August 15, 1994 ~ Easter April 16, 1995
January was a very happy time for my husband
and me. I found out I was pregnant. Everything was perfect. We heard
the baby's heart beat for the first time on February 11, 1994, it was so
exciting.
On February 24, I was having some pain and called the doctor. We went in
to be checked and they could not find the baby's heart beat so they sent
me to the hospital for tests. They found the baby was turned over and
would not let us hear it and they also found I had placenta previa.
From that point until May, everything went well with myself and the baby.
Then on June 24, I got very sick and went to be checked. They thought I
had gallstones but it actually was salmonella food poisoning which they
did not find out until later.
I continued to be ill the rest of the pregnancy and was in and out of the
hospital. On August 14, I went in and they told me I was dilated to 3
centimeters but since I was not having contractions, I could go home. It
was 3 weeks early and we were concerned about that.
On August 15, I woke up at 2:30 AM to find I was in labor. The doctor
assured us it would be okay even though my due date was not for 3 weeks.
Kelsey was born on 8:30 AM on August 15. The doctors said she was fine
and we got to bring her home on August 17.
Everything was fine at her 2 week checkup. Shortly after her checkup, she
got sick and the doctor said she had pneumonia and put her on
antibiotics. We were in and out of the hospital from then until November.
We were so scared for her. On November 19, we went to the emergency room
and were told Kelsey had an ear infection. We were given antibiotics
again. On November 20, when we got up Kelsey was so hot that if anyone
touched her she would be burning up. We took her to a different hospital
that within 5 minutes told us she had meningitis.
They admitted her to the hospital and we were told that they did not know
if she would make it or not. That night as I held Kelsey, she coded and
the nurse was able to bring her back. They then airlifted her to another
hospital.
By the time we got there, she was having seizures. They told us she had a
severe stroke. We all fought for a week when on November 26 we received a
call at the house we were staying at stating they did not think Kelsey
would make it and they removed the life support tube.
I held her while she coded 26 times during the next 21 hours. It was so
hard to watch her fight but she was so strong she beat it and was able to
come home a week later.
We had nurses that came to the house and Kelsey was doing well. We love
her so much and loved and admired her strength.
On the night before Easter, 1995, we put her to bed as normal and she
awoke at 2:00 for a bottle. Little did we know it would be the last
bottle we would give her. She did not want to go back to sleep for Mommy,
so Daddy took her and was able to get her back to sleep.
On the morning of April 16, Easter, we laid Kelsey on the bed while we got
ready to go to Easter services. When I came out of the bathroom, I
checked her and she was blue. I screamed and my husband started CPR but
it was too late. Later, we would find out she was holding her Daddy's
hand when she passed away.
We were so sad, she had fought so hard for so long and we had such hope.
We know now that she is in a better place than we are.
Kelsey, we love you and always will!!!
Contact Kelsey's mom , Amy at
@aol.com
Read more about Kelsey and her angel
brother.
http://www.geocities.com/momtokelsey1995/index.html
