At the time Ashely was born, Jason and I were living in Evanston, Wyoming. I was 35 weeks along, and had been struggling with contractions for a long time prior. (Pre-term labor got me with every child.) However, Jason was leaving to California on a business trip. My parents were leaving for Yellowstone Park for a teacher training class. I had decided to travel to Burley to stay with my younger brother and sister while Jason and my folks were gone. It never crossed my mind that I was in labor. Contractions were part of my every day life.
The day after I arrived in Burley, I put my siblings to bed and was cleaning up the house. I bent over to pick up something and my water broke. So there I was, no husband. No parents. I was scared to death!!! My grandparents ended up taking me to the hospital. Jason's flight landed in Salt Lake at 12 midnight, and he drove straight to Burley, but my parents weren't able to come home. I literally walked into the Burley hospital, not knowing any doctors there. It was a blessing that the doctor on call that night was Dr. Dowdle. When he first saw me, and how badly I was shaking, he immediately asked me if I would like a blessing. Together with the ultrasound man, they gave me blessing #1 that night. I immediately calmed down, and they began assessing me and the baby I was carrying. The first problem they saw, despite her tiny size, was that I only had a two vessel umbilical cord. They warned me that could mean more problems with the baby.
My grandpa Morgan came to the hospital a little while later. When he arrived, I was feeling shaky and nervous again. He then gave me another blessing, which in turn helped me to calm down and relax once again. Shortly after 3:00 a.m., Jason arrived at the hospital. I was progressing in my labor, but did not want an epidural. (Crazy, I know!!) I was in pain and having a hard time relaxing. Jason gave me blessing #3. The interesting part about this blessing was that he didn't bless me to be ok. He didn't bless the baby to be ok. He blessed me to have understanding and peace.
Shortly after 7:00 a.m., our little angel was born. She weighed 4 lbs 15 oz and was 19 inches long. Her delivery was very quick at the end. She wasn't doing well at all. Her heart rate kept dropping drastically. Dr. Dowdle told me later, any other doctor would most likely at that point, taken the baby by C-section, but he felt like that wasn't the right path to take. It meant a quick delivery, without an epidural, so it was tramatic and painful for me! But Ashley arrived without incident.
At birth, she was very blue and not breathing well. They immediately wisked her to the nursery for further assessment. Within a short time, the pediatrician on call came in and told us Ashley still wasn't doing well. She might have to be life-flighted, but at that point, they were trying to figure out what was causing her blueness and some other problems they saw.
We were definitely blessed again that night. This particular pediatrician had seen another baby similar to Ashley, and when she continued to have spit coming from her mouth, this wonderful doctor checked her for a rare, specific defect. They discovered her esophagus wasn't attached to her stomach. They also discovered she had sidus-inversus, meaning part of her organs were on the wrong side of the body. At that point, they knew she had to be life-flighted to Salt Lake. They came in and told us what was happening. She continued to struggle to breathe, and it was evident that our little angel was really sick. Before they took her away, Jason and my brother in law, Jaxon, gave her a blessing. Then, my little angel was loaded in an incubator, and taken to Primary Children's Hospital.
Jason went with Ashley to Salt Lake. They released me at 6:00 that night. My wonderful grandparents took me to Salt Lake the next day. Ashley was in surgery when I arrived. In that first surgery, they repaired her espophagus. While she was in surgery, Jason pulled me aside and told me that they had discovered multiple problems with Ashley's heart, in addition to the problems already found. At that point, with all that was wrong, they didn't think she would live very long. They didn't think she would survive the first surgery. But once again, she proved the doctors wrong. She came through that surgery and was doing as well as she could under the circumstances. It wasn't five days after her first surgery, that her intestines kinked. Once again, they had to take our angel into surgery. While in this surgery, they removed her appendix, since it was located on the left side.
After those first two surgeries, we had to wait. She was so small! They wanted her to grow to be almost 7 lbs before they attempted her first heart surgery. At that point, she weighed 4 lbs 6 oz. and as the days passed, she continued to gain only a few ounces at a time. Then she would lose. Then she would gain. At the time they decided they could wait no longer to operate on her heart, she only weighed 5 lbs 13 oz and Ashley was only two and a half months old.
I better go now and take care of my little girl. I will finish her story another day. I will say this: I have no doubt that we had numerous miracles surrounding Ashley's birth. It was a miracle she was born in Burley, where the elevation was lower and because of that, she was able to breathe better at birth. Second, we had Dr. Dowdle. He didn't take her C-section and my recovery was quick. Who knows how hard it would have been if I would have been stuck in Burley while my baby was three hours away!!!! Third, when she was born, her ductus stayed open. Most babies at birth, their ductus closes. Hers did not. If it had, she would have died immediately. They still to this day can't explain why it did not close.
Fourth, she survived not one, but two surgeries right in the first week of life. With how complicated her heart problems were, they were amazed she did so well. No one thought she would survive. Heavenly Father had a plan for her life, and he opened the doors for her to remain on the earth in those early days of life. So many miracles! And that isn't the end of them yet!! (0:
Your post gives me chills. I've only ever known bits and pieces of her story. So, thank you for sharing.
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