Thomas and I met in August of 2008 at a mutual friend's wedding. After a few months of long distance communication (he was in the Army and stationed in Italy), I took a huge leap of faith and flew out to Italy to visit him. It was in beautiful Italy that we decided to get engaged on February 16, 2009 and start planning a wedding. We had planned to get married sometime the following winter, but the Army had other plans.
We soon learned that Thomas would be deploying to Afghanistan that winter, so we moved up our wedding date to July 10, 2009.
After our wedding, I moved to Italy and we traveled a lot! Venice, Rome, France... We had a wonderful time traveling as newlyweds. Just 5 months after getting married, Thomas served a year long deployment in Afghanistan.
When he returned home, we decided we wanted to fulfill our dreams of starting a family. Months went by and so did several negative pregnancy tests. After about a year of trying for a baby, we began fertility testing. After a procedure, we found out we would be expecting our first little bundle of joy in the spring of 2012.
I had a difficult pregnancy, suffering from severe hyperemesis gravidarum. I was throwing up nearly 15 times a day for 9 months straight.
On May 29, 2012, we welcomed our first son, Declan, into the world. He was a full-term, 8 lb baby boy!
Just 5 months after Declan was born, we got a big surprise. We were expecting again. And this time, with twins! I had an even rougher pregnancy this go-around, suffering yet again from hyperemesis gravidarum and also polyhydramnios. We learned early in the pregnancy that there were complications with one of the babies (Baby B, who would be named Lucas).
We were told that he almost certainly had a chromosomal abnormality and a heart defect, among other things. We were asked if we wanted to continue the pregnancy. We did. We were asked to consider options for giving Baby A (who would be named Miller) a better chance at surviving, at the cost of Baby B. We were clear that we wanted both babies. We wanted to give both babies a chance.
On April 22, 2013 I went into preterm labor at just 29 weeks into the pregnancy. Labor could not be stopped with magnesium sulfate, so an emergency c-section was performed. Miller James was born first at 4:52 p.m., weighing 3 lbs 6 oz. Lucas Rolland was born just seconds later, weighing a tiny 2 lbs 8 oz. Both boys were immediately sent to the NICU.
Miller James. (Sonya Balentine Photography)
Lucas Rolland. (Sonya Balentine Photography)
The next day, Lucas was transported to the children's hospital here in town for emergency surgery on a perforated bowel. He pulled through surgery like a champ. It was at this hospital that we learned that Lucas had esophageal atresia, a tracheoesophageal fistula, and an under-developed right lung. For 11 weeks he fought valiantly against infection after infection, chronic lung disease, and pulmonary hypertension.
On July 7, 2013, our sweet Lucas went to be with Jesus. He passed away in our arms, with us telling him how much we love him and that we would see him again in heaven someday. He fought so hard and we will always be proud of his fighter spirit. Our world changed forever that day and we will never be the same again.
Miller spent 7 1/2 weeks in the NICU. He was diagnosed with stage 1 NEC (necrotizing enterocolitis), which is a serious and sometimes fatal infection of the gut. Thankfully all he needed was antibiotics and surgery was not required.
We are now adjusting to this new chapter in our lives. We are thankful we got to spend 76 beautiful days with Lucas. We will cherish them always. We are thankful that God blessed us with 3 beautiful sons.
So here is our new chapter.
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