Kyleigh

Kyleigh's story begins much different than Billie's story. I could never say a child was an accident, and I hate that statement when I hear others say it. But, Kyleigh came as a BIG SURPRISE to us!

As I waited for Michael to get home from work one evening, I sat in the recliner rocking Billie. I was having a major craving for BBQ, so Michael and I had already discussed when he called about going to Ozark to eat for dinner. As I sat there waiting for him to get home, I suddenly felt what felt like a baby kick in my abdomen. It happened three times. I was kind of quiet the rest of the evening and didn't tell Michael about what I had felt. But something in my head kept telling me to take a pregnancy test the next morning.

While Michael was getting ready for church the next morning, I went to Billie's bathroom to take a test. I still feel really guilty about what happened next. I cried and cried when I saw the + sign. I was just so scared, confused, and worried. It was a weak moment. I immediately went to Michael, told him, and he hugged me and said, "Mandy, it's okay. We can handle this. We're going to have another baby, and it'll be okay, I promise." (He's always the "go with the flow", rational one. Ha!) He said, "We just need to concentrate on being happy about it because there's no changing it!" Again, I still feel bad about having to be told this when I know what a blessing a child can be. But it was what it was, and it came as a big surprise! This all happened on my mom & dad's wedding anniversary, by the way.


Seeing as how I didn't have a clue how far along I was, I had to have an ultrasound done right away to determine the due date. Fortunately, I was not very far along because I was taking my arthritis medications that had to be stopped during pregnancy. I think this was one reason I hadn't handled the positive pregnancy test so well: I was so worried about taking those medications and what effects they could have on the baby. Some may call it luck, but I still think that God gave me those "kicks" (which were not really baby kicks) to cause me to take a test and then know that I needed to stop those medications once finding out I was pregnant again.


I had a good pregnancy, once again. No blood pressure scares this time around. And, I decided to just schedule a c-section at the recommendation of my doctor. There are pros and cons with this just as there are every decision in life, but she strongly felt like I would have a repeat of my first long, long labor with no progression if I chose not to schedule the c-section. I got really nervous and stressed, though, when one of the nurses was not very nice to me and spoke very rudely to me, Michael, and my mom. Why would someone do that to a pregnant woman who is already very scared about going into surgery at that moment? Some people can be so thoughtless. I remember the doctor saying, "She's here, your beautiful little girl", but then I suddenly knew something was wrong. She was not making a sound. I kept crying and asking Michael, "What's wrong? What's wrong? Why isn't she crying?" No one would tell me anything, but the mother's instinct was kicking in that something just wasn't right. Our pediatrician had to give her 2 breaths because she wasn't breathing when she came out (one of the most well-known cons of c-sections). She had to stay in the neonatal unit and be monitored very closely for quite some time. We all anxiously awaited to hold her, and after a couple or three hours, the doctor finally released her for just a few minutes to come into our room so we could announce her name to family...Kyleigh Emerson (named after her mama)...our second little miracle from God!