My husband and I struggled with
infertility for 6 years and finally,
after 7 IUI’s we tried IVF as a last
ditch effort and were successful after
the first try. Actually, we were a
little too successful, having started
out with triplets. Five weeks into my
pregnancy I started spotting - most of
the time not heavily, but continuous
pinkish/brown. At 7 weeks, I had the
first u/s and they saw three
gestational sacs, but only two hb.
Two days later, I started bleeding
very heavily and rushed back to the
doctor. They still saw two babies
with hb and said I was probably
miscarrying the third. I continued to
bleed on and off for the next 3
weeks. At 10 weeks I went back to the
doctor for an u/s and he told me that
one of the two babies no longer had a
hb and had stopped growing around 8
weeks. We were devastated, but
relieved that we still had one healthy
baby. Again, I continued to bleed and
was told that it was normal and to be
expected until the other two either
passed or were re-absorbed. At week 16
I went in for an appointment and the
doctor did a transvaginal u/s rather
than an abdominal. She told me that
there were no living fetuses and that
she was very sorry. After arguing
with her for a few minutes, she agreed
to do an abdominal u/s and found the
baby, h/b and wiggling, right away.
When she had done the transvaginal,
she had only seen the two sacs that
were still in there but lying very
low. At 19 weeks 0 days, I woke up at
3:30 am to heavy bleeding and when I
went to the bathroom I passed a large
clot and a lot of fluid/blood. My
husband took me to the ER where they
promised they would call L&D to do an
u/s. After they examined me, they
said that the baby was fine since they
could still hear a good hb and there
was no reason to do an ultrasound.
They sent me home with no limitations
saying everything was fine, but to
come in the following Monday for a
follow-up exam. That next Monday, I
went in for the follow-up exam
thinking it was just a routine check-
up and everything was fine. As the
doctor was conducting the u/s, she
said nothing but printed out a picture
and said she needed to show it to
another doctor. She came back with a
nurse and a box of tissues and told me
she was very sorry but I had no fluid
around the baby and there was no way
the baby would make it. I argued with
her and told her that this would be
the second time this hospital broke
news like that to me and I didn’t
believe her. She went on to say that
she wanted to schedule me for a D&C
since the risk of infection was so
high for me. I was full of “What
ifs”, like “What if I stay on bed
rest?”, and “What if I drink lots of
water?”, and “What if they give me
antibiotics?” For every objection,
she answered the same, “I’m sorry,
this baby has no chance of making it,
and if it does, it’ll be extremely
disabled.” I told her then that the
God I know can do anything! I prayed
and prayed and promised God that if
this baby made it, I’d tell everyone
about His miracle. My husband and I
scheduled an appointment with the
Maternal Fetal Specialist for the next
day. The Maternal Fetal Specialist
conducted an u/s to check the baby’s
growth and organs with good results.
She also found that I had a partial
previa and that was the reason for the
bleeding. She said that although
chances were slim that I would hold
onto the baby until viability (23
weeks), she said, “Never say never.”
I stayed at home on bed rest for the
next 3 ½ weeks, and then they admitted
me to the hospital and administered
antibiotics and steroids. I
continually leaked fluid and bled. At
first I would leak/bleed about once a
week, then the further along I got,
the more often it would happen. In
the days before I delivered, I leaked
continuously throughout the day and
bled heavily at least once a day. For
the whole time I was in the hospital,
the doctors said that even if I
carried the baby to term, it would
most likely not survive due to the
amount of time it had been without
fluid. However, every u/s showed a
healthy, moving baby with a strong
hb. At 27 weeks 5 days, I began
bleeding at 1:00 AM and it would not
stop. At 4:30 AM, the doctors decided
to do an emergency C-section, and at
5:45 AM our son Isaiah was born.
Before they whisked him away to the
NICU, I caught a glimpse of him and he
was very pink (a good sign!) In the
next few hours, he was put on a
ventilator which collapsed one of his
lungs. The doctors were able to fix
it and put him on another type of
ventilator which kept his lungs
inflated. Later that day I was able
to see him for the first time. He was
so tiny and looked so fragile. In the
days and weeks that followed, Isaiah
had people all over the world praying
for him. It was the most heartwarming
part of our ordeal. God is good!
Isaiah was born at 2lbs. 8ozs., went
down to 1lb 15ozs. and then started
climbing and hasn’t looked back. He’s
now 3lbs. 8ozs, off the ventilator and
looking to start bottle-feeding this
week. He may have to be on oxygen for
a while until his lungs get healthy,
but he got off the ventilator about a
week after he was born and hasn’t
needed it since. As I said earlier in
this story, I promised God that I
would share His miracle with everyone
and I intend to keep my promise.
Doctors need to know that they don’t
know everything and are not in control
of everything. “Never say never.”
Make sure you ask questions and trust
your instincts before you
automatically put your trust in
doctors. I cringe when I think about
what could’ve happened had I listened
to either the doctor who told me there
were no live fetuses, or the one who
advised me to terminate my pregnancy
because my water broke. Also, I kick
myself for not insisting on having an
ultrasound in the ER. If you’re
reading this and are in the same
situation, start praying and trust
that no matter what, God will watch
over you. It may or may not be His
Will that your baby makes it, but
whatever happens He will see you
through. Just pray for strength and
thank Him for every day.
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