Saturday, December 11, 2010

You Are A Gift From God

There is a great challenge going on over at The Paper Variety,  to create a project about or for a child. 
I decided to do a layout about my daughter Sara.  She is now 20 years old, but came into the world a little to early and with many complications.  I had a troubled pregnancy to start with, and had to have monthly sonograms.  In my 33rd week I started to have contractions.  I contacted my doctor and was told to pack a bag and head to the hospital where I was to be put on bed rest.  We had an hours drive to Georgetown University Hospital in Washington DC.  God was with me the whole drive, because as soon as we arrived at the hospital, my placenta ripped and I hemorrhaged.  Had this happen in the car we would have lost Sara and quite possibly myself.

For a preemie she was a good size, 6 1/2 pounds.  A series of tests were run on her and besides having sleep apnea, she was born with five holes in her heart.  We were told that her heart worked five times the normal rate to pump blood through her little body.  For the first year of her life she was hooked up to a heart and respitory monitor.  At the age of 16 months she under went heart surgery to repair the holes.  When I think back about it now, I remember how scary it was. I was ever so thankful for the monitor that was a part of her life for the first year.  Many a time the alarm would go off in the middle of the night, and we would go to check on her only to find that she had stopped breathing, and that we had to administer CPR.  She was and is truly a gift from God.  This is the first layout I have done on this subject, and I don't believe I have ever shared this story about my precious daughter Sara with my blogger friends.
Miracles do happen, as I truly believe that God watched over my little baby girl .
Thanks for stopping by!
Happy Holidays!
. . . Debbie

17 comments:

Dawnll said...

Oh my goodness that just made me cry...she truly is a blessing from God! I thought as a young mother my daughter have an unformed voice box was scary, I can't imagine the anxiety you must have felt.
Such a beautiful layout with such fun images.
Thanks so much for sharing something so private and special.

Sandi Clarkson said...

Oh, Debbie .. I'm getting all teary-eyed thinking about how hard that was for you! I have a dd pregnant with twins right now and we are surely counting the weeks. Love your layout .. yummy fussy cutting and papers. Awesome title placement. Hope you are keeping warm. And munching on some of those good cookies you were baking!

ruth said...

Wow! Gorgeous layout, but the journaling is so amazing. I have a couple things in life that I haven't been brave enough to journal, but you are inspiring me to do so.

Heather said...

God has a definite plan for your Sara. You are truly blessed. Very nice LO. TFS

Cindy Gay said...

It's a beautiful page. Our son Chris was born 7 1/2 weeks early when my placenta ruptured and he weighed 4 1/2 pounds. He spent a day in NICU and went home in a week. I remember his little legs now looked like my fingers. Can't imagine doing CPR! Great Christmas (gift)page!

D said...

I think God definitely had a hand in helping bring her into the world. How scary it must have been for you, and what a wonderful gift it must have been to have her go through the surgery and recover from her weak heart. Children are such a gift through God. I thank God he brought two beautiful babies into my life. One through biology and one through adoption.

Photography said...

Such a pretty card I love it!

Photography said...

Ps I am so happy you have had 20 years with your daughter - may there be many more to come xx

Suzy said...

Stunning layout!! Beautiful embellishments, dimension and message. Thanks for sharing at the The Paper Variety!! :)

Fern said...

Dibbie, what a heart wrenching story... with truly a wonderful ending... A lot of times we don't know the reason these things happen, but that God has a reason and we shouldn't question it. Your Sara does sound like she was a miracle/blessing from God.. It is just so hard for us to watch our wee little ones go through so much at such an early age... I believe that God is there with us, guiding us every step of the way ... My DD Amanda as born with a cleft palate and they couldn't do surgery until she weighed 10 lbs and that was at 3 months.. I still haven't brought myself to do a layout, to me she was the most beautiful baby no matter what she looked like, but to others it's a little bit of a shock.. But through surgerys and orthodontist work she is now the beautiful person she is today, and not just on the outside, but on the inside as well!! Debbie, this was probably very hard for you to make and share with others, but that's what scrapping is all about, not just creating something beautiful, but it also acts as wonderful therapy.. I'm sure this is a layout that you and Sara will treasure forever!! Thanks for sharing it with your blogging friends!!

Your layout is beautiful!! I love the fussy cutting and the doily frames around sweet little Sara's photo... Take care, Debbie!!! Hugs!!!

Yara said...

This is gorgeous! Love, love, love the white tree!! What a great combination of papers with baby photo! Thanks for playing with us at The Paper Variety!!

LisiB said...

Oh my goodness. Now I am in tears. So good to hear though that she is now 20 years old and doing fine. Thank you for being so open about it.

What a special girl and what a special layout.

April said...

Debbie, this is absolutely beautiful hon...and what an amazing story. Fantastic job! :) Thanks for playing along with us at The Paper Variety!
- April W

artfuldelight said...

Oh wow, I got goose bumps just reading your story. So happy the story had a happy ending. Your LO is beautiful! I love all the details. :-)

Barb Craft said...

Debbie... what an amazing story! Your little Sara is a gift from God! You have done an outstanding job showcasing the photo and reflecting on the miracle of your darling daughter!! Thanks for sharing this tender memory with us!
Barb :)

Abby Beard said...

wow.. this is gorgeous! Such detail and a precious photo.. just lovely! Thanks for joining the TPV challenge! Hope to see you again next week! :)

-Abby

Tere Azua said...

I love this so much. thank You for sharing this beautiful story thru such an amazing layout.
Thanks for sharing at the The Paper Variety!! :)