Emily and I went in for an unscheduled check-up at 8 a.m. yesterday morning (Wednesday). The nurse and Dr. informed us, much to our surprise, that Emily having contractions every two minutes (she could not feel them yet). They admitted her to the delivery room around 1030 a.m. as she was dilated 1 cm. At 10:40 p.m., she was 3 cm dilated. By midnight, she was 5 cm dilated. And by 1 a.m., she was fully dilated. At 1:58 a.m., the end of the beginning of our journey was here.
Emily was a trooper. Through all of this, she took no drugs for labor pains and I am so proud of her! She inspires my faith!!
We had a very tough, long day. We cried. We rejoiced. We cried tears of joy that she is with Jesus in Heaven. And we cried tears of pain that she is not with us. We took lots of pictures of our baby Caroline. We held her, loved her, made some good memories, and finally entrusted her care to the hospital staff.
We left the hospital at 8:30 p.m. and are home now.
Thank you all for your heartfelt prayers, unswerving support, and hundreds of posts on Facebook. My blog had 4,000 visitors today alone!! Y'all rock! Please keep the love and support coming! God is so good. And has given us a miracle in Caroline Grace. Her little life has touched so many, including mine. And he continues to give us strength through all of this and we have felt His healing miracle power all day. It feels good to be a dad! And I am so proud of my little girl! I love you sweetie!
You guys have been on my heart all day. Continued love and prayers to you guys. Caroline is perfect and God is using your sweet little one and your faith and strength to minister to people as we speak. You guys are amazing!
ReplyDeleteI'm weeping as I write this and I love you guys so much. Thank you for posting the photos. She is beautiful!
ReplyDeleteThinking of the lyrics from Steven Curtis Chapman song, "with Hope" right now: "This is not at all how
ReplyDeleteWe thought it was supposed to be
We had so many plans for you
We had so many dreams
And now you've gone away
And left us with the memories of your smile
And nothing we can say
And nothing we can do
Can take away the pain
The pain of losing you, but ...
We can cry with hope
We can say goodbye with hope
'Cause we know our goodbye is not the end, oh no
And we can grieve with hope
'Cause we believe with hope
(There's a place by God's grace)
There's a place where we'll see your face again"
What a precious little angel. Praying for you guys!
Cam,
ReplyDeleteI am so sorry for your loss. Your faith and strength has inspired me and many others. May God's grace always shine upon you.
Johnny's mom
Ur baby girl is gorgeous! My heart and prayers go out to u and ur beautiful family. U are an inspiration to sooo many u don't even know. Ur strength and faith are just unspeakable!!! God could have not chosen two better people for that journey! I only hope that I someday could be half as wonderful in everyway that u two have shown us by sharing ur journey with us. May God continue to bless u and ur family and I will continue to pray for that as well.
ReplyDeleteCam and Emily: We will grieve with you, cry with you, pray for you, and keep you in our hearts. Caroline Grace is beautiful; and she will always be with you. Mark and Vicki Stidham
ReplyDeleteShe is beautiful! Thank you for posting pictures so quickly. Like everyone else, I thought of you all day long yesterday and haven't stopped. The Hayes family story is with me forever, and will always give me strength in times of trial. xoxox.
ReplyDeleteKarisa
Wow, the pictures are incredible - she was truly your little girl! How beautiful she was and how much more beautiful she is now in Heaven fully formed! Beautiful!
ReplyDeleteShe's beautiful. Her little hands holding yours is such a picture of how God holds ours. I praise Him that you were able to capture all those precious memories as you held her and loved her. My prayers will continue with you and Em as you continue this journey together. Thank you for sharing Caroline Grace's beautiful life with all of us. Love you, Jo Lynn Allen
ReplyDeleteMatthew 19:14 ESV
ReplyDeleteBut Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.”
Caroline Grace is in the presence of our wonderful loving God. Your faith during this time is inspiring to me. I will continue to pray for you and Emily. May you continue to find peace in knowing that you created a masterpiece when you created Caroline but God needed her more. He knows your pain and is always holding you. Love and prayers, Sandra T.
Hi, You don't know us but I heard about your story from a mutual friend, Kristin Lewnes, through Facebook. Your family has been on our hearts and in our prayers and will continue to be especially in the coming months and you grieve and learn to heal. We pray that the Lord will comfort you and bring you His perfect peace that He alone can only supply.
ReplyDeleteYour story touches our hearts so much because we too are learning what it means to be "held" by God as we continue to put our trust in him but are also grieving the loss of our sweet boy. Eight months ago, our precious son, Hudson David, was born at 27wks. He lived for 36 hrs and then went home to be with Jesus.
It's a difficult road ahead and yet God is good and faithful and meets our needs even before we know what we need. It brings great joy to our hearts knowing that our sweet Hudson now knows your precious Caroline and that they are both in the arms of their Heavenly Father.
Grace & peace,
Jenn & Justin Ohlinger
This is such a story of love and faith. Thank you for sharing. You guys are and inspiration to all who know you and many who don't. In a world where it is so common and easy for some to dispose of what is not perfect or to choose what they consider an easy way out of a difficult situation you guys chose to let God's will play out. It is good to hear how God has been glorified through this. We will be praying for your family.
ReplyDeleteLove to you both!
Angel & Harry Womack & family
Cam, no words can express the way my heart feels to have such a wonderful, faithful and spiritual son. Caroline Grace is very fortunate to have you Emily as her earthly parents
ReplyDeleteI love you so very much.
-As always lots of love and prayers
Mama