An Angel Delivered
Our Little Miracle to
us on November 23, 1998
This page is all about the preterm labor and birth of my daughter,
Haley "miracle" Sierra. She is known as our little miracle
because she was born at 25 weeks 1 day gestation, or 3 1/2 months
early. She was due March 6, 1999 and she was born November 23,
1998, sometimes that puts it into perspective!
Here is a picture of me on November 8, 1998 at 23 weeks pregnant,
2 days before my water broke. On November 10, 1998, I (her
mommy, Holly) had PROM or
Premature Rupture of Membranes
(my amniotic sac tore for some unknown reason) and nearly all my
amniotic fluid leaked out. I was taken to the hospital via
ambulance.
I was in the Navy-active duty-at this time and requested to be
taken to the Naval Hospital, but I was too unstable due to
hemhorraging, so I was taken to a "civilian" hospital. When I got
there, they first listened for a heartbeat, and I have never
been as relieved as I was when I heard Haley's heartbeat right
then! After that, they did an ultrasound and informed me that
my water had broke and that my baby was not "viable" because she
only weighed 535 grams and they required the babies to be at
least 700 grams before they would even attempt to save them.
My husband and I cried on each others shoulders. I prayed so hard
for God to make me understand and to help me get through this.
I couldn't imagine my life without this baby, I had grown to love
her SO much. Later as we were waiting for approval for me to be
transferred to the Naval Hospital, we were watching television
and I got what I believe was my sign from God.
The Guiness World records show came on, and to our astonishment,
one of the records they showed that night was the world's most
premature baby! I was 23 weeks pregnant at that time, and the
record was 22 weeks. The boy was I think 10 years old, and he
was a perfect, normal, healthy little boy. I knew this was a gift
from God in my time of despair. This was Him telling us that
it was not time to give up just yet!
Later that night I was transferred to the Naval Hospital where
I was told it would be my choice if I wanted them to try to save
my baby when I had, her even if it was that night. I, of course,
said yes. So, I was admitted to the Labor and Delivery Unit where
I would spend the next nearly 2 weeks in the "upside down" or
Trendellenberg position to try to keep anymore fluid from leaking
out and to buy Haley some more time to develop before coming so
soon into this world.
Thanks to Family and Friends
There is no way to thank everyone for the support we have received
since Haley's birth! Everyone has been wonderful! There are people
who prayed for Haley all across America, some of whom did not
even know us and may never meet her. The power of prayer is
phenomenal, and I know that without the many prayers Haley
received from all of you, she may not be here and thriving as she
is.
There is a special thanks I would like to express to my father.
The day my water broke and I went into the hospital, he dropped
everything at work and home and hopped on the first plane out of
Indianapolis to San Diego to be with me. He prayed with me, and
sat with me in the hospital for a week. He talked to me about
everything that could happen, and he asked the neonatologists
tons of questions and got me so much information. It means the
world to me even now that he came to be with me in the most
devastating time of my life. I can never express the importance
of what you did for me DAD.
I know that there are a lot of people who would have done exactly
what my father did if they could have, and that is not to take
anything away from them, I just wanted to let my father know how
very much it meant to me for him to be there with me. Thank you
ALL so much, and most of all, we give our thanks to God, for by
him are ALL things made possible!
"Live your life so that even if those around you don't know
the Lord, they will want to because they know you."
Going through the premature birth of my daughter
has without a doubt been the toughest thing I have ever
gone through. Without the Lord in my life, I don't know
how I would have made it. If you would like to learn more
about getting to know Him and accepting Him as your
personal saviour, please click on the picture to the left.
It has brought me peace of mind so many times
to know He is by my side, and I hope you can find
that same peace of mind I have found with Him.
I would love to know what
You think of our webpage!
This page is all about the preterm labor and birth of my daughter,
Haley "miracle" Sierra. She is known as our little miracle
because she was born at 25 weeks 1 day gestation, or 3 1/2 months
early. She was due March 6, 1999 and she was born November 23,
1998, sometimes that puts it into perspective! 
I was in the Navy-active duty-at this time and requested to be
taken to the Naval Hospital, but I was too unstable due to
hemhorraging, so I was taken to a "civilian" hospital. When I got
there, they first listened for a heartbeat, and I have never
been as relieved as I was when I heard Haley's heartbeat right
then! After that, they did an ultrasound and informed me that
my water had broke and that my baby was not "viable" because she
only weighed 535 grams and they required the babies to be at
least 700 grams before they would even attempt to save them. 
Going through the premature birth of my daughter
This 
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