Baby Number 5

After having four children we decided that four was plenty enough for us. So during our fourth child's birth we decided to have surgery to prevent further pregnancies, soon after we settled in the country.

The next chapter in our lives

We bought acres and began to add livestock. We were enjoying the simple country life. My wife would often carry fifty-pound feed bags to the barn for our animals. One day she complained that she wasn't feeling too good. We agreed that making an appointment with her ob-gyn would be a good idea. During her appointment, her doctor discovered that the tubal failed and she was pregnant with baby number five. 

A bump (or two) in the road

The ultrasound confirmed that my wife had a placenta previa that later progressed into placenta accreta. Placenta accreta is life-threatening and can often lead to uncontrollable blood loss or death. Shortly after my wife was hospitalized to prevent further complications. One April morning my wife collapsed and lost consciousness.

She was taken into surgery to deliver our baby. Our baby was born ten weeks prematurely. She weighed a whopping three pounds. And was transported to a nearby Children's hospital. Little did we know that our journey with CF was about to take our life by storm. Our baby was hospitalized for 77 days. During that time it was discovered that she had a bowel obstruction. It took two surgeries to repair.

Our miracle baby was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis

We spoke with a genetics counselor and shortly after the results were in she was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis. It has been quite a journey thus far. Our baby girl is a blessing and we are honored to be her parents, her advocates, and her support system. She was born into a big loving family that will always be by her side no matter where CF takes us.

She has already accomplished so much at only a year old

Our baby girl was born out of a failed tubal ligation, she was featured on the news, she lived through a tornado that just passed the hospital, she had her story published in the local newspaper, and is currently living through a pandemic! She did all this before turning one year old! I say what else can we accomplish? The sky is the limit and we will never stop advocating for cystic fibrosis patients until CF stands for CURE FOUND. 

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