Our little Ms. Malia. I would expect her to make such a grand entrance...I think she may already be picking up some traits from her Uncle Rolando. They are both movers and shakers it seems. Big Ro will have his birthday in just three days...Thank you Jesus for the wisdom of getting to the hospital in just enough time. So thankful that both she and Marsha are progressing in their recovery.
I want to document this, especially for times when we look back with simply Thanksgiving in our hearts. This was Marsha's third pregnancy. Her first two pregnancies went very well and had very easy time with delivery. During the last several months, Marsha would have told you this pregnancy was not quite the same as the other two, and we now know the delivery was nothing close to the first two either.
Marsha woke up on Sunday morning, May 16 not feeling real well, but not really sure what was wrong. She is a tough person who with a high tolerance for pain. She continued to church, however, the discomfort continued. Following church, she thought maybe there was an issue that she need to either eat or possibly go to the restroom. After eating, she was dressed and ready to go to a business meeting with her husband and son. The discomfort turned into pain and it progressed quickly. By the time they got to Jennings Station Road, Marsha knew something was absolutely wrong. She called Mom and immediately broke into tears. This is not our Marsha...she never cries in pain. Mom knew in her spirit something was wrong and instructed Ji to turn around and get Marsha to the nearest hospital possible. Ji went to a hospital in St. Charles ...on the way, he had to become part of a parade to make it to the emergency room...but a husband will do what a husband has to do!
Upon arrival Marsha was in severe pain. She told me that she honestly thought she was going to die. Never in her life had she felt this much pain. They rushed her into a room and placed a heart monitor on her belly for the baby. The baby's heart rate was at 20 when it was normally around 130. There were no more questions - Ji was left anxiously in a waiting room with Elijah and they began immediate work to prepare to deliver their baby girl. Marsha was in so much pain at this point, that it didn't matter. She was alone and scared for her baby. They immediately put Marsha under and Baby Malia was born at 12:59 pm. They did code blue since Malia was not breathing at all. After working on her, they were able to get her heart beating again and began work to stabilize her.
While Malia could be stabilized, Marsha continued to experience complications. They found that her placenta and uterus had separated and Marsha had mulitple tears in her uterus from this. I am not sure of all the details, however, I do know that this caused a lot of internal bleeding and Marsha lost significant amounts of blood. The baby was airlifted to another hospital, but in stable condition. Marsha was worked on for hours before she stabilized. I was at peace during most of this until the one time that I saw Marsha about 2 hours after delivery. She was so pale, lips and face were a white/purplish in color and very cold to the touch, but not shivering. I think Ji has said it best...it looked like she was slipping away in front of her eyes. Then she called out and said - I can't breathe, I can't breathe. I knew at this point, I was being called to prayer. I simply left her room and went and sat in the waiting room and began praying in the Spirit. I know that I know that I needed this release. Within minutes, they announced that Marsha would be transferred into ICU. I was very pleased with this.
The transfer and finally getting word on Marsha's status was almost 3 hours. I will tell you - it was a long and tough three hours. During this time, Malia has continually to impove on her own. She is already such a strong little girl. Born 6.5 weeks early, yet weighing in at 4 lbs, 14 oz and 17.5 inches long.
For my amazing husband...these special pics are for you. Happy Birthday - she knew you wanted something special to brighten your day on your special day!
Day two and both Momma and baby are progressing very well. Love amd blessings to my sister and precious neice Malia.
