Miracles Take Time But They Do Happen

By Lora

My story begins 10 years ago when I became pregnant for the first time.

Pregnancy #1

 In November of 1989 when I was 18 and my boyfriend (now my husband) was 17 we became pregnant for the first time. Our families weren't exactly thrilled because of our ages but what could we do? We knew we could be good parents even though the odds were against us. In March, 19 weeks into my pregnancy I began feeling what felt like cramps real bad one night, since I had no idea if anything was wrong, I waited for a while to see if they would go away. Eventually they did go away. The next morning I went to the bathroom and noticed that I was losing my mucus plug and felt some amniotic fluid coming out, I called my boyfriend and he rushed me to the doctors office. The doctor said I was dilating and I would probably lose the pregnancy, I was told to go home and wait for contractions or a fever which meant I had an infection. This doctor was a stuffy old man who thought I was too young to have children anyways so there was no sympathy from him at all. The next morning on March 10, 1990 I had a fever of over 103 degrees and went to the hospital. I was given pitocin to start the labor and within 2 hours I was having painful contractions. This labor lasted for 6 hours and I wasn't even given any pain meds. It was horrible. My baby boy finally came out of me and they took him right away before I could even say goodbye. We named my baby son Anthony Richard. My doctor said maybe I had an incompetent cervix and a cerclage might help next time.

Pregnancy #2

In November of 1995 I got the courage to try again for our baby, by this time my husband and I had been together for over 6 years (counting 3 years of marriage). We thought everything was going great, when I finally got settled in with a permanent doctor at 18 weeks I told him about my first loss and the possibilities of an incompetent cervix, he said maybe it was just a case of "bad luck" and for me not to worry. The next week it started all over again, on March 7,1996 I was losing my 2nd baby at 19 weeks. Real late at night I was having a serious back ache (I had no idea this was me losing the baby). I went to the emergency room because I was feeling lots of cramps and pain by then. They checked me and I was dilated at 5 centimeters and I was bleeding. They rushed me to the maternity ward and they couldn't find the baby's heartbeat so I knew we would lose this one too. I was given pitocin again. I was in labor a total of 12 hours with this baby, I was given some kind of sedative towards the end though. I had a really nice nurse who asked me if I wanted to hold my baby, I said no at first but changed my mind. I'm glad I did this because I got to see him and say goodbye to him, unlike the first loss. I had to have a d &c afterwards. We named this baby boy Adrian Paul. I saw a doctor after this and he wasn't convinced I had an incompetent cervix but I did a lot of reading on line and if there were to be a next time I'd be more prepared.  Also, my faith in God was never stronger even after all this heart ache.

Pregnancy #3

 My miracle, I wanted to try just one more time for our baby I just had to see if we would finally be blessed. After putting it off only out of fear of losing another baby, In Sept. of 1999 I became pregnant, like the first 2 it didn't take long to get pregnant (2 to 3 months max) but staying pregnant was the tough part. At my doctors appointment at 13 1/2 weeks I insisted to my doctor that I felt lots of pelvic pressure and I was concerned because of my history, he said to me since I lost the first two at 19 weeks and I was only 13 weeks that there was plenty of time to figure out what to do. This irked me so much that I went to the emergency room that night just so I could get another doctor to check me and give me their opinion. There I met who would become my new doctor, because I transferred over to her afterwards. She must have asked me questions about my 2 losses for over 2 hours and she decided I was indeed a candidate for a cerclage. She scheduled me in for a cerclage right there and at 4:30 am she did my cerclage. I was also seeing another doctor only for ultrasounds and to check my cervix length. This pregnancy was a rough one, I dealt with lots and lots of morning sickness that lasted for months, I got so dehydrated at one point I was sent to the emergency room, I had lots of back pain, and at 7 months 28-30 weeks I was put on bedrest because my cervix length was only 1.65 centimeters. Somehow we survived and I took it day by day with help from God who kept me sane through it all and on June 13,2000 my 8th year wedding anniversary I had my cerclage taken out.  Two weeks later....On June 27, 2000 I delivered my “milagro” (miracle) Samantha Natalia- 6 pounds 0 oz. 19 inches after 15 hours of labor, but she was totally worth it. I love my honey girl more than anything and I thank God for her everyday, I also Thank God for giving me the strength to try again, I almost gave up and decided that maybe a baby wasn't in the cards for us. It took 10 years for it to happen but now that we have Samantha life is more precious to me and I feel so much love that I never knew I could feel just by looking at her!!!

You can contact Lora at CARTQT@aol.com