Alyssa's Story

Alyssa, a Beautiful 2 lb. miracle.

Hello, I wanted to share my miracle baby's birth story with you so here goes. I became pregnant around April 1st, 1998. My husband and had been trying for over a year so it came as quite a shock when it was finally positive. I had two previous surgeries both due to birth control, the first called a laparoscopy to diagnose abdominal pain and the second called a ovarian cystectomy which removed an ovarian cyst the size of a small orange. My pregnancy seemed to go fine. I had some cramping around 20 weeks and was put on restricted duties at work. I went to my appointment at 28 weeks and they told me it was a girl and she should weigh about 8 1/2 lbs. I woke up on the morning of Sunday, October 18th, 1998 and didn't feel right.

I was very nauseous but I went to work anyway. Shortly after I arrived I threw up my breakfast and then called my boss to see about going home. Unfortunately working at a gas station makes it harder to be replaced when sick. I finally went home 2 hours early. Once home I decided to go with my husband to the mall. We weren't there very long and I thought my daughter was stretching an awful lot, I had no idea they were contractions. At 4:20 I felt what I thought was my water breaking but it turned out to be a placental abrupt ion and a bad one at that. I was rushed to the closest hospital and examined. I was then transferred two hours later to the other local hospital and I knew she was going to come early.

I was only at the hospital about an hour when they said they had to do an emergency c-section. I cried, I didn't have a clue what would happen to her. I was only 30 weeks and 2 days along. My husband was so pale the doctor wouldn't allow him in the operating room. She was born at 8:03 weighing 2lbs 15oz. and 15 1/2 inches. Red hair and a personality to boot. She was on a ventilator for only four hours and came home 6 weeks later weighing 4lbs 5oz.

She's now 3 1/2 and weighs 24lbs. She also has a little big sister who weighed 8lbs 12.8oz in December of 2000. Alyssa is a beautiful little girl who has almost caught up with everything. She is advanced in her vocabulary but behind on growth. The doctors say she is just going to be small. I have two pictures of her to share. One when she was born and one last christmas(2001). I hope you enjoy these pictures as much as I do.

Thanks so much
Heather

http://www.users.qwest.net/~onry13/Alyssa.h