Michael's Story

We have an eight-year-old son who desperately wanted to have a baby brother or sister. My husband and I also wanted another child, and had been trying for five years. We were finally told what our problem was and were sent to a fertility doctor. After having ten IUI's (artificial insemination), we were about to try in-vitro fertilization when I got pregnant.

At first, we were told we were having twins, but unfortunately one of them was not growing. The other baby was fine and my due date was October 5.

My pregnancy was going well physically, although emotionally I was a nervous wreck. After losing one of the babies (albeit very early in the pregnancy), I still felt really nervous. At seven months my blood pressure started to rise, so I had to be checked every week. I was supposed to be on modified bedrest, which to the doctors meant getting up only to go to the bathroom, but to me it meant packing my house while sitting down. We were starting major renovations in November and were going to live with my sister.

I was induced on October 2nd, and had to be at the hospital at 5:00 a.m. By 6:30 a.m., I was having mild contractions. At 12:00 noon, my doctor came in and broke my water, at which point the contractions started getting much stronger. Since I had not received any medication during my son's birth (which was not by choice!), I wanted to have an epidural this time. At about 1:00 p.m. I got the epidural, but it wasn't working so my husband called the anesthesiologist back in and he gave me some more medication. Still it wasn't working and I was crying by that time.

My doctor came in and at that point I felt like I had to push. I only had to push a few times and at 2:21 p.m. my beautiful son, Michael, was born. Most of our friends and family thought we were having a girl, but deep down I had known it was a boy! My older son was thrilled to have a baby brother.

Michael is the light of all our lives. He is so happy, and a joy for us all to watch. His older brother adores him. He is truly a miracle and a gift from God.