Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month - Meet Jessica

Meet Jessica. This is her story and these are her words.

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From day one, Corbin was Mr. Surprise.  My husband and I were childless and were completely fine with it.  His brother has 4 kids and most of our friends have kids.  We were the people who’d go over to their houses, play with the kids and run around, fill them up with sugar and return to our quiet house.  The day we found I was pregnant was a huge surprise.

As the pregnancy progressed, we fell in love with our child and began preparing the way all excited parents do.  Other than gestational diabetes, the pregnancy was completely uneventful.  No morning sickness and no multiple trips to labor and delivery.  On October 27, 2011 at 34 weeks and 5 days pregnant I began feeling sharp pains in my stomach and overall felt uncomfortable.  We eventually called the on-call doctor who advised us to go to labor and delivery to get checked out.  I figured at most, they’d give me something to ease the pain and we’d be home in a few hours.

Corbin – Mr. Surprise had other plans.  On October 28, 2011 at 9:02 AM EDT, Corbin Scott entered the world 36 days early weighing 5 lbs 11 oz, 18 ½ inches in length.  He was in the NICU for 11 days due to age and jaundice but was overall perfect.  We fell in love the moment we saw him.  

We finally came home on November 8, 2011 to begin our lives as a family.  We were so happy.  As the weeks progressed, we learned how to be parents and how to take care of a baby and got to know our little.  He was funny like his daddy and a noisy sleeper.

Late night/early morning on December 3, 2011 (which was my expected due date), my husband jolted awake realizing he had not heard a sound from our normally noisy sleeper and went to check on him.  The next thing I know he’s waking me up and telling me that Corbin wasn’t breathing.  We performed CPR and waited for the ambulance.  The doctors and nurses tried for over an hour to revive him but were unsuccessful.  At 36 days of age, the exact number of days he was early, he became an angel in heaven.  The autopsy would later show he had bronchitis, bronchiolitis and trachiitis.  He never coughed.  He never had a fever.  Never exhibited any tell-tale signs of being sick.  

Not a moment goes by that we don’t miss our son and long to see him again.  As I write this, I’m currently 35 weeks pregnant with his little sister who in time will learn all about her big brother.  The journey hasn’t been easy and I wish it on no one, but I’m forever thankful to have had our little “surprise”.