It’s one of the happiest moments ever—after the months of nesting and growing, pregnancy pains and changing bodies, hearing your baby’s first cry somehow makes all of it worth it. This tiny little human is finally in your arms, and literally nothing in the world could possibly come close to what you’re experiencing in that moment.
For Tammy and Adam Smith, it was a moment they were told would never come.
After her water broke at just 20 weeks, Tammy was told the couple’s unborn son, Jesse, could never survive. With no fluids surrounding him in the womb, the boy had a less than a one percent chance of surviving. Still, scans showed his heart still beating.
“I was desperate for hope, but they told me there was none and that our son couldn’t survive,” Tammy says. “They wanted me to terminate but I couldn’t.”
Concerned she would soon go into premature labor, doctors suggested the parents make arrangements for a funeral. Tammy and Adam picked everything out from the flowers and music to the outfit and coffin.
To make matters worse, Jesse wouldn’t be the first child the Smiths have had to bury. The couple had already tragically lost a son, and they’d planned to bury Jesse in the same grave.
They waited in agony, and with each day that passed, Tammy knew that she was closer and closer to saying “hello” and “goodbye” to her sweet baby boy. She did everything she could to prolong the process with help from the online community Little Heartbeats—which aims to raise awareness about PPROM (preterm premature rupture of membranes).
Ten weeks went by before Tammy went into labor.
Prepared for a silent delivery room, and a repeat to the devastating pain and heartbreak they’ve already experienced, you can only imagine how much they were dreading the events that would soon come.
That is—until Jesse was born, crying!
© Photo Features
He was initially unresponsive—something everyone had expected. But just a few moments after making his grand entrance into the world, the infant shocked everyone when it turned out he had survived! A small whimper let them know he was breathing, and he was rushed to emergency care.
© Photo Features
“He is a miracle, there’s no doubt about it in my mind,” Tammy says. “To go into delivery being told to prepare for your baby being born asleep is horrendous.”
She says leaving the hospital with a healthy baby boy was a “dream come true.”
© Photo Features
Tammy now helps support other mothers who are affected by PPROM by partnering with Little Heartbeats.
“I owe his life to that Facebook page that told me what to do and I followed every scrap of information I could find when the doctors had given up.”
As for Jesse, the little fighter just turned a year old in April and he’s still defying all odds, growing healthy and strong, and ready to take on the world every morning.
© Photo Features
“I want other mothers to know there is always hope. Jesse is living proof.”
