My husband and I learned we would be expecting a little girl in May of 2012. There was so much excitement and tons of buying to be done. I had a very easy pregnancy, never experiencing morning sickness. My due date was becoming closer and closer and we were excited!I went to a regular check-up at twenty-eight weeks into my pregnancy and our world instantly turned upside down. They were finding multiple things wrong with our sweet baby girl. I was sent to a maternal fetal specialist where we learned she would, in fact, be born with issues. At thirty-five weeks into my pregnancy, I went for my weekly check-up with the specialist and they decided our sweet McKinley needed to be born right away or she would be still born.
On April 6th, 2012 at 4:09 P.M. my husband and I welcomed our little three pound miracle, born five weeks early. She was instantly taken into the NICU and then transferred to a Children's hospital. We were informed that she was born with VACTERL Association, a rare syndrome that only occurs in 1 out of 10,000 to 40,000 people. McKinley had her first and second surgery at only two days old.
By the time she was two months old, she had been operated on eight times. We stayed in the NICU for a long five months. Once bringing our miracle baby home, my husband and I thought it would be smooth sailing. Boy, were we wrong.
McKinley was hospitalized on an average of one week every single month for various sickness. As if that wasn't enough, when she turned one we learned she would need to have a Posterior Spinal Fusion. This surgery was a very big deal considering the surgeon operating had only operated on two other children her size. There were many concerns with her small size, but we had to operate.
She had her Posterior Spinal Fusion in December of 2013. After two weeks in the hospital, she returned home to celebrate Christmas with Mommy and Daddy. That was such a blessing in itself. A few days after Christmas McKinley began throwing up very badly.After two days of non-stop throwing up, our sweet girl had become lifeless and was struggling to breathe. We called the ambulance and they picked her up. We were told she had the Flu and Pneumonia. Doctor's assured us she would just need to receive medication and be on oxygen and after a few days, could return back home.
On January 8th, 2014, McKinley couldn't find it in her to breathe, so she was put into the Intensive Care Unit. Everything came crashing down as we knew it. Both of McKinley's lungs collapsed and her oxygen was dropping rapidly. In a panic, with not very much time, her doctor decided to preform an emergency surgery.
After surgery, we were told that the little girl we had put so much hope into for almost two years would not be going home with us, but with God instead. I felt as if someone had stabbed my heart. My husband, family, and myself knew every moment spent with her was valuable. We prayed constantly over her and had faith she would pull through and come back home.
After being on life support on an Isolator for eight weeks, doctor's were becoming concerned and began telling us she couldn't keep having a machine keep her alive. We were told they were going to try to remove her from the Isolator to see if she could do well on the Conventional Vent. We were told if she failed, my husband and I would need to discuss when to take her off of life support. Knowing how much fight she had in her, we continued to pray and have faith.I just knew God wouldn't abandon us, and he didn't. He gave McKinley the strength she needed and healed her. After thirteen weeks in the hospital, eleven being in the Intensive Care Unit, and after four surgeries in a three month period, McKinley came home on April 5, 2014 - one day before her second birthday. We have now been home for two months and she is thriving! I strongly believe that with prayer and a whole lot of faith, you can overcome anything.
Isaiah 40:29 - He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.
