Serra, Maresa

[left:ac5f382384]http://www.cherubs-cdh.org/Album/new/serra6.jpg[/left:ac5f382384]Just when my husband and I learned that we were expecting twins we knew our life would change after they were born, but we had no idea how it would change before they born.

At 20 weeks, my obstetrician sent me to a high risk clinic as a measure of precaution because I was a diabetic and carrying twins. At that visit, it was discovered that one of our babies had a diaphragmatic hernia. The news was devastating and the physician suggested we consider terminating the pregnancy even though we had one healthy baby. Abortion was not an option to us and we were willing to take the hand dealt to us.

We consulted with several doctors who all gave us only a 20% chance of survival for the baby with the birth defect. The doctors were very dismal and tried to prepare us for the worst. We felt like this was a test of faith and as long as her heart was beating we had hope.

We had planned to deliver in another city because ECMO was not available n our area. We met the pediatric surgeon and discussed options such as using steroids. He said they had a high rate of survival and for once we felt encouraged. The plan was to go to Birmingham when I reached 36 weeks and have the babies by C-section at 37 weeks. Despite all of our planning we were unable to go to Birmingham, at 32 weeks my water broke and we went directly to our local hospital, I had already dilated to 5cm and efforts to stop labor were unsuccessful. Two hours later, I had deflated to 7cm so they went ahead with the c-section. We knew our baby with the diaphragmatic hernia weighed about 3 pounds so she was not big enough to meet the requirements for ECMO; therefore, they did not transport us to Birmingham.

The babies, Maresa and Marie, were born on 2/10/99 and were doing extremely well considering they were premature and of course the diaphragmatic hernia. Maresa came out fighting and breathing on her own. She did not need ECMO after all and because she was so stable they performed her surgery two days later. She only had 1/5 lung capacity on the left side and the hernia was repaired with a Gore-tex patch. She was on a ventilator for 6 days and progressed rapidly. She was the talk of the NICU. All the nurses were impressed by her strength and her pleasant disposition. Even though she had been through a major surgery, she smiled all the time letting us know she was going to be okay.

When she was two months old, she got to come home and reunite with her sister whom she had been separated from since their birth. My husband and I know how very blessed we are to have our daughters and we will spend the rest of our lives thanking the Lord.


Written by Maresa, Earon Serra (Alabama)
1999