The story of Lily
After having four children we decided that four was plenty enough for us. So during our fourth child’s birth we decided to have surgery to prevent further pregnancies. Soon after we settled in the country. We bought acres and began to add livestock. We were enjoying the simple country life. I would often carry fifty pound feed bags to the barn for our animals. One day I began to feel unwell. My spouse and I agreed that making an appointment with my obgyn would be a good idea. During that appointment my doctor discovered that the tubal failed and I was pregnant with baby number five. The ultrasound confirmed that I had a placenta previa that later progressed into an acreta. A placenta acreta is life threatening and can often lead to uncontrollable blood loss or death. Shortly after that I was hospitalized to prevent further complications. One April morning during my hospitalization I collapsed and lost consciousness. I was taken into surgery to deliver my daughter. My daughter was born ten weeks prematurely. She weighed a whooping three pounds. She was transported to a nearby Children’s Hospital. Little did we know that our journey with CF was about to take our life by storm. My baby was hospitalized for 77 days. During that time it was discovered that she had a bowel obstruction. It took two surgeries to repair. We spoke with a genetics counselor and shortly after the results were in she was diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis. It has been quite a journey thus far. Our baby girl is a blessing and we are honored to be her parents, her advocate’s, and her support system. She was born into a big loving family that will always be by her side no matter where CF takes us. Our baby girl was born out of a failed tubal ligation, she was featured on the news, she lived through a tornado that just passed the hospital, she had her story published in the local newspaper, and is currently living through a pandemic! She did all this before turning two year’s old! I say what else can we accomplish? We belong to an amazing community of Cystic Fibrosis warriors! We wanted to advocate for these CFers on Rare Disease Day!