On Monday the 16 me and my husband went to my OBGYN for our regular check up to see how me and the baby were doing and my doctor said that everything looked great, we got to hear his heartbeat and she said it sounded wonderful. Me and my husband were so happy to hear those words every time we went in for our check ups, we just couldn't wait to have him here with us.

Well, Tuesday I felt him kicking me and moving all around in there so I knew that if I can still feel him moving everything was going to be OK.

Wednesday the 18th came and he was doing wonderful that whole day and later on that night around 11pm me and his Daddy were playing with him, we seen his feet stick out of the side of me, we seen him moving all around in there, and we took pictures of his feet sticking out of the side, we also took pictures of his body sticking out too, it was so neat.

After us playing with him I started to have some really bad pains so I called the hospital and told then what was going on with me, I figured they would know me by now because I was in and out of the hospital towards the middle of my pregnancy. I was in and out of there because I went into pre-term labor and they kept stopping my labor and pumping me full of fluids and medicine called Terbutaline, they put me on bed rest and told me that my uterus was just irritable.

Well, like I was saying I called the hospital on Wednesday the 18th and I told her what was going on and she more less blew me off. She had told me to go take a hot shower and that once I did that to lay down and put a pillow between my legs, she told me it wasn't contractions I was having. I told that lady that I was in and out of there so many times for them to stop my labor how can you tell me it's not contraction, she then told me that some of us are just eager to have our babies and to relax and that if the pain got worse to come in. I was so upset and David told me to calm down and then he tried to relax me, at this time it was about 12am on Thursday. Finally the pain died down a little and I drifted off to sleep, mind you I still felt my son moving at 12-1am so I knew he was OK.

Well, 12pm Thursday came and I had just woke up from being up half of Wednesday and Thursday and I didn't think that there was anything wrong so I went about my normal day.

Now it's Friday and me and my husband went to the hospital to see if I had dilated any cause he was going to be gone in LA for three days and I wanted to make sure that everything was going OK before he left because if I had shown any progress then he was going to stay. We knew we only had three more weeks left before his due date and so we just wanted to double check to see if everything was going good.

Once I got there they took me in and hooked me up to a machine to try and find the baby's heartbeat, and nothing happened. It took 3 nurses to try and find the heartbeat and they still couldn't find anything, they told me not to worry that it might just be the machine. How could I not worry, I was so scared that I started to cry and pray and ask God not to do this to us. So they took me to another room to have an ultra sound done, at this time I called all my family and David's family to tell them what was happening and minutes later they were all there. We sat there for so many hours not knowing at this time what was going on because we were still waiting for the ultra sound to be done on me. The family all came in the room with me and waited for that guy to get to my room to have one done, they all kept telling me and David that it was going to be all right that it was just the damn machine. Finally the ultra sound guy came in and did the ultra sound and I asked him what was going on, is everything OK and he couldn't answer my questions, he wasn't authorized to tell me.

Minutes later after the ultrasound was done, my doctor walked in and said those horrifying words that no parent would ever want to hear, "I'm sorry but your baby didn't make it." I could not believe what I was hearing cause Wednesday he was just fine and the doctor told me that it looked as if he passed on Thursday cause if he was kicking and moving Wednesday at 11pm then she was sure he passed Thursday, David and I felt our world crashing down. I screamed and cried and yelled at my Dr. to get him out of me and save him, I yelled to do a c-section and get him out as fast as they could do save his life, I yelled at her and told her not to tell me this, and she looked at me and said I'm sorry Stephanie but Noah is gone, I can't do anything else. I lost all control then, I felt everything leave my body at that time, it was like someone else stepped inside of me because I was not there to do what I had to do, I wasn't able to handle what was coming next so it felt like someone really took over my body for a while. I don't remember much else after that, except that after I had my son, I could not take my eyes off of him. I remember watching every move the nurses made and making sure they were gentle to him, I remember crying non stop and watching David cry his eyes out as he was giving him a bath and getting him dressed. I remember sitting there holding him tight and saying that I loved him and wishing that he would breath for me, wishing that this were all a very bad nightmare. I remember saying I was sorry over and over to him because I felt that I should have done more. I felt that I should have demanded more and yelled at the nurses and Dr. that they better do something, but how was I supposed to know that they weren't doing their jobs right. This was my first baby and I thought they were doing all they could do, how was I supposed to know that they were just brushing me off like I was a piece of lint on their shirts, God if only I had known they weren't doing their jobs. I remember talking to Noah in his ear and saying that I would give him my life if I had that chance, and that my life will never be the same again. I kept telling him that I didn't want to leave him or let him go, I wanted so bad to breast feed him, here him cry, hold on to him forever, and take him home. I thought that if I would just give him a little bit of my breast milk, that he would wake up for me, I thought that if I could blow air into him, that he would wake up and look at me. I had so many thoughts going through my body that I was just a wreak. I died along with my son that day, and my life will never be the same again.  If only they would have let him out to begin with he would have been here, and if that damn nurse didn't blow me off he would have been here too, I know in my heart he would have been here if it weren't for that hospital and it's staff.

At about 2:30pm on Friday they induced me
and I had him 12:40am Saturday
and he was born asleep.

After I had him my Dr. said that the only thing she could find that went wrong, was my placenta had aged quicker than it was supposed to. She said my placenta looked really old, small, and not very meaty and bloody like it's supposed to be. She had no answers to why it looked the way it did and she also said there was no way to detect that my placenta was aging.

He had all 10 fingers and 10 toes, he was just so perfect and beautiful that I thank God for sending him to me and my family, even if only for a short while. I'm glad I got to spend all those precious hours with him before me and his Daddy had to sign papers and release him to go to his final resting place. He is truly an Angel from above and he was just so perfect and beautiful in every way, the only thing he didn't have was a heartbeat.

Update: How Noah May Have Passed

 We never got an autopsy done on our son as we didn't want anyone touching him, we accepted the fact that Noah needed to be with God more than he needed to be with us because he finished his duties here before he was given a chance to take his first breath on earth. Us and our families accepted it too, although it was hard we knew we had to, then months later we are given some news after they did testing on me when I got pregnant with Noah's Little Brother.

The Dr ran some tests on me, all the tests he could possibly run on pregnant women and I didn't have a problem with it at this time as I trusted him, I wasn't seeing the same Dr with Cameren then I did with Noah. I was seeing a high risk Dr who was doing all he could to make sure I was ok as well as our baby. After I took all the tests I went back into his office where he told me that all the tests I took came back wonderful, all except for one. I looked at him and got so scared, he said "Stephanie you tested Positive for Parvo, also known as the 5th disease and slap cheek" I looked at him and said "what, doesn't that run in animals" he told me "this is a human Parvo and you can catch by someone coughing or sneezing that walks by you" I sat there and cried my eyes out, how come I was never tested for this before I had asked. He told me "they don't test for this as it's not a routine check" I continued to look at him and then he said "the percentage of it is low, meaning that you had it when you were pregnant with Noah and being that your body has already gotten it you are now immune and so will all of your babies. The Parvo virus will not harm you or your unborn children because you are immune now" Again the tears were pouring down my face and I choked back and asked him " is this what took Noah from us" he looked at me with the saddest look and with a very certain look on his face and said "yes it very well could have been why he passed away because it's dangerous in unborn babies" I felt my heart break into a million pieces as I knew from that day, that is how my son passed away. The Dr can't say for sure because he doesn't want to say the wrong thing, but he had the tone and that look that said it all!

As I left the Dr's office I sat and prayed and asked God to give me an answer, did my son pass this way, and I got a since of peace that went over my body and Noah came to me that night, I knew right then my baby passed due to the Parvo Virus (known as the 5th disease and slap cheek) that runs in humans and that it is very dangerous in unborn babies. No testing is done for this unless you feel you have been exposed to it (but not a lot of people know of this) I have asked if there was a way to push this issue to make it be a routine test because anything that can harm an unborn baby should be routine, so I'm in the process of getting that done as well.


Below Tells You Of The "Parvo Virus"
Also Known As The "Fifth Disease"
and "Slap Cheek"
(please read and educate yourself)



Definition

Fifth disease is a mild childhood illness caused by the human parvovirus B19 that causes flu-like symptoms and a rash. It is called fifth disease because it was fifth on a list of common childhood illnesses that are accompanied by a rash, including measles, rubella or German measles, scarlet fever (or scarlatina), and scarlatinella, a variant of scarlet fever.

Description

The Latin name for the disease is erythema infectiosum, meaning infectious redness. It is also called the "slapped cheek disease" because, when the bright red rash first appears on the cheeks, it looks as if the face has been slapped. Anyone can get the disease, but it occurs more frequently in school-aged children. The disease is usually mild, and both children and adults usually recover quickly without complications. In fact, some individuals exhibit no symptoms and never even feel ill. Outbreaks most often occur in the winter and spring.

Causes and symptoms

Fifth disease is caused by the human parvovirus B19, a member of the Parvoviridae family of viruses, that lives in the nose and throat of the infected person. The virus is spread through the air by coughing and sneezing. Because the virus needs a rapidly dividing cell in order to multiply, it attacks the red blood cells of the body. Once infected, a person is believed to be immune to reinfection.

Symptoms may appear 4–21 days after being exposed to the virus. Initial symptoms are flu-like and include headache, body ache, sore throat, a mild fever of 101°F (38.3°C), and chills. It is at this time, prior to the development of the rash, that individuals are contagious. These symptoms last for two to three days. In children, a bright red rash that looks like a slap mark develops suddenly on the cheeks. The rash may be flat or raised and may or may not be itchy. Sometimes, the rash spreads to the arms, legs, and trunk, where it has a lace-like or net-like appearance. The rash can also involve the palms of the hands and soles of the feet. By the time the rash appears, individuals are no longer infectious. On average, the rash lasts for 10–11 days, but may last for as long as five to six weeks. The rash may fade away and then reappear upon exposure to sunlight, hot baths, emotional distress, or vigorous exercise.

Adults generally do not develop a rash, but instead may have swollen and painful joints, especially in the hands and feet. In adults, symptoms such as sore throat, headache, muscle and joint pain, abdominal pain, diarrhea, and vomiting occur more frequently than in children and are usually more severe. The joint pain can be arthritis-like and last for several months, especially in women, but the disease does not appear to progress to rheumatoid arthritis.

The virus causes the destruction of red blood cells and, therefore, a deficiency in the oxygen-carrying capacity of the blood (anemia) can result. In healthy people, the anemia is mild and only lasts a short while. In people with weakened immune systems, however, either because they have a chronic disease like AIDS or cancer (immunocompromised), or are receiving medication to suppress the immune system (immunosuppressed), such as organ transplant recipients, this anemia can be severe and last long after the infection has subsided. Symptoms of anemia include fatigue, lack of color, lack of energy, and shortness of breath. Some individuals with sickle cell anemia, iron deficiency, a number of different hereditary blood disorders, and those who have received bone marrow transplantations may be susceptible to developing a potentially life-threatening complication called a transient aplastic crisis where the body is temporarily unable to form new red blood cells.

In very rare instances, the virus can cause inflammation of different areas of the body, including the brain (encephalitis), the covering of the brain and spinal cord (meningitis), the lungs (pneumonitis), the liver (hepatitis), and the heart muscle (myocarditis). The virus can also aggravate symptoms for people with an autoimmune disease called systemic lupus erythematosus.

There is some concern about fifth disease in pregnant women. Although no association with an increased number of birth defects has been demonstrated, there is concern that infection during the first three months of pregnancy may lead to a slight increase in the number of miscarriages. There is also some concern that infection later in pregnancy may involve a very small risk of premature delivery or stillbirths. As a result, women who get fifth disease while they are pregnant should be monitored closely by a physician.

Diagnosis

Fifth disease is usually suspected based on a patient's symptoms, including the typical appearance of the bright red rash on the cheeks, patient history, age, and the time of year. The physician will also exclude other potential causes for the symptoms and rash, including rubella, infectious mononucleosis, bacterial infections like Lyme disease, allergic reactions, and lupus.

In addition, there is a blood test for fifth disease, but it is generally used only for pregnant women and for people who have weakened immune systems or who suffer from blood disorders, such as sickle cell anemia. The test involves measuring for a particular antibody or protein that the body produces in response to infection with the human parvovirus B19. The test is 92–97% specific for this disease.

Because fifth disease can pose problems for an unborn fetus exposed to the disease through the mother, testing may also be conducted while a fetus is still in the uterus. This test uses fluid collected from the sac around the fetus (amniotic fluid) instead of blood to detect the viral DNA.

Treatment

In general, no specific treatment for fifth disease is required. The symptoms can be treated using over-the counter medications, such as acetaminophen (Tylenol) or ibuprofen (Motrin, Advil). If the rash itches, calamine lotion can be applied. Aspirin is usually not given to children under the age of 18 to prevent the development of a serious illness called Reye's syndrome.

Patients who are receiving medications to suppress the immune system in the treatment of some other condition may be allowed to temporarily decrease the medications in order to allow the immune system to combat the infection and recover from the anemia. Those with weakened (not suppressed) immune systems, such as AIDS patients, may be given immunoglobulin intravenously to help the immune system fight the infection. People with severe anemia or who experience an aplastic crisis may require hospitalization and blood transfusions

Prognosis

Generally, fifth disease is mild, and patients tend to improve without any complications. In cases where the patient is either immunocompromised or immunosuppressed, a life-threatening aplastic crisis can occur. With prompt treatment, however, the prognosis is good. Mothers who develop the infection while pregnant can pass the infection on to their fetus, and as such, stand an increased risk of miscarriage and stillbirth. There are tests and treatments, however, that can be performed on the fetus while still in the uterus that can reduce the risk of anemia or other complications.

Prevention

Currently, there is no vaccine against fifth disease. Avoiding contact with persons who exhibit symptoms of a cold and maintaining good personal hygiene by regularly washing hands may minimize the chances of an infection. Pregnant women should avoid exposure to persons infected with the disease and notify their obstetrician immediately if they are exposed so that they can be tested and monitored closely.



This Letter Was Sent To Me By A Dear Friend On The Net That I Have Grown To Know & Love Through The Passing Of Her Precious Daughter & My Precious Son! Tears Filled My Eyes As I Read This, Words Will Never Be Enough To Tell You How Proud I Am Of Noah!

Words From Another Mother Who
Too Experianced The 5th Disease
Your site is so beautiful and touching. It was the first baby memorial site I visited after our son died. I didn't sign the guestbook then, but have been meaning to ever since. Somehow you found our site and signed Matthew's book. Thank you for your sweet remarks. I found it interesting to read about 5ths disease. I had 5ths disease when I was pregnant with my fifth child. I had contracted it from my other children and had weekly ultrasounds for about 18 weeks to make sure she was okay. Everything went well with that delivery. How scary to think that we might have lost her too, if not for my doctor's careful monitoring. I am having my first baby since losing Matthew. A little girl being delivered next Tuesday (April 18). Even though this is my ninth delivery, I am so worried that things might go wrong again. The pregnancy has been very closely monitored this time. Her heart looks great (Matthew died from congenital heart failure). Cameren and Jayden are beautiful little boys too! Congratulations on their safe arrival. I just wanted to thank you for making this beautiful site and for your support of grieving parents everywhere. God Bless.
Cathleen Baker

My Life After Loosing My
First Born Son To Stillbirth!

A Portrait Of Both My Boys Together,
How Very Precious This Is To Us, And How Very Beautiful It is!

Potraits Done By Diane!