My husband Oscar and I began "trying" to become pregnant in October of '98. We found out that our efforts were not in vain on February 21, 1999. We were indeed pregnant. We would have a new baby in our arms sometime around October 25, 1999.
The anticipation, excitement and fear that surrounds every pregnancy is always something to be cherished and ours was no exception.
We had a pretty uneventful pregnancy until May 1, 1999 when an accident at work resulted in a sprained tendon in my ankle and pulled muscles and ligaments in my abdomen. An ultrasound assured us that our precious bundle was spared any injury She was safe and sound, we were thankful.
Shortly after the accident I was remanded to light duty. Due to the nature of my job I was then given Workman's Comp and told to stay home.
Due to the constant discomfort resulting from my injury I received massages once a week to keep me as relaxed and pain free as possible. My ever increasing belly was causing me much discomfort.
During the late hours of July 29th, I began having contractions every 5 minutes. I was only 28 weeks along. My husband and I went to the hospital where I received medication to cease the contractions, it was successful. However, I was immediately put on complete bedrest. Within a few weeks the contractions had slowed to 1 every 28 minutes, this is not considered severe. As a precaution I was left on modified bedrest until my 36th week.
On October 2nd my husband and I ventured out to my place of employment. I remember that day so well, it was a beautiful, sunny day and I was sporting a crop tank top and one enormous belly. I visited with my fellow employees and purchased my husbands Christmas present.
I remember being so thankful to be out of the house and looking forward to holding my baby girl, Jade. I just knew she would come early. Her head was already engaged and I was getting the nesting bug. Her nursery awaited her arrival. Everything was ready. We had met with the Doctor just that past Wednesday, I had dropped off my birth plans, all three of them, the cord blood kit had arrived and my bags were packed. Now it was all up to Jade. I had prepared for every possibe scenario, or so I thought. What lay ahead was nothing I ever expected or could have EVER prepared for.
October 3rd was a Sunday, more shopping to do. We had friends getting married the following weekend, my husband was going away at the same time and I needed a few last minute things.
Before leaving the house that morning I lost my mucous plug, I called the doctor and she said not to worry unless I felt contractions, I could go into labor in as soon as 2 hours or wait as long as 2 weeks. Later that morning I felt a spurt of fluid, not much, just a bit. Again I called the OB, she asked me a series of questions before determining it was unlikely to have been my actual water breaking and not to worry unless labor pains came. With that said, off we went, no time to waste now.
We left the house around 1 PM that afternoon. While shopping at Wal-Mart, I realized I hadn't felt the baby move in a while. Well, I thought, chocolate will ALWAYS make her dance, Oscar and I split a Reese's Stick while on our way to the mall. At the mall, there were more distractions. It wasn't until we were leaving that I realized that I still hadn't felt any movement. On the way home I began to worry, it was now almost 4:30 PM. As soon as we got home I called the doctor, yet a 3rd time, and told her that I hadn't felt the baby move in a while. She suggested that we go to the hospital to make sure everthing was OK. I made a quick call to my friend Stacy, who was a nurse. She came over ASAP. We then packed up the car and headed to the hospital.
When we arrived at the hospital I was taken upstairs and asked to change. The nurse in charge had already spoken to the doctor, she was ready with the doppler. We waited as she searched for a heartbeat. Each second that passed brought fear. We weren't hearing a heartbeat, just silence. My doctor could ALWAYS find Jade's heartbeat, we had just been to her office that past Wednesday, she found it on the first try. Now no heartbeat, what was going on, what could this mean? Oh God, I knew what this could mean but I just wasn't able to wrap my mind around it. I began to cry, slowly at first, then little by little I began to lose control. The nurse tried to comfort me, "Maybe she's turned the wrong way", "Let's not jump to any conclusions", "Let's wait until the sonogram tech comes up".
Those next moments are still a blur. All I remember is the technician searching my belly for a sound that was no longer there. The monitor was turned away from me, she was expressionless. She didn't utter a word. My friend Stacy was backed against the wall, staring at the screen, silent. My loving husband, Oscar, held me tenderly as I began to crumble. I screamed until my screams became wails, hysteria soon took over, I could feel the screams in my throat but I don't conciously remember hearing a sound. The room was spinning and I couldn't beleieve what I was faced with. How do you face the uncomprehensible. I remember pleading with the nurse, "this is a mistake, right?","Could there still be a chance, even a small chance?" Her answer was always the same, she would gently shake her head and say,"No honey, I'm so sorry, your baby is gone." Gone????? No, she wasn't gone! She is right here, right inside my womb! What do you mean gone !!!!
WHAT had happened? HOW could this happen? So many questions and no answers........... unfortunately THEY would come later.
I was admitted immediately and told the doctor was on her way to discuss my "options". I continued weeping, quietly now, without resistance. The shock began to consume me.
My husband was by my side, notifying family and friends. Stacy was busy contacting our church family and made all the arrangements to dismantle the nursery.
My doctor soon arrived, explaining that I would have to deliver my daughter naturally. When I asked about a c-section I was told that it was not a possiblity because they didn't know why Jade had died and were concerned it may have been due to an infection, therefore making a c-section a danger to my health.
I was then brought to a private room and put in bed. Within a few hours we were surrounded by family and friends. By 7PM an internal tablet was administered which would begin to soften my cervix and allow me to go into labor. At 10PM everyone was asked to leave and my nurse Helen, then gave me a sedative, so that I could get some rest. Off to sleep I went, only to awaken to my real life nightmare.
Throughout the night family and friends gathered to support and console my husband. My best friend Karen cancelled a training conference, my mother, sisters, father, husband's father and brother, and several old friends flew in to be by our side.
I'm still unclear about all the details but, I awoke around 2:30 AM with labor pains. Two epiderals later, with my mother, Anne, my dear friend Karen and my husband Oscar by my bedside, my precious baby girl Jade Brenna entered this world in a deafening silence.
Jade was immediately handed to me, I wept for the baby girl that I would never know. As I held her, I frantically searched for her tiny right foot, the foot I had seen on her last sonogram months before, all the while realizing I would never hear her cry, see her smile or know the color of her eyes. She was lost to me forever on this earth. My heart was broken.
Everyone held her and cried. Soon after her birth she was taken to be weighed, bathed and dressed. She was 7 lbs 1/4 ozs, 20 1/2 inches long with a head full of jet black hair. She was perfect in everyway, so WHY was she taken from us?
The offical cause of her death as listed on her death certificate, "cord accident/tight nuchal cord". To the lay person what this means exactly is that the cord was wrapped so tightly around my baby's neck that it cut off her oxygen and blood supply to the point of killing her and thus causing her death. In Jade's case the cord was wrapped twice around her neck and completely compressed. It was so tight that it would not slip off and had to be cut off.
We were given 35 hours with our daughter before having to leave her. Those hours were such a special blessing. We took pictures and were given a memory box filled with clippings of her hair and her little hand and foot prints. We tried to shove a lifetime full of memories within those precious hours.
Our baby girl, Jade Brenna Correa, was buried on October 6, 1999 in a white satin christening gown that her Auntie Karen got her, a minature family photo and a beanie baby named Pounce from her big sister Jordyn. She looked beautiful as we said our last good-byes.
In closing, there isn't a day that goes by that I don't miss my Jade. Somedays are easier than others, but a loss of a child is NEVER something you just get over. The mark that Jade's life and death has left on my life has changed me forever, it may fade a bit in time , but will always remain.
I look forward to the day when I will again hold my precious baby in my arms, but for now I must entrust her well being to my Lord and his angels.

I would like to thank you for taking the time to read my Jade's story. I ask that you not let her death and the death of so many babies just like her be in vain. Talk to your OB's, question them, challenge them. I f you want more information and wish to speak to Dr. Collins with the Pregnancy Institute in Sidell, LA regarding cord accidents, Please contact him at (504)643-2820. Help me to inform the medical community of the urgency and value of our babies lives. Help me to let our doctors know that we want to be given every opportunity to ensure that our babies will be born alive. Please, don't let another baby die and another family suffer because of ignorance.

Prelude:
On August 12, 2000 my family and I experienced the loss of yet another little one, Angelita, was only 10 1/2 weeks gestation. Our due date would have been March 4, 2001.
Not a day goes by that we don't miss our little angels. I yearn for that day in heaven when that I will hold my children in my arms.

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