Today, our miracle baby turned five. Hannah Grace came into the world and into our arms. She was so beautiful, almost as beautiful as her mother. We were so excited and terrified, but we really did not know how our lives would change forever. That Tuesday, we had a little blessing from God. Two days later we took her home. I can’t remember the last time that I have driven so slowly on the Interstate. My mom was with us as we brought our bundle of joy into our humble little home. Then, that evening my lovely bride went in to check on her and noticed her lips looked a little blue. She picked her up and realized that she was not breathing. She yelled for me and I came running. I tried getting her to breathe and it was not working. Misty called 911 while my mom and I were trying to get little Hannah (weighing only about 5lbs. 11 oz. at this point) to breathe. The operator put Misty on hold and she then picked up her cell phone and was calling our friend Meredith, who is a nurse. The thought crossed my brain about losing our precious baby girl on the day we brought her home. There are no words to describe our feelings at this point.
I started doing to back blows with Hannah on my arm as the 911 operator suggested. Finally, after what seemed to be an eternity, Hannah coughed and started breathing again. The ambulance arrived and Misty rode in it while my mom and I followed behind. The folks in the ER were nice, but were starting to chalk the whole experience up to new parents freaking out. Meredith arrived in the ER and acted as our translator and was not giving in to the attitude that nothing serious happened. Then, it happened again. Hannah’s blood oxygen level began dropping and they realized that she was choking again. They cleared out her mouth and throat and she began breathing again. They finally took this seriously.
They decided to put her in an isolation nursery room with a nurse watching her around the clock. She had one more choking episode that night and then no more. They never figured out exactly what it was. Maybe it was amniotic fluid that did not get out of her lungs. Finally, on Saturday, we were able to bring her home….with a catch. The doctor wanted her to have a sleep monitor on her to monitor her breathing. The owner of the medical supply company, Mr. Chaffin, drove all the way from Nashville to bring the machine to us and show us how to hook it up. Hannah was so tiny in that monitor. After he left, the monitor screamed at us and we panicked. However, we realized that she was still breathing. I adjusted it. It screamed. I tweaked it. It still screamed again. I stayed in the nursery watching her and trying to adjust the machine. It just did not work. I finally laid down on the floor at the foot of her crib and fell asleep, periodically waking up to check her. My mom spelled me at about 3am after a feeding. What a night, but we made it. The next few nights, Hannah spent sleeping in her stroller at an incline in our room.
We had to keep the monitor a few more weeks, but it never really worked right. We jumped at the slightest gag or cough and it was terrifying. We learned that it was ultimately not in our hands. God was in control. This was not a lesson learned overnight, by day-by-day trusting God for another safe and restful night.
Now, five years later, we have our sweet girl Hannah. She is so sweet and a beautiful and smart. She had no ill effects from the choking even though the doctor had her take an MRI at one point to confirm that she had no brain damage. She is a fantastic big sister to Rebekah and Emma. She is a happy and healthy little girl. She is our miracle baby and we thank God every day for her.
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