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Today in the U.S., 1 in every 8 babies will be born prematurely. Some of them won't survive, and others will have health problems that could last a lifetime. The funds we raise in March for Babies support research that saves babies' lives.
We are some of the lucky ones because Shaye doesn't have any long term disabilities.. She's a little short (lol) but she breathes, walks, talks and sees just fine.. She's now 4 and a little monster :D She is extremely creative, coming up with silly Shaye stories. She's learning really well.. currently we're working on ABC's and counting.. she's up to 10.. lets see how many more we can do!

Below is Shaye's Story, if you are interested, please read!

I didn't know until the very end of my pregnancy that I have a septate uterus. If you don't want to spend a few minutes researching, It pretty much means I have a wall dividing my uterus in two. There are different types, some aren't so bad some are worse and I have one in the middle. It is pretty serious but I can still carry a child. Having your uterus pretty much split in two, it doesn't leave much room for a baby to grow and develop.
It's supposed to be really hard to get pregnant, and if you do, it's hard to stay pregnant. But I was lucky. I got my baby Shaye. She was born 1 month and 1 day early.. Since she was so confined though, Shaye was born at 3 lbs .5 oz and was 16 inches long. Her stay in the hospital was only a month but it seemed like much longer. With the help of God and everyone's prayers she was able to get better quickly and finally was able to come home.

I went into the hospital around 11:30p.m. on June 1, 2004. I was lying in bed at home watching American Choppers and I cramped so I sat up. As soon as I did my water broke. The next 10 hours were spent in my hospital room where I was in labor and there was no progression. They gave me two doses of pitocin thinking it would help me dialate but it did nothing but make my contractions get worse and worse. Finally the nurses gave me an exam and figured out that in no way can I give birth naturally. Not even 5 minutes later I was prepped and ready for an emergency c-section. My OB-GYN told me and my family that if we had waited any longer they could have lost both Shaye and I. Because of all the stress to my uterus from both my pregnancy and the contractions it had made my uterus paper thin and could have ruptured any moment. Shaye entered the world at 9:46 am on June 2, 2004 in Odessa, TX at Odessa Regional Hospital. I was able to see her for a minute, not even long enough to get a picture and she was wisked away to the NICU where she would live for the next month.

This was Shaye's very first picture. I'm thinking she was about 4 hours old when it was taken. That's her daddy's hand so everyone could see how small she actually was. Since I had a c-section I wasn't allowed out of bed for 24 hours. The only way I got to see my baby on her first day with us was through pictures. It was sad but I think it was one of the many reasons that kept me strong and made me heal faster. I was determined to be able to see her and get her better.

This picture is of Shaye sporting her 'shades'. (that's what we called them anyway) The lights on her her are called bili lights. She had a mild case of jaundice her first few days so she had these lights on her for a good week. At first, the doctor's goal was to get her working right. Eyes, breathing, eating, etc.. To get her to eating, well, she couldn't really suck on a bottle with the ventilator, so she was tube fed. They started her off on 5 cc's and if you don't know how much 5 cc's is.. well let's just say, 30 cc's is an ounce. After awhile, they pushed it up to 8 cc's, and every day after that they pushed her up 3 more cc's.. 

When she was finally taken off the ventilator, we were so excited! That was a huge turning point in her getting out of the hospital. She was starting to eat more and more and was gaining weight slowly. Around this time, Shaye was about 3 lbs 4 oz.

This was the very first time I got to hold Shaye. She was 10 days old. I held her the day she was born, but not really. I had a c-section so my arms were strapped down, but she did lay on me.. But that only lasted for about 30 seconds. They had to take her to the NICU right away. I think that's why I hold her as much as possible now.. Trying to make up for those first brutal 10 days...

Shaye was 16 Days old when this picture was taken. She was finally off the tube and was being bottle fed. She was gaining weight steadily by now, and we were already asking the doctors when she could finally go home.. She was only in the NICU for a month but it seemed more like a year. I visited her at the hospital twice a day, and I wish I could have gone more often. It killed me to have to leave my baby there every night.

But, finally they told me that our baby girl was ready to go home.

This is July 5th. Shaye is a month and 3 days old. I was able to spend the night in the hospital the night before she went home. I had to learn about her medications and since I was a first time mom, I was shown quite a bit about other stuff. Her final weight in the hospital was 4 lbs 12 oz. Can you believe it? The 3 lb nothing little girl had gained 1 lb and 11 1/2 oz in one month? That was our little trooper.

This picture is of Dani and Shaye meeting for the first time.
I've never seen Dani any prouder than she was on this day. She realized she was finally a Big Sister.

This is our Shaye Baby today. No, of course she's not a baby anymore but she'll always be my baby. She is now 5 1/2 and amazing us everyday with all the new things she learns in school. She's a trip to hang around and I love every second of it! Check out our video page to see videos of her or click here for our flickr photo collection of Shaye's growth.

 

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