After 220 days in the hospital, we went home with a feeding tube and oxygen. We had prayed and dreamed of the moment when we could finally take her home, but it proved to be a huge challenge. As it happens with newborns, we rarely slept. Only she wasn’t a newborn. She was almost 10 months old. That time at home showed us just how difficult it is both as a new parent and taking care of someone with health issues. Vic and I were stretched in ways we did not even know was possible; yet, we were so blessed. Parents often say they cannot imagine losing a child and neither could we until it actually happened. We had to say goodbye to Samantha. When we lost her, neither Vic nor I knew how we would ever move on. We were struggling to adjust to all of the changes and force ourselves to move on when we found out we were pregnant again. We actually had just had blood tests to make sure we could carry another baby when we found out we were pregnant. It was such a wonderful surprise. I sat on the floor and cried for hours both from grief and the relief that we could get pregnant again. We were nervous but overjoyed that we had another baby on the way. I went back and forth between worrying
constantly and being at peace with the pregnancy. I had been pretty careful in my pregnancy with Samantha. With Sara’s pregnancy, I knew things would progress as they should. The perinatal doctors and my OB-GYN were wonderful. They answered all of our endless questions. They had several suggestions that we followed to ensure as much as humanly possible that Sara was a full-term baby. I remember hitting that 24-week mark and being overjoyed that Sara was healthy. We were still grieving Samantha but tried to stay focused on this beautiful gift that we had been given. Sara is now an amazing four year-old. She is strongwilled, funny, and keeps us on our toes. We talk about Samantha quite often and although Sara does not understand much of it, we continue to celebrate her life as well as the amazing gift we have been given through Samantha. While trying to find pictures for this article, Sara came and sat beside me and we watched videos and looked at pictures of Samantha. Sara wanted to watch the video over and over again. She thought Samantha was so funny and loved that they both shared a love for pacifiers. She even asked to sleep with hers that night. I will always wonder about the relationship they
would have shared as sisters and the journey their life would have taken together. Life does not always turn out the way you plan it, but I am grateful for two amazing daughters who have forever changed us with their stories. Not only are we blessed by their lives, but we are blessed by the numerous people who took care of us, loved us, and prayed with us along the way. In 2017, the March of Dimes will launch its Healthy Babies are Worth the Wait (HBWW) program in Louisiana. This will include Shreveport, the city with the highest preterm birth rate in the country. Overall, the state has six confirmed sites within a nine-parish region. HBWW is an initiative to encourage healthy, full-term births. Through education of women and health care providers, quality improvement activities with hospitals, and awareness activities, Healthy Babies are Worth the Wait helps reduce the number of nonmedically necessary labor inductions and elective cesarean sections before 39 weeks gestation, and emphasizes that the last few weeks of pregnancy are key for an infant’s development. The hospitals along with their clinics and other community partners will also focus on other known interventions such as the use
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The Gale family pictured with daughter Sara
of progesterone injections for women with a history of prior preterm birth and education around birth spacing. The collaborative has support from the state Maternal Child Health Department and health units as well. In addition, March of Dimes is partnering with the State of Louisiana’s Bureau of Family Health’s Maternal and Child Health Department on CityMatch, a cohort specifically looking at health equity as it relates to prematurity and infant mortality. With the help of state data and investigative evaluation reports, best practices will be selected and implemented within these high-risk parishes. With community leaders, patients and national attention from both CityMatch and March of Dimes, we are working to give every baby a fighting chance within Louisiana, specifically in the Shreveport/Bossier City area.