contemplating what empty nesting would look like. And then Amie happened. She had a way of wrapping everyone around her little finger. Quickly, we realized Amie wasn’t like our other babies. She already had two open heart surgeries, and there were more in the future. Amie was feisty, and had a personality as big as the sky.”
‘She looks like she’s been submerged under water.’ We never left the hospital. Her 321 days of life were there.’: Couple welcomes miracle baby ‘hand-picked’ by his ‘perfect sister in heaven’ after she died of congenital heart disease
“My heart was telling me she was beyond tired. She can only handle so much. Selfishly I wanted to keep her, regardless if that meant sitting in a hospital or not. But the pain my baby endured was enough to rip my heart out. After a long, hard fight, she left us to go to heaven, a place we all want to be. She was only 10.5 months old. We will indeed see Berkeley again one day, and oh my goodness, what a perfect day that will be.”
‘Her little chest was open. She was swollen, double her size. She didn’t look like my baby. A nurse calmly said, ‘I don’t feel a pulse.’ All I could say was, ‘NO!’ Over and over.’ Single mom touched by stranger’s act of kindness after hours spent in ER
“I realized I had just watched my baby die. My seven-day-old flat lined and died in front of me. I couldn’t believe how calm they were. Completely restless and emotionally ruined, I posted in a local mom group. ‘I can’t leave my daughter alone, but I really need a coffee.'”
‘I got pregnant too early in my relationship. I went home on my lunch break, positive test in my pocket. I was terrified to hand it over to him, but knew I had to. What were we going to do?’
“I started feeling ‘off’. I burst into tears. Everyone insisted I was just anxious. All I could do was pray my blood pressure went down, and my placenta hung in there. 30 seconds into my scheduled ultrasound, my doctor told me she was taking me to the operating room.”
‘Is he gone?!,’ I yelled. It wasn’t my husband. He was so excited to be a dad. He was born to be one. I held his hand, telling him how much his unborn son and I loved him.’
“Scott just started a new job. We bought a house and were moving. He started not feeling well, but we attributed it to the stress of everything changing in our life. He went to work after getting me settled in the hospital. When he came back, he looked pale. I told him to get some rest, I would be just fine.”
‘I looked at my daughter standing beside me. You could see the fear in her eyes. No one was talking. I finally yelled out ‘HELLO!’
“I kept thinking, ‘I just have to make it to the hospital, I just need to make it to the hospital.’ Her coloring was terrible. I entered the door carrying my limp daughter.”
