Stay Alive

The night of January 25th was one that Martin and Hailey would remember forever. Martin was fast alseep with he felt a pain in his arm. Awoken by the pain, he realized it was his wife grabbing onto his arm. A look of horror was on Hailey's face as she endured intolerance pain. Martin tried to understand what the problem was when he realized there was a pool of blood gathering in the bedsheets. His first thought was, 'The baby.'

Hailey was rushed into the hospital. She didn't realize what was happening. They put her in a room and then took her to a different room. The nurses injected something into her and an emergency c-section was done to save the baby that was 4 months early.

Martin wasn't a religious man. You wouldn't have guessed that if you watched him in the waiting sections. He was praying to God and all the saints he knew. He was promising to go to church every Sunday if his kid was born. He was promising to always pray before eating. He was promising that he'd help the less fortunate if only his child would survive.

His son did not survive. He was so little. Hailey cried as she held her stillborn son. How could he die? Martin walked into the room and watched his wife cry over their dead son. He wrapped his arm around her and looked down at their son. He smiled sadly at his kid. Martin placed his lips on his wife's head.

"It's going to be okay," Martin said quietly. "We'll try again."

Hailey nodded at first, then shook her head. "But, we lost this one."

It was a tough journey, but they survved their son's, Tyler, death. At first they cried, then they dreamed of what could've been, and finally they accepted their faith. Their son was dead and the only thing they could do was honor his memory. Tyler was buried January 27th.

Hailey and Martin believed that they would have a baby soon after to whom they could tell about their brother Tyler. Hailey was so glad to hear that she was pregnant with a baby girl. She was advised to take things slow because she was more likely to lose that baby, too. Martin took care of Hailey every moment that he was able to so that their child would be born.

Hailey couldn't decide if it was more painful when she lost her first baby, or her second. It was as if life kept giving a gift and then laughing at her face and saying, "Just kidding!" Hailey had an ectopic pregnancy and needed an abortion.

Losing a baby is horrible. Losing two babies is worse. Losing two babies and having no one to understand you is heartbreaking. Nobody wanted to hang out with a sad person. Her friends would try to be there, but they couldn't help. Martin's friends weren't fathers. They couldn't understand. For a while, it seemed that only Martin and Hailey could understand their situation.

Hailey had no hope when she was pregnant for the 3rd time. The pregnancy was slow and catious. Every step of the way was worrying. After her 7th month, she thought she might have a chance. Martin actually believed they were going to make it.

Hailey gave birth her 26th week. It was fast. The doctors bustled around and Martin stood next to her as she gave natural birth. She started to cry when the doctor said, "He's alive!"

Their child was placed in an incubator. Martin got to see him first. He was small, but he was breathing with the help of a machine. Martin's soft words filled the room as he spoke gently to his son.

When Hailey saw him, she couldn't believe how lucky she was. Her child was alive. She watched his small chest go up and down. A nurse came in and smiled at Hailey.

"The doctor will be with you in a second, hon," the nurse said.

The doctor walked in and explained things carefully to Hailey. The first night was the most critical. If he could survive the first night, he'd likely survive. The doctor knew her situation and did not want to give her any false hope. He told her that there was a big chance her child would not survive.

Hailey and Martin wanted to take turns watching Josh, their son. Martin tookthe first round watching Josh from 8 pm to 1 am. Hailey was supposed to be sleeping, but she couldn't. She watched Josh with Martin until he fell asleep at 2 am. Her eyes started to droop at 3 am. Hailey wouldn't allow herself to sleep. She felt that if she slept, she'd awake to find that it was all a dream.

The same nurse walked in. She checked on Josh and then checked on Hailey.

"Have you slept at all?" The nurse asked.

"No," Hailey admitted sheepishly.

"Hon, you need to sleep," he replied.

"I know. I just don't want to leave him."

"You're not leaving him. You're sleeping. We're going to watch him for you."

"Okay." She looked over to her small child. "Stay alive for me," she whispered softly. Her eyes closed.

When her eyes opened, the first thing she saw was the incubator. Her heart stopped and she was afraid to see if her baby was still in there. Slowly, she lifted herself up. Josh slept soundly in the incubator. A smile spread across her face.