Cayleigh Gayle celebrating her second birthday!

Our daughter was a miracle from the very beginning. Although she is my third child, she is the first biological child for my husband. Our daughter was conceived via our second IVF and so she is a miracle in her own right. I knew that I was pregnant with a little girl within days of our second In Vitro attempt. I remember telling my husband that I was pregnant and that it was undoubtedly a girl. I don't think he or any one else believed me until we had our ultrasound and there she was! My pregnancy was pretty normal. I had a small bout of pre-term labor but it was under control with medicine and lots of rest. Of course terrible all-day sickness but other than that it was just like my other two pregnancies.

When I was 38 weeks along I was very uncomfortable, beginning to swell and my blood pressure was beginning to creep up. My ob decided it was time to have a baby. Cayleigh was born on August 8, 2001 at 8:42 A.M. weighing in at 8 lbs 13 oz. She was a big healthy little girl. She was born via c-section so we stayed at the hospital for 3 days. On the third day I had already been released and we were waiting for her pediatrician to release her. The nurse had already come to take her away. I remember I kept asking my husband what was taking so long. The nurse finally came back in and said the pediatrician wanted to do an EKG on her. We waited for what seemed like hours in that hospital room. Finally the doctor came in to tell us that he had heard a small heart murmur. Our minister had just come in and I remember the fear that came over me at that moment. The pediatrician, minister and my husband were all telling me it was probably nothing, just an innocent murmur. Just to be sure we set up an appointment with a pediatric cardiologist.

When Cayleigh was two weeks old exactly we saw her pediatric cardiologist for the first time. Little did we know that we would be experiencing the longest day of our lives. They did the routine test and echocardiograph. The last thing I remember was the pediatric cardiologist walking into the room, shutting the door and looking at us. He then said, "We have major problems here". He then asked us if we had any family history of heart problems. That was the last thing I remember hearing. I never heard him say those long words like, she has transposition, PFO, a large VSD, pulmonary stenosis and double outlet right ventricle. I sat there with my beautiful two week old daughter and cried. I rocked her back and forth and cried. I couldn't stop the tears. It seemed about the time I thought they had stopped coming a whole new flood of tears would come. She also had an appointment at her pediatrician's office that same day. (Her pc comes to her peds office twice a month) Everyone in the office kept asking questions and I couldn't talk. Thank God that my husband was there.

We drove home in complete silence. I was afraid if I said anything then everything that the cardiologist had said would be true. As long as I didn't speak the words then it wasn't real. When we got home we had to make the calls. We wouldn't tell anyone over the phone, it had to be done in person. Unfortunately, no one could come at the same time. So we got to tell the same story 5 times! My parents live outside the state so I had to tell them over the phone. It was horrible!

It has now been two years and we are all doing much better now. I actually know what those medical terms mean. Cayleigh is a beautiful two year old who leads a very normal life. She has never been hospitalized or had any spells. She has hit all her milestones right on target and never experienced any feeding issues. I even breast-fed her for the first eight months! I do know how lucky I am. First of all because she has done so well. Her oxygen levels have always been in the upper 90's and seems to be doing so well with her defects. Her body is very balanced. Second of all I am the mother to a wonderful little girl. This little girl has taught her Daddy and Mommy a lot about life. There is an old saying about the little things in life, well it is true. Everything in my life has taken on a new meaning. I am now the glass is half full type person. My daughter has taught me to appreciate everything that God has given me.

To date Cayleigh has not had any surgery but her PC expects to do a cath next May and surgery in June 2004.