BLAKE'S STORY
Jen and Chris gave birth to their first baby
on January 1, 2003. A bouncing baby boy! They named him Brandon John. He arrived a month early, but was
in perfect health. In the first few weeks of Brandon's life, he had a hard time gaining weight, but he caught up in
no time. Jen and Chris married on June 21, 2003, and bought their first house in January 2004. A few months later
they decided they would like to have another baby. After a few months they found out they were pregnant with their second
child. They were thrilled with this news, and couldn't wait to greet this new baby into their lives.
Jen's pregnancy was going very well. She had
a little bit of morning sickness in the beginning, but other than that she was progressing well. Everytime she went
for her Pre-natal visits, the nurse practioner would tell her, "I never have anything bad to write down about you. Your
pregnancy is going so well."
Jen went in for a routine ultrasound around 18 weeks.
They found out they were having another boy. They were so excited to get this news. Although, Jen was hoping for
a girl, she couldn't wait to have another boy. They started getting things ready for baby early into the pregnancy,
because they knew since they already had a 2-year-old son their spare time would be limited. They moved Brandon into
a different room and decorated it with sports. Brandon was sure proud of his new room. They also decided to move
him into a "big boy bed" so that they could use the crib for the new baby.
On February 10th, Jen was over at her mom and dad's
house. She was mentioning that she had been feeling contractions for the past day or so, but she thought they were just
Braxton-Hicks. None of us were too concerned about this until she said that she had also been feeling pressure throughout
the day. We advised her to go to the hospital to be checked. She thought we were overreacting, but after talking
till we were blue in the face, she decided to go.
Chris called us about an hour later to tell us that
Jen was having contractions and that they were running IV fluids in her to try to stop them. He said that he was told
that they couldn't give her the medication to stop the contractions this early into her pregnancy. He told us that they
were going to do an ultrasound, and he would call us back after that. A while later, he called back and said that the amniotic fluid was low, and they didn't
know why, but they weren't too concerned about it. They sent her home a couple of hours after she got there and told
her to go home and rest.
About an hour after they got home, Jen woke Chris us
to tell him that she was having contractions again. As soon as she woke him up her water broke. Chris called mom
and dad to tell them that they were on their way back to the hospital. This was at 11:30 PM. After Chris called
mom and dad, mom called me (Jen's sister, Cindy). I will never forget that phone call as long as I live. I had
just went to bed a hour before when I heard the phone ringing. At first I thought it was part of my dream, but I quickly
realized that it wasn't. I jolted up and ran to the phone. By this time my mom had already hung up. I ran
downstairs to check the caller ID and I heard my cell phone ringing. By the time I got the the phone, the voicemail
had already picked up. Once I noticed that it was my mom calling I quickly dialed her number. My hands were shaking.
I knew something was wrong because my mom never called at this time of night. My mom answered. She was crying,
"Cindy, Jen's water broke. We are heading out to the hospital." I don't even remember hanging up the phone.
I ran upstairs to tell my husband and I ran out the door.
Once I got to the hospital they were just hooking Jen
up to the fetal heart/contraction monitor. They confirmed that her water did break, and said that she was dilated 1
1/2. The nurse looked at Jen and said, "Your baby probably won't make it this early into the pregnancy." I immediately
went over to my sister and held her. I told her that everything was going to be alright, that this baby is a fighter.
Jen was crying hysterically, as any mother would. I didn't know what to do, I didn't know what to say. I was hoping
mom and dad would hurry up and get there because I knew that Jen needed them more now than ever. I walked out into the
hallway to gather myself, and to see if my parents had arrived yet. When I looked behind me I saw Chris had stepped
out of the room and walked over to the window to the nursery. There was a brand-new baby boy lying in a bassinet.
Chris fell to the floor crying. I felt so helpless. By this time, Chris's mom was walking down the hall.
I thought I would give them some time alone while I waited for my parents.
A couple of minutes later my parents arrived.
They were walking at a very fast pace. My mom looked at me with a very worried look on her face, and said, "Where is
she?" I started walking them to her room. I told them that her water did break, and that if the baby was born
now, he probably wouldn't make it. Mom and Dad went into Jen's room and hugged her like I have never seen them hug her
before. A lot of tears were shed that night.
A little while later, the nurse moved Jen to her own
room and told her that she would most definitely be staying at the hospital tonight. Jen was starting to get a little
uncomfortable so the nurse gave her some medication through her IV to help her relax and get some rest. I stayed there
until 5:30AM. Jen had finally fell asleep, so I decided I should go home because I had to get my two daughter's ready
for school at 7:00. I didn't want to leave, but I knew my parents were going to stay there with her, and that they would
call me if anything changed.
After I got my daughters off to school I went back
up to the hospital. There was a shift change during this time so there was a different nurse there than the night
before. The nurse was doing an ultrasound on her to see if there was any amniotic fluid left around the baby.
She called the doctor in, and the doctor looked as well. He told us that he didn't see any pockets of fluid around the
baby. The reason for him checking was because he was hoping that the bag of waters would mend itself so that fluid would
surround the baby again, and maybe she could still carry full-term. He was still hoping this would happen, so he wanted
to keep her another night to observe her. I had to leave that afternoon, because my husband had to go to work, but they
told me that they would call me to keep me informed.
As if Jen and Chris weren't going through enough, then the nurse brought in all of these
papers. One paper was a list of funeral homes, there was a list of cemetaries as well. They also gave them paperwork
for a death certificate. I couldn't believe they were shoving these papers in their faces right then. We knew
that if the baby was born now he probably would not survive, but there was a chance that a baby at this stage could survive.
Also, his heartrate was so strong yet.
Obviously Jen and Chris could not focus on funeral home, whether they wanted their son
buried or cremated, or on information for a death certificate. Even so, the nurse kept coming in and asking them if
they looked over the papers. She kept pushing it on them, being so negative as if there were no chance that God would
grant a miracle on this wonderful family. It was so frustrating.
I guess on of the nurses must had called the hospital Chaplain to come see Jen and Chris.
She came in and started praying, and we soon found that she was praying for a dead baby. Chris said, "He hasn't been
born yet!" It was as if whomever requested the Chaplain to come in had given her the impression that Blake was already
dead, yet his heartbeat was still holding strong. The Chaplain appologized and began to pray that God would help baby
Blake through this, and would comfort us during this difficult time.
The following morning, Saturday, February 12th, they
decided to release Jen from the hospital. The doctor told her to stay on bedrest and to come into the office on her
regular Pre-natal visit that was scheduled for Tuesday. After the doctor had left, the nurse that had been so negative
all along came in and said Jen did NOT need to be on bestrest...that she should resume normal activity. We
couldn't believe that she said that. I mean, Jen's water had broke, she was at risk of infection, and the doctor was
hoping that the bag of waters would reseal. How would "resuming normal activities" help with any of that?
A couple of hours after Jen got back to mom and dad's
house I got a phone call. It was my mom telling me that she was having contractions again and they were going back up
to the hospital. I was terrified. I was at home with the kids, and I didn't know what to do. Mom told me
that Jen didn't want any of us to come up their right away, that she would call us.
A while later mom called me again. She said that
the doctor wanted to induce her so that she would go faster. He wanted to do this because he feared she might deliver
him without knowing otherwise, because he was so small. The doctor also told them that "the nurses are not comfortable
caring for a 1 pound baby, but they will." How horrible to say that to them right now. My mom called me and said
that I could go up to the hospital anytime. My husband was due to get off work in a half an hour so I told her I would
be up there as soon as he got home.
When I got to the hospital, my parents and Chris's
mom and sister were sitting in the waiting room. My mom said that they had just given her Pitocin to get her in more
active labor and were administering an epidural. About a half-an-hour later Chris came around the corner and said, "It's
all done." At first we thought she had just finished getting her epidural, but when we asked him what he meant he started
to cry. We all ran to Jen's room. We knew by Chris's reaction that the baby didn't make it. We got into
the room and Jen was sitting in bed holding little Blake. She was crying as she looked down at his beautiful face.
We all cried with Jen and Chris. He was so tiny, yet so perfect. He had ten tiny toes, and ten tiny fingers and
a beautiful face. We all had
a chance to hold him and say our hellos and our goodbyes. We told him how much we loved him, and that we will never
forget him. Jen and Chris had the hospital Chaplan come up to say a prayer with us.
A little later the nurse came back in to clean Blake
up and to weigh him. Thankfully, this nurse was a lot more supportive and caring than the nurse she previously had.
We all left Jen and Chris to be alone for a while so that we could call the family to tell them about this tragic event.
Shortly after we got back to the room the nurse brought Blake back to us. They dressed him in a little blue and white
gown and a white bonnet. He was such a perfect little boy. The nurse said that he weighed 1 pound 0.4 ounces and
was 11 inches in length. The nurse also gave them a disposable camera that she used to take some pictures of Blake,
and told them that they would be getting a free picture package of the professional hospital pictures. The hospital
gave them his footprints, his hospital bracelet, and some poems. They also gave them the two blankets that Blake
was wrapped in. One of the nurses that she had also went through a similar situation. She gave birth to an
angel. She said that she had kept the blankets and could smell her angel for about six months afterwards.
Around midnight my parents and I decided we should
leave so that Jen and Chris could have some time alone with Blake. They got to keep him in their room all night.
They took pictures of each other holding him. In the morning, the funeral director came up to talk to them about the
arrangements and to take Blake to the funeral home. It was so hard for them to let Blake go, but they knew he was in
a better place now.
We had found out a day or so later that when Jen was in labor with Blake, she started
getting the urge to push. Chris called the nurse to let her know and her and the doctor came in. The doctor started
gowning up, slowly. Jen said she felt like she had to push, and the doctor told her to "go ahead" even though he was
across the room gowning up. Right after that Blake made his entrance as his tiny body flipped over his head. Thankfully,
the end of the bed was still on. The doctor was not there to catch him. His poor head was severely bruised from
the middle of his forehead all the way around and all the way up. The doctor said that Blake took a breath and moved a
little when he was first born. When we came into the room after he was born we noticed that there was nothing in that
room for after his birth. The warmer was not on or nothing. This obviously upset us, especially since they had
been so negative the whole time since her water broke. It's like they gave up on Blake after Jen's water broke.
On Wednesday, February 16, 2005 we had a small
private funeral service for little Blake. We all had the chance to say good-bye one last time. We drove out to
the cemetary where Blake was to be buried at our grandfather's feet. We all released a white balloon for Blake.
Jen even got to bless Blake's casket before they lower it down into the ground. It was so hard to say good-bye to that
little guy, but we will never forget him. He will be loved by us forever.
