Story of Briella's miracle birth!

** A lot of you have asked about the delivery and although I had a hard time deciding if I was going to post it or not.. David finally encouraged me to do so... so here it is ... from my heart... from my perspective... I hope you will be able to see the miracle God performed in bringing Briella into this world and allowing me to tell you all about it. God is so good and his mercy and grace is beyond amazing. I am so thankful he can now use my story to tell others of his mighty works!**

It is hard to believe that a little over a week ago I was sitting in the triage room waiting to hear if we would be delivering our baby girl or not. Little did we know what was ahead. We had been so optimistic about this delivery... though the pregnancy was a little more tough than Gracelyn's was we were so positive that it would be a routine operation that would go as planned... David and I thought it... our Dr. thought it we had no reason to believe the events from Gigi's birth would repeat themselves... but... they did... and it was much worse this time around.

I remember sitting in the O.R. getting prepped and thinking about holding my sweet baby... I remember hearing her loud cry as she was delivered... I remember thinking she was perfect and breathing a sigh of relief when they assured me that although she was almost four weeks early had no medical issues and truly was in perfect health. Then it all began, I could hear the Dr's voice getting more urgent and I could hear the anesthesiologist ordering more blood... I looked over at David holding our sweet Briella and could see the fear in his eyes... we knew... it was happening again. They couldn't get me to stop bleeding more Dr's were called in and they escorted David out... my heart sank. I closed my eyes and prayed... I cried... I had faith that the Lord would save me but it was so hard to believe that when I could hear my Dr telling everyone to throw everything they could at it... and then the anesthesiologist asking where the other blood was... I was bleeding out as fast as they were transfusing it in. they had to give me 8 units of blood along with a bunch of other clotting agents to try to stop the bleeding.  They had to stitch up the uterus as well to prevent bleeding.  They told my family  initially if they couldn’t get the bleeding to stop they would have not choice but to do a hysterectomy. Thankfully it didn't come to that however if it had, David said he would have chosen my life over losing my uterus. What a hard thing for my family to go through.

This picture touches my heart... it brings tears to my eyes every time I see it. 

I remember waking up not knowing where I was. Wondering what had happened. I had a tube down my throat and I was on a breathing machine... I couldn't speak and my hands were tied down so that by reflex I wouldn't try and pull out my tube... which according to my Mom and David I did try that night when they came to visit me in ICU. I just wanted to see David... I couldn't ask for him and I knew he was no where in sight so I would motion to my nurse... pointing to my wedding ring and then to my heart.. they figured it out and they called for him to come down... As soon as I saw the love of my life I started to cry... I wanted to ask him what had happened and say Hi I just wanted to talk to him but I couldn't. Just seeing him brought so much peace and comfort... thank you Lord for my husband! By the looks of it and because of what trauma I had gone through in surgery no one knew when or how fast I would recover. Most expected a few days in the ICU but God once again stepped in and healed me ... The breathing tube was taken out and though m throat hurt it was so nice to talk to my family. David would bring Briella to me for the day and I could snuggle her on my chest... it was perfect!

 Slowly they began to remove IV's I had four in my arms and one A-line that was directly connected to an artery. Some they had to leave in since I would still need antibiotics while I was staying in the hospital. They finally were able to put me on a clear fluid diet. Chicken broth, jello, shaved ice, tea.. I had not had anything to eat or drink since the night BEFORE I went in to triage. My throat was so raw from the tubes that anything felt good going down. They moved me out of my bed into a chair and slowly I gained more strength back. Everyone was amazed at how well I was doing and said that if my blood tests came back with rising numbers then I would be released and could go to a post partum room and be with David and my baby! Things came back looking good and I was on my way "home" around 10 that evening. There was nothing more amazing that being with my husband and holding my baby without tubes and ventilators and beeping and cords... it was just us three... the way it should be when you have a baby!

Some of the nurses came back to see me they had been a part of the delivery they couldn't believe it... here was a woman they almost watched die happily snuggling her baby... what an amazing opportunity we had to witness to them. We told them we had a lot of people praying and that our God is good! Only HE could have done this! Even my Dr. was shocked to see me up and walking around holding Briella... I felt great and I know that it was all because of the Lord our ultimate healer!

Although we are now dealing with the harsh reality of not being able to carry more children, I am trying to have peace in knowing I get to be my girls mommy! I have to be honest.. it has been really hard for me to accept it... David and I both have spend some time crying, praying and I know it will get easier as time goes by... right now we can be sad... I know God will bring comfort and take away all my tears! I am so thankful the Lord was able to use me and my story to tell others about his amazing grace and mercy and how powerful prayer is and that it really works! I am so thankful to have been able to have two beautiful baby girls who are perfect in every way and healthy! I am so thankful for our sweet little family of four, and I know the Lord will give me the strength to get through these tough times. I am so thankful for our families who have come around us and prayed and encouraged us, and again for our friends who continue to help us out with dinners and lifting our hurting hearts in prayer! I trust the Lord's perfect plan and I can't wait to live our life to him... living each day to the fullest and seeing what he has in store for us.

Thank you to everyone for your prayers, thoughts, meals, and visits. Our family is indeed blessed!