Joleigh Michelle

As most of you know last December I found out I was pregnant! Obviously I was so excited, being a mom has always been my dream. At the same time though I was terrified. You see, when I was 8 years old I started feeling tired, losing weight, & was drinking a lot. On August 31, 1999 we went to my doctor where I was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. I now had to prick my finger to check my sugar before & after every meal, I had to take a shot for anything I ate or drank, I had to check to make sure my sugar was alright before gymnastics practice or even PE at school. I had a whole new set of rules to follow that was different than most everyone around me. I quickly figured out when I was dizzy, sweaty or confused I was low & when my head or stomach hurt & I was super thirsty I was high. I went on as normal as you can after being diagnosed with a chronic illness. I never let diabetes hold me back from anything. Are there days diabetes slows me down? Sure. Are there days it keeps me from doing what I want? Absolutely. Are there days it wins? Yes. Although out of all 19 years of being diabetic I can truly say I feel like this year I won.

I was told a few years back because of my diabetes I might not ever be able to have my own child because of complications that could arise from being diabetic & for someone who has always dreamed of being a mom that was heartbreaking. My doctor told me that 50 years ago he would have told me not to even try. To say pregnancy was hard would be a complete understatement. I had to watch my sugars closer than ever before. Lows were bad for me but too high was bad for the baby. I spent my entire pregnancy throwing up every, single day. About 29 weeks at a routine doctor visit they noticed my blood pressure was a little high. They told me to rest as much as I could, check my blood pressure at home each day & come back in about 10 days since I had a high-risk doctor appointment the next Thursday. I was originally supposed to go to my high-risk doctor Tuesday, June 12 but since she was going out of town she had asked if I would want to come in Thursday, June 7th. 

I headed to the doctor that Thursday super worried because my blood pressure had been slightly rising the last week. Due to my Type 1 Diabetes, they were constantly worried about even little things. I sat in the car with my mom listening to music to rest before walking in. They started with an ultrasound where Jo wasn’t showing the breathing they wanted to see so they decided to do a non-stress test to get a better idea why. During the non-stress test, they saw her heart rate dropping randomly so they decided to wheel me over to the hospital to monitor her for a little longer. My best friend, Jordan was just leaving work & was gonna come to talk to me & hang out while they monitored me. I got in the room & they hooked me up to the test but within just a couple minutes her heart rate dropped & wasn’t coming back up. I knew immediately by the look on Jordans face something bad was happening. They called an emergency c section right there. So many nurses & doctors flooded the room. I immediately was so overwhelmed & burst into tears. Thank God my best friend was there to not only keep me calm but my mother too. Jordan started pulling out earrings & taking off jewelry while my mom changed into scrubs. Jordan kept saying “don’t cry it’s Jo’s birthday.” Within minutes I was in the operating room where they told me they were gonna try to start an epidural & if I wasn’t numb by the time they got ready to cut they were putting me completely under. I was so scared. We were still 10 weeks away from her due date. I laid on the table holding my mom’s hand with no idea of what to expect. Then amongst all the beeps, random noises, & nurses & doctors talking I heard the sweetest cry of my whole life.

Joleigh Michelle made her entrance, 10 weeks early on June 7th at 5:54 pm, weighing 3 pounds 6 ounces & 15 inches long. The doctor told me if I would have been any later to that appointment she wouldn’t be here. She definitely has a guardian angel. Once I was done in recovery they rolled me down to see her. She was the smallest baby I have ever seen. The next morning I was wheeled down to the NICU where I sat & cried next to her bed. I couldn’t believe she was here & I felt so helpless watching her lay in that tiny box with tubes, wires, & IV’s all connected to her. I was discharged from the hospital not even 48 hours after the c section. Leaving the hospital without her was one of the worst feelings of my life. I was supposed to leave with her. I was supposed to be rolled out, holding my new baby, put her in her car seat, & go home. Leaving this way was not at all what I had pictured.

Not even a week after she was born I ended up readmitted to the hospital with postpartum preeclampsia. I was devastated. Since I was on a magnesium drip I wasn’t allowed to go to the NICU to visit Jo until it was done. My mom stayed every day in the hospital with me & so did my grandma. Jake came & visited after work & held my hand until I would fall asleep. My best friend, Jordan, spent countless hours at the hospital with me doing everything she could to help make things easier on me. Elizabeth came to the hospital every day bringing whatever I needed from home & always making sure everything was ok. I was finally discharged again but I still had so many hard days ahead of me.

Everyone around me did everything they could to check on me & be there for me. People called, texted, sent gifts, sat with me at home, sat with me at the hospital, etc. I will never be able to say enough thank yous to everyone who was there for me. I spent the next 9 weeks visiting Jo in the NICU. 9 weeks of scheduling every day around spending hours at the hospital. Jo had good days & Jo had bad days. Thankfully she had way more good days though. She spent 5 weeks on oxygen & almost 9 weeks on a feeding tube. Some days she would have brady episodes where she would forget to breathe & her heart rate or oxygen would drop low. They kept assuring me she would grow out of it. I felt like I would never hold my baby without her being connected to tubes, wires, & machines. All of the nurses in the NICU were absolutely amazing. I don’t know how I would have made it through without them. The day they said Jo could come home was one of the best days of my life. We have now been home for about 6 weeks! The past couple months have been some of the hardest months I have ever had. I still have terrible dreams, I hear the monitor beeps in my sleep, & just washing my hands shoots my heart rate into the 150’s but just like our time in the NICU this too will pass!

My sweet girl came into this world 10 weeks early a little fighter & I can only hope she gets some of that from me. So this year I won’t only be celebrating FIGHTING diabetes for 19 years but I will also celebrate everything I overcame WITH diabetes this year. She is worth it & so much more. I have never seen anything more perfect in my whole life. 

 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *