Dani was about 34 weeks along in her pregnancy and everything was going well. We had an ultrasound on Tuesday the 8th to check on our beautiful baby. We had few doctor visits/ultrasounds since we found out that Dani was pregnant because we did not have insurance. I (Chris) joined the air national guard in March and it took us months to figure out insurance and get onto a plan. We were insured on July 1st and were very excited to check up on the baby. At the ultrasound we were able to hear Shyla's heartbeat, see pictures of her pretty face, and watch her as she moved around in mommy's belly. Everything was perfect, there weren't any issues with baby. Malachi and Evie were able to come to this and Mali was particularly happy to have his very own pictures of his new baby brother or sister (we were waiting for a surprise!). This visit at the Dr. was one of our many blessings; we got to see our baby and we knew that everything about her was perfect. We were able to have see her alive one last time; God allowed that and knew we would need it in the days to come.
The next few days, Dani worried because she couldn't feel the baby moving. After some worry and anxiety we decided on Friday night that if Dani couldn't feel the baby move then she would go in to see what was going on. Saturday morning came and there still wasn't movement. Dani went to the hospital while I stayed home with the kids. About a half hour later Dani called and told me that I needed to come to the hospital. I could hear in her voice that something was wrong. I got the kids dressed and ran to the hospital as quickly as I could. When I saw Dani, my heart broke. She was in tears as she told me that there was no heartbeat, that we had lost our little baby. We spent the next few hours in a daze. We contacted parents, the doctor, the ultrasound tech, and discussed things that had never crossed our minds as options. We decided to induce Dani that day and deliver our child, and then go from there. Dani and I got to spend the whole day and night together - we held each other, we prayed, we cried, and we even found a few moments to laugh as we waited for our Angel.
Dani began really contracting around midnight and had an epidural around 2 am. We probably could have delivered at this time but we really wanted our family to be part of this experience (including kids who weren't awake) so Dani amazingly waited until 7:30 am. At this time both of our parents and Mali and Evie were able to come to the hospital. Once things were set up and the Dr. came in, it was less than 10 minutes before we had another miracle...Baby Shyla was born. We were positive we were having a baby boy before she came, but it was our precious, darling girl. She was perfect. This moment was so bittersweet for us... I will never forget seeing the life that my little girl would never have pass before my eyes and having my heart break all over again. I remember seeing Dani's face and seeing her heart breaking all over again. Then Dani asked the doctor if she could have her baby. Seeing my beautiful wife with my literally perfect daughter was amazing! We know that Shyla's body didn't live, but her spirit was there as alive as you or me! Our baby girl was needed for important work in heaven, but we know that she was there for us that day and she continues to visit and help us in times of need.
There is no way to express exactly how we felt or what we went through, but our friend came and took pictures and made this beautiful video, and it is as close as we can get to sharing our experience that day with everyone.
We were able to spend all day with our little family. We were blessed to have a amazing nurses/staff, a caring doctor, an incredible counselor, a kind mortician, and love and support from family and friends as we loved our little girl and planned for the future. This was the hardest thing that we have ever had to do but we were blessed beyond reason. We had so much love and support. We were able to have a beautiful service and a fun BBQ to show off our Angel baby on Tuesday. We will never be able to express how much love and support we have around us. We will never be able to express how strong the spirit has been and how close we have grown to each other and to our Heavenly Father. This is the biggest reason we wanted to write this blog...because we know that other people don't have the love and support that we do. As we had this outpouring of love coming at us from every direction, we thought a lot about people who don't always have this...people who need it (everyone). Since we have no words that can ever express the appreciation we have for everyone who was and is here for us, this is our best way of saying "THANK YOU!"
We ask our friends and family to think of Shyla Sol and to do something for someone, anyone. We wanted to share our story of Shyla because she is amazing and we want everyone to know who she is and how she has influenced our life. We have encouraged everyone to share their stories of service with us. We want others to feel the love we have.
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