My Baby Isabella

At 238 pm on Wednesday, Decemeber 9, 2009 I had a baby girl. Her name is Isabella.

When she was pulled out from my body I didn't really get to see her right away. Her 1-minute APGAR score was 4 but her 5 minute APGAR score was fine (an 8). I heard the nurse said that she weighed 4 lbs 3 ounces. I heard the nurses oohs and aahhs while I was getting stitched closed. I heard some suction noises and I heard her crying. BUT, I also heard the nurse saying "Come on sweetie, you gotta breathe on your own"... I waited anxiously on the other side of the curtain.

Minutes later I saw this small bundled up little thing... my baby girl. The NICU nurse brought her close to me so I can give her a kiss and immediately after that she was taken to the NICU.


She was intubated at birth because her breathing was irregular. She was placed in an incubator to help her regulate her temperature. She also had an IV. Minutes later we were told (and this is already on top of everything else that we know she has so far) that she has a cleft palate. At that point I wasn't quite sure anymore if any news about her is going to surprise me.

All sorts of tests were ordered and consult with numerous doctors was sent out and as soon as I was able to manage getting on a wheelchair my husband took me to the NICU. We spoke with the neurologist, who said we'll be scheduled for a follow up, we met and spoke briefly to genetics doctors who asked us questions pertaining to our family history, and we also met with the OT who specializes with feeding. The days that I was waiting to be discharged from the hospital was spent on training myself to ambulate inspite of the pain, getting my breast milk supply to come in, going to the NICU every chance we got, and praying. We prayed a lot and kept hoping for a miracle.

The first miracle came when I got to hold her for the first time 3 days after I gave birth.