In March 2003 I found out I was pregnant.  This was our first child so we were both very excited!  I had high blood pressure starting in my 32^nd week but other than that everything was fine.  Our ultrasounds showed a perfectly healthy baby girl.  I was due November 11^th.

     On November 7^th my water broke at 8:30 in the morning.  My OB told us to take our time and then meet her at the hospital.  They had us walk around all day to help me dilate and help the contractions progress.

     I was only dilated 3cm and was not feeling any contractions.  Later that evening they started pitocin to help the contractions.  Kayla's heart rate dropped once but came right back up.  A couple minutes later I felt a rush of warm liquid.  That's when the nightmare began.

     My OB called the doctor and they rushed me in for an emergency C-section.  At 10:30 pm Kayla was born.  She weighed 7lbs 11 oz and was 20 1/4 inches long.  She was the whitest baby my doctor ever saw.  They did a blood transfusion and had to resuscitate her.  She was flown to another hospital that had a NICU.

     We were told she would be ok as long as her kidneys and liver would start working.  She was breathing on her own with little help from the machine.  On November 9^th she stopped breathing on her own.  On the 10^th they did a brain wave test that determined there was no activity.

     On November 11^th we had the life support removed and she died peacefully surrounded by her family.

     The doctors told us she died as a result of vasa previa.  This was the first time in 28 years that my doctor had seen this so we knew it was a rare condition.

Melissa & Ronald Hetrick