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After suffering a miscarriage in early 2017, and giving birth at only 20 weeks to our angel baby Faith Ann Cunningham in August 2018, we hoped the most challenging times were in the past. In November 2018 we learned we were expecting again. We learned from our previous late term loss that I had an incompetent cervix and spoke at length with my OB about what the options were moving forward. We agreed that having a cerclage placed around 16 weeks gestation would be the plan. The time came to place the cerclage in late February and everything went as planned. On April 1st, we went in for the 20 week anatomy scan. Everything looked perfect with baby. Toward the end of the ultrasound the nurse’s demeanor drastically changed and she became silent and asked the doctor to join us in the room. Our hearts sank as we were told to go straight to the hospital and they would call and let them know we were on our way. The doctor explained that my cervix had funneled all the way down to the stitch. Once again we made it all the way to 20 weeks and we were crushed and scared and had no idea what to expect. After spending a night in the hospital our OB decided that I could go home and be on strict bed rest, so that’s what I did. I laid flat on my back for about 23 of the 24 hours in a day for the next 3 weeks. Other than weekly visits to the doctor, I was allowed to take a shower every other day and I could get up to use the restroom. After about 3 weeks of bed rest and talking to every Maternal Fetal Medicine doctor in our area we went back to see a familiar face, Dr. Christopher Enakpene, who made mention of a device he had specifically been studying for women in my exact predicament but it wasn’t yet approved by the FDA. Enter the pessary (a very small donut shaped piece of plastic) which was only available in Germany. Kyle stayed up all night in order to call Germany during their business hours and give them the very specific measurements given to us by Dr. Enakpene to have a pessary overnighted to our house so we could take it to his office and he could place it the next day. I’ll spare you the details on this and let you google at your own risk. At this point we were fully prepared to do whatever we could to try and save this baby girl. On April 24th (my Birthday) I was re-admitted to the hospital. Our doctors pulled out all the tricks, I received 2 rounds of steroid injections with hopes of strengthening  baby’s lungs, 3 rounds of magnesium for her brain development and remained in what they call Trendelenburg (laying inverted) until Ella was born on May 4th. After 2 nights at Midland Memorial we collectively decided I needed to be transferred to Odessa Regional Medical Center where they have a higher level NICU. I had an emergency C-section in the wee hours of the morning on May 4th 2019, I heard a faint cry when she arrived and Dr. Patel (Neonatologist) intubated her immediately in the delivery room and then whisked her off to the NICU where she would spend the next 100 days. We knew it was going to be a rollercoaster, but she was here, she was alive, and she was receiving the very best care. We knew that God had given us this tiny little miracle and that he was going to take care of her and he did. If you ever want to feel and see God at work, visit a NICU. The doctors, nurses, respiratory therapists, speech therapists, and so many others that take care of these tiny babies are angels on earth.  We are raising money to spread awareness and improve care for moms and babies that find themselves in less than desirable situations.