My Storm

My name is Kayla Lightsey I have a wonderful family, great friends and a ALMIGHTY God but I also have a storm raging in my life... the storm of GRIEF!! In August of 2011 I and my husband of 3 years (and high school sweetheart of 10 years) Colt Lightsey found out that we were going to be parents for the first time. Unlike some this pregnancy was completely planned, we had been trying for 8 months when God finally blessed us with our little pea pod, there was not a happier couple in all of Alabama!!

 My pregnancy was one for the books every symptom from those, "What to Expect," books I had but the worst thing was the 17 weeks of morning sickness. By the way, whoever called it morning sickness must have been asleep the rest of the day because morning had nothing to do with it, I threw up everyday all day!! After those long weeks of sickness we finally got to find out what our little pea pod was going to be and boy were we surprised!! During most of my pregnancy most of the doctors and nurses were betting Girl because the babies heart rate was in the 160's most of the time but little did we know a precious little BOY was going to make a grand appearance. Needless to say my husband and father-in-law were so excited at this news they were fit to be tied, I do believe everybody in the Talladega County area knew within 24 hours that the Lightsey family was indeed having a little boy!!

 Now when I say our little boy made a grand entrance the word I probably should have used was shocking because indeed to us and to the medical community at St. Vincent's it was. On January 25, 2012 I was going on 28 weeks pregnant, the day started out as any other I got up jumped in my (getting tighter by the day) maternity pants and headed off to my daily job as a 7th grade history teacher at Alexander City Middle School. Work that day was just that WORK.. dealing with 7th graders is always stressful so I was no stranger to a little stress but this morning I was in a little more physical pain than I had been accustomed to (alot of tummy cramping)! As the morning progressed I noticed my pain steadily getting worse to the point I could hardly walk so I decided to call my doctor, only after the school nurse verified that my blood pressure was 165/85 and that she believed I could possibly be going into early labor. On the way to the hospital I noticed that our little boy had not moved very much all morning, like he normally did, other than a few hiccup spells earlier in the morning so my mom gene kicked in and i immediately began to worry about my little man. When we arrived at the hospital my OB immediately sent me down to labor and delivery to be put on the monitors. After a thorough check the doctors had determined I was not in labor.. No contractions... No dilation.. No reason for my intense pain. Needless to say I was a bit frustrated and very Ill that I was hurting so badly and the doctors couldn't seem to find the source; however, I was relieved that the babies heart rate was fine and the sonogram showed a healthy happy baby! Shortly after the sonogram a general surgeon came in and said he would like to run a CAT Scan on me because he believed my pain could possibly be from an appendix problem. He informed me that he could remove my appendix the next day if need be and continue with no effect on my pregnancy. He left the room to go get the CAT Scan room ready and then my life changed forever. My mom was sitting on my hospital bed with me rubbing my cramping back when all of a sudden I began to hemorrhage! Not bleed ... Hemorrhage.. Within seconds it seemed there were 20 nurses over my body monitors beeping with the heart rate of my son dropping before my eyes, I began going into shock and shaking so violently my husband feared my teeth were going to break. After a minute of excruciating tests my OB (Dr. Snowden) ripped my bed out of the wall and told my husband, mother, and in-laws that she had less than 10 minutes to get the baby out or we were both going to die! After a 6 minute emergency c-section my son Joseph "Cale" Lightsey was born and 1 pound 16 ounces and 16 inches long ( NOT BREATHING)! After much work by the nurses Cale began to breathe with the help of a tube and his life was spared ... we thought! After a 30 minute recovery time I woke up to the worst news a mom could ever receive... Hunny Cale is not going to make it his little lungs and brain were just without oxygen too long we only have about an hour! (According to doctors I had a full placental abruption that effects only 10% of women... this rips away the baby's life support and causes imminent fetal demise in most cases.) My son was then handed to me so i could say my hello as his mommy and too soon have to say goodbye. They say that babies born to die are perfect in every way and I believe that this is true because my son Cale could not have been more beautiful.. no bruises.. no hematomas... no nothing just a beautiful skin, long legs and an adorable little WHO nose!! After 1 hour of rocking, singing the teddy bear song, kissing, and talking to our sweet boy Cale left the arms of his parents to the arms of Jesus. Here at this place is where my story begins... my story of learning how for the first time to PRAISE HIM IN THIS STORM!