Success Story

by Amber
(Sacramento, CA)

I just wanted to share a life changing success story that all in all was too scary and overwhelming to have high hopes for.

I was told when I was 20 that I was pregnant -- that I would be having a baby.

I was shocked, scared, overwhelmed, nervous, and all around just not ready to raise a child. I am also diabetic so this journey as I knew and was told too many times would be a tough one.

I began to notice the problems when I was around 2 months pregnant when I had to eat every 2 hours during the day and night to maintain a good blood sugar level and make sure that my baby would not end up with diabetes.

I was also advised that premature babies are very common among diabetic women.

At only 5 months, my baby was already 5 pounds which is huge!!! I was so uncomfortable and couldn't stand it any longer. I gained a total of 85 pounds during my pregnancy, and at about 5.5 months pregnant I went into preterm labor.

I was so scared as babies this early usually don't make it without being in the NICU and without feeding tubes and breathing tubes and I did not want that for my child. I was put on medication for this and was able to hold out until 34 weeks when the doctor told me that I didn't need to take the medication any longer as if he was born at 34 weeks the only things that would go wrong were not being able to eat which is resolved with the feeding tube.

I decided to stop taking the medication with the high hopes that I would be able to hold out at least 4 more weeks, mind you I had contractions every 2 minutes (on and off the medication).

After not taking the medication for 2 days I went into labor. Lo and behold I was 34 weeks and 2 days pregnant and my baby was going to be born. I was so scared.

Needless to say high hopes and faith are what gets us through life's obstacles. My son was born early yes, but he had no health problems, only jaundice, and was at a gestation age of 38 weeks.

He is to this day the smartest, happiest, healthiest baby I have ever met, and I cannot believe the good that lies after hard and what seems like never ending obstacles.