We have three kids together, Breanna who is 9, Caitlin who is 8, and Nicholas who is 3. They are all full of humor, mischief, laughter, and intelligence! They keep us going and keep our house always alive and full of chaos. They are three amazing children that we have been blessed to have. Each left me living with a high risk pregnancy and on bed rest as well as daily prayers with us begging God to let them make it here. I was never supposed to get pregnant and had to endure a lot throughout each pregnancy. I have serious medical problems that leave me thankful for every passing day. On too many occasions I have been left fighting for my life and consider myself extremely lucky to be here. I know I am blessed.
We are currently residing in Macon, GA with our Pit Bull, Riley. Kevin is now Medically Retired from the Army and we are still trying to transition into this "civilian" lifestyle. We are enjoying the time we now have to actually spend time together and become whole as a family.
As for what will come after the army... school and some downtime! I know that does not seem like a big deal to many, but to us, that is more than we could ask for. Just to know that Kev will be home at night with us and our family will forever be whole again is more than either of us could ask for. Not to mention, we have learned to make the most and best out of everything that comes our way. I will continue blogging as I do and working with different organizations, as I do currently.
I am now a Director with Thirty-One and could not be happier with where I am in such a short time. I adore the company, what we stand for, and everything that it has brought into our lives. On a personal and business level, it has been an amazing experience and has become a passion.
Kevin and I have been blessed with three amazing and healthy children. Our little miracles.
Breanna is our oldest of three and is the tomboy of our two girls. When I was a teenager I was told I would never have kids due to the extent of my medical problems, so to find out I was pregnant came as a total shock to me and Kevin. My pregnancy seemed to be pretty normal with the exception of being incredibly sick throughout the entire gestation period.
At 20 weeks I began to feel heavy contractions and was rushed to the hospital. Upon arriving, I was admitted for pre-term labor. I had just reached the half-way point of my pregnancy and faced many fears...including the one of the high chance I stood at losing my daughter. After spending a week in the hospital, I was stabilized and placed on many different pills and informed that I could go home as long as I remained on complete bedrest throughout the duration of my pregnancy. For a little over a week my body seemed to react to the meds without any issues, then out of nowhere, the contractions started and I was once again admitted. For right under 15 weeks I spent more time admitted in the hospital for pre-term labor and Bre's heart stopping or beating real slow, than I did in the comfort of our home. At 23 weeks, I was told that the goal was just to make it to 27 weeks...anything before and they did not foresee any chance of our baby surviving. Anything before 30 weeks and she would more than likely have a long road ahead of her. Right before I hit the 35 week mark, I went in for my weekly appointment and was told to go straight to Labor & Delivery to be monitored and they would let me know what to do from that point. I had to report there for further monitoring due to the fact my baby had a very slow heartbeat. Upon arriving at L&D, I was immediately placed on monitors. They were expecting me, so of course we went straight back. At some point there, the nurses rushed in and informed me I was being admitted because they could not stabilize her heart and it was still too early for her to be born. Overnight, her heart totally stopped and the nurses and doctors literally woke me up by running into the room and yelling for me to lay on my left side, as they were shoving juice and anything loaded with sugar down my throat and pushing like crazy on my stomach. This is when I found out they had to get her heart beating again or my child would not make it. There is nothing worse than hearing no sound coming out of the fetal monitor other than the movement of amniotic fluids sloshing around. Luckily, all of their hard work payed off and her heart began to beat again. The following morning an Amnio was performed, leaving NICU on standby that evening. Around five that evening, pitocin was started because we had reached the only option at this point... We had to induce labor and I had to deliver a baby that still had almost six weeks left until her due date. None of us knew what to expect at this point. We were told that she should arrive sometime the following morning, however, she did not see it that way. Shortly into the first stage of them inducing, I fell into full blown labor and her heart was slowing quickly and eventually stopping every so often. At this point, I was rushed into the OR and an emergency c-section was performed.
Breanna was born at 10:06 pm, not breathing and with no noises. My worst fear ever. After a few moments of the doctors and nurses working on her, I heard what sounded like a kitten crying. Our baby had taken her first breaths and was here! They let Kevin hold her briefly and let me see her at the same time, then rushed her off to NICU, where she spent a good bit during our hospital stay. Breanna was born weighing 5 pounds even and dropped down to 4.7 pounds. We were able to bring her home within a few days.
Shortly after coming home, she stopped breathing right in front of me and was rushed to the hospital. We found out that she suffered from acid reflux and apnea, and was then placed full time on an apnea machine. We spent about a week in the hospital and were only able to leave after she was stable and I knew CPR and all about the machine. It's no fun with it goes off and you can't remember how to shut it down. I spent many nights, crying on a mountain of pillows that were over the machine, just trying to make it quiet.
Today, her biggest obstacle from all of this is the severe asthma she battles. Other than that, Breanna is an incredibly intelligent and fun loving girl!
Caitlin is our "middle" child and youngest daughter. While I once again had a high-risk pregnancy with her, she is the only one I managed to carry to 39 weeks. There were many complications during my pregnancy, but somehow, we managed to keep going with limited hospital stays and as much rest as I could get with a baby at home.
Caitlin is two days shy of being 15 months younger than Breanna. She is our girly one of the two and still loves dolls and dresses! Our biggest battle with Caitlin is she has ADHD and it keeps us on our toes! However, over the years, she has managed to amaze us with how she is learning better control over everything. She is one that always has something funny to say and loves to keep us smiling... It takes time to break through with her because she is very picky on who she allows in.
Nicholas is our youngest, who was another preemie. I had him just shy of 37 weeks. Yet, at 36 weeks, Nic weighed over 7 pounds. Needless to say, I am very glad I was not able to carry him full term! Throughout his pregnancy, I had to see a specialist weekly because of the complications I faced on a daily basis.
Nic is all boy and ALWAYS keeps us on our toes! He is full of smiles, laughs, and pranks. I don't think it is possible to be upset for long when this little man walks into your life.
Nic is our last one and he took so long to get pregnant with that the doctors thought my health had taken over fertility. Little did we expect Nic to come along. Kevin was in training for Iraq when I got the word that we were having another one. My pregnancy was real hard on my health and left me facing a lot of issues. Hard to believe my little man will start school soon when it seems like just yesterday that I was in the hospital having him.
In the end, I could not be happier or feel more blessed. I can no longer have kids, and that truthfully, crushes me. Yet, just looking at my three and I feel more grateful that anything else. We have been so blessed to have them in our lives and just pure lucky to have them as our children.
Want to know more? Check out our posts on here to read more about our daily lives! There is just too much to tell on here!
