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Miracle Birth Stories of Very Premature Babies

An Excerpt

Part Two

By Timothy Smith

As the scene blew right past him, Earl's ears were sending different signals than those being transmitted by his eyes. The nurses were acting in a positive manner, congratulating Hampton for being a daddy. But, based on what he saw when the cart whirred by, it sure was difficult to feel happy. Even Rebecca felt uncertain about it all. She wanted to believe all would be well with her two-pound baby girl, to be named Rachel. Yet her first experience with the newborn didn't do much to make her doubts go away. Rebecca heard some counting and thought, "Oh, they must be doing CPR." Quickly, the tears streamed down her cheeks and she didn't know exactly why she was crying. What made matters worse was that her hands were strapped down, making it impossible for her to wipe her eyes. "They finally did wheel her up in that little incubator and put her right next to my face," Rebecca said. "Like Earl said, she was small and her eyes were so dark. That is what you remember seeing. The bag covered up the rest of her face. You don't even remember the white part of the eyes. All you see are these big black things looking at you. Her head, I remember thinking it was the size of a peach."

Maybe she couldn't stop crying because of what the doctor told her earlier that same day, that it was likely her baby would be strapped to a ventilator and spend three months in the NICU if she were born anytime soon. And that's the best-case scenario. Well, Rachel was here now. Start the three-month meter.