Today is my oldest daughters 14th birthday. 14 years ago, after a complicated pregnancy, I gave birth (by c-section) to Sarabeth Louise. After administering approximately 10 minutes of CPR on her, the neonatal nurses pronounced her dead. The delivery nurse who was in charge of me, walked over to her and intubated (stuck an air tube down her throat) her and saved her life.
Then, while in recovery, I listened to the neonatal doctor tell me that my baby was severely deformed and retarded and that she wouldn't live through the day. They performed every chromosome test on her they could to determine what exactly was wrong with her. But every test came back negative. There was nothing wrong with her. Except that her lungs were underdeveloped, which kept her in NICU for 31 days.
Then when we brought her home, she stayed on oxygen for another 5 months until her saturation levels stayed at a normal level. During that time, I had a home nurse come to my house 2-3 times a week to check on her. Also, she was developmentally delayed and we had to take her to the Elks for rehabilitation classes so they could work on her motor skills. This is normal for premature babies. But that only lasted for about a year before she caught up to the norm.
She was also born with a club foot. I believe this is due to my not having any amniotic fluid for the last 4 months of my pregnancy, which didn't allow her to properly move around in utero. The doctor referred to her as being "vaccum packed". And boy was she. She came out black and blue from head to toe. She looked smunched. This is why the doctor thought she was severly deformed. But she proved that doctor wrong and every day he would comment on what a miracle she was.
I wish that doctor could see her now. My little miracle girl. I love you Sarabeth!
Happy Birthday
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