March 14th, 2021. The night before, I had been out celebrating my cousin’s bachelorette party, but I ended up coming home early because I wasn’t feeling well. I had been experiencing stomach pain on and off for about a week, but I convinced myself it was just period cramps. Still, something didn’t feel right. After speaking with my mom, she insisted I go to the hospital.
My husband, my mom, and I headed to our local hospital. Because of COVID restrictions, only my husband was allowed to come back with me. After about an hour of blood tests and poking, we got the surprise of our lives—I was three weeks pregnant! Shock quickly turned to excitement as we realized we were about to welcome a little one into our family.
Fast forward to July 2021. I had just celebrated our gender reveal party on the 4th of July and discovered we were having a baby girl! But by July 26th, at 24 weeks, something felt off. That evening, I began vomiting and noticed unusual discharge. Red flags were popping up, but I kept telling myself I was overthinking things.
By 4 a.m., I was still vomiting. I called my doctor, who advised me to come in the morning for evaluation. But around 6 a.m., I vomited again—this time with bleeding. Panic set in. I woke my husband, and we rushed to the hospital. I remember driving 80 mph, my heart pounding with fear, not knowing if I was going to lose our baby. This being my first pregnancy, I had no idea what to expect.
Once at the hospital, I was checked in quickly. The on-call doctor examined me, and our world turned upside down. I was 7 cm dilated, and because our baby was in a breech position, I would need an emergency c-section. A helicopter was already en route to transport her to a children’s hospital an hour and a half away—the small-town hospital wasn’t equipped to care for a baby born this early.
At 24 weeks gestation, 10:47 a.m., Blakely Marie was born, weighing only 1 lb 3 oz. The team of children’s hospital doctors immediately took her to prepare her for transport. I got just a few precious minutes to hold her in the hospital room before she was whisked away.
Recovering from the c-section overnight, I was discharged the next morning and finally able to see my tiny daughter. She looked almost unreal—her skin translucent, so small she could fit in the palms of our hands.
Our NICU journey has been an emotional rollercoaster. I’ve learned to embrace the good days and endure the bad, guided by our favorite nurse’s mantra: “Three steps forward, one step back.” Blakely was expected to stay in the hospital until her original due date of November 15th, but her lungs weren’t developing as they should.
After a couple of unsuccessful attempts to remove her breathing tube, we made the heart-wrenching decision to place a trach. On December 7th, Blakely underwent surgery to receive a trach and a G-button, allowing her to breathe more comfortably and start reaching developmental milestones. Holding her after that moment, we could immediately see how much more at ease she was.
Blakely’s journey in the NICU is far from over. She is still expected to remain in the hospital until February 2022. Every day, we are grateful for the doctors, nurses, and all the people who have supported us. We can’t wait for the day Blakely comes home, explores her nursery, and meets her fur siblings—finally able to live the normal, joyful life we’ve been dreaming of.
