Haylie's Story
Haylie was born on December 5, 2006. She was born premature. Things were going so well when she was born. I was working for Hospice taking care of a patient who was terminaly ill with lung cancer. I came in from work on a Monday morning to find that Haylie was very sick. Michelle needed to leave to run some errands so she took Hope with her and I stayed with Haylie at our home. Michelle made it clear to me how sick Haylie was. She wanted to trust God with our baby and call in the elders of the church to pray. I was extremely scared. I knew from my medical training that my child was extremely sick and unless we got professional help for her, she would continue to get worse. Michelle told me to make my mind up if I wanted to trust God with the child or take her to the hospital. It took me less than a blink of an eye to make up my mind. We drove into Murray to take Haylie to the hospital. She was immediately admitted into the Intensive Care Unit. Michelle stayed with Haylie that night and I took Hope home with me. Early the next morning, Hope and I made our way to the hospital. When I entered the ICU, Michelle was sitting there crying. I went into panic mode. I feared that my baby girl had passed away in the night. I found out that she was much worse and they were going to transfer her to the Childrens Hospital in Louisville. We began to make preparations to leave. Michelle wanted to go on the medflight to the hospital, yet they would not allow her to. In a matter of hours, we made arrangments to have someone to keep Hope while we drove the four hour trip to Louisville. Before we could get on the road, a snow storm moved in and our roads were nearly impassable. I knew we had to go, there was no other choice. We began our journey. The further we traveled, the worse the weather became. We had been on the road for about four hours and only traveled about sixty miles. We pulled over so I could get out and beat the ice off of the windsheild wipers. When I opened the door, the snow on the ground was so high the car door pushed it away from the car. As I was standing there beating ice from the wipers, I began to pray and ask God to guide us on our journey. We were the ONLY car on the road. We had not passed anyone for miles and miles. We continued to drive and each of us continued to pray harder and harder. I found myself making deals with God to get his attention. The snow was coming down so thick that you could not see anything around us. The road we were traveling on was pretty much out in the middle of nowhere. Just a little way up the road, we began to see an illumination coming from behind the trees on each side of the road. This provided just enough light to keep us on what we thought was the road. A few miles down the road, we noticed some headlights coming up behind us. I initially thought it might be the police telling us to turn back or get off the roads. The lights got closer and closer until we realized it was a trucker. He merged around us, as if he was allowing us to get behind him. The trucker drove just fast enough that we were able to keep up with him and travel in the tracks he was making for us. We followed that truck through the storm until the skies were clear. No sooner than the weather had cleared, the truck drove off into the night and we never spotted it again. Was that an angel that God sent for us? I find it hard NOT to believe that!
We made our way to Louisville after nine long hours. The moment we walked into the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, this little old woman came out and greeted us with open arms. It made me feel like my grandmother was welcoming us home. She led us back to where our baby was. She was sleeping very quietly. Our stay in Louisville lasted for eleven long days. We met parents that were there with a child who had been burned in a fire, or a child that was sick with cancer, children that were sick with Lukemia. We all bonded together and became a support system for each other. Michelle and I spent our time in the library of the facility and going to Walmart to walk around. We carried a cell phone on us so the nurse could get in touch with us if something changed before the next visiting hours. Finally one morning, the nurse called and said Haylie was breathing on her own. After nine days, we were able to hold our baby again. Two days later, they released her to come home.
About one year later, I was on that same road, the one with no lights on it........I pulled off on the side of the road and walked into the woods to see what was on the other side. There was nothing for miles and miles. God truely provided enough light that night to guide us on our way. That experience made Michelle and I stronger with each other and with our faith in God. Years later, you could never guess that Haylie has been sick a day in her life. She is the happiest and most content child, well more like a little woman.
Later on, I will tell about December of 2003. Michelle was in the intensive care unit here in Huntsville. Her doctor placed her on life support, he had given up all hope for her. That story is another tough one to tell. I just read my friends post where he found his child he has been longing to reunite with. There is hope. I hope that in a few days, I can post on here in big bold letters that my girls are home finally!
We made our way to Louisville after nine long hours. The moment we walked into the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, this little old woman came out and greeted us with open arms. It made me feel like my grandmother was welcoming us home. She led us back to where our baby was. She was sleeping very quietly. Our stay in Louisville lasted for eleven long days. We met parents that were there with a child who had been burned in a fire, or a child that was sick with cancer, children that were sick with Lukemia. We all bonded together and became a support system for each other. Michelle and I spent our time in the library of the facility and going to Walmart to walk around. We carried a cell phone on us so the nurse could get in touch with us if something changed before the next visiting hours. Finally one morning, the nurse called and said Haylie was breathing on her own. After nine days, we were able to hold our baby again. Two days later, they released her to come home.
About one year later, I was on that same road, the one with no lights on it........I pulled off on the side of the road and walked into the woods to see what was on the other side. There was nothing for miles and miles. God truely provided enough light that night to guide us on our way. That experience made Michelle and I stronger with each other and with our faith in God. Years later, you could never guess that Haylie has been sick a day in her life. She is the happiest and most content child, well more like a little woman.
Later on, I will tell about December of 2003. Michelle was in the intensive care unit here in Huntsville. Her doctor placed her on life support, he had given up all hope for her. That story is another tough one to tell. I just read my friends post where he found his child he has been longing to reunite with. There is hope. I hope that in a few days, I can post on here in big bold letters that my girls are home finally!