I woke up this morning to an amazing video of the newest member of my family, Bella Grace. Bella Grace is the answer to many many prayers. I have tears of joy running down my face.
You see, a year and half ago, my cousin (Bella's mom) lost her baby while seven months pregnant. Baby Carter passed away in the womb one weekend in 2006. He was loved so much and is still missed so much. After Carter, the doctor's realized that my cousin had a blood disorder causing her blood to clot way too much and if she was to become pregnant again, she would have to give her self daily shots of a blood thinner.
Well, last fall, Chava (my cousin) became pregnant again. It was with fear and jubilation that she and Gene looked forward to this baby. Chava began giving herself the daily injections. A few months into the pregnancy, she began with pre-term labor and was put on bedrest. The next few months were very stressful for everyone. Chava was in and out of the hospital as the doctor's worked so hard to keep this baby. They began giving the baby steroid shots to raise her chances of survival if born early. Chava began with weekly visits to the hospital for ultrasounds and non-stress tests then she was upped to almost daily tests.
Over the past week or so, she has had to stay in the hospital on bedrest and the baby was kept on a constant monitor. Last night, at 34 weeks gestation, Chava and Gene (and the entire family) were blessed with the safe arrival of
Bella Grace.
One day, she will know how hard her mother and father fought to bring her here to Earth. She will know all of all the sacrifices that her mother, father, big brother and big sisters made to bring her into their family. One day, she will know how much she was loved from the moment she was conceived and how special she is to all of us.
Please feel free to leave a comment at
Bella's video of congratulations to my cousin after you watch Bella's video.
(Hey, Chris, thanks for getting this video up so quickly for those of us not near enough to see Bella)
