In April 2021, when Rebekah Pegg and her partner Adam’s child was born tiny than a Coke bottle, they worried she would not survive until Christmas. Roxanne was born three months early and weighed barely 1 pound and 14 ounces. Her parents, Rebekah Pegg and Adam Bray, feel very lucky to begin the year 2022 with Isabella, age 3, and her older sister.
Rebekah, age 26, states, “There were several terrifying times when we were unsure if Roxanne would live. Rebekah was hurried into the operating room because her daughter’s heartbeat had stopped. She stated, “It was terrible, but the midwives promised me that Roxanne would be born without making a sound. “When she whimpered, though, everything became somewhat hazy.” “At two weeks old, she was smaller than a Coke bottle, and she was so frail that I was afraid to hold her.”
In addition, Rebekah, a school chef on maternity leave, states, “Having her at home with us and celebrating Christmas with her and Isabella feels very precious.”
In October of 2020, Rebekah’s pregnancy with Roxanne nearly ended four weeks in when an ovarian cyst ruptured.”I was hurried to the hospital in severe pain and given both good and bad news. I was advised that, despite being pregnant and in the early stages of my pregnancy, there was a high likelihood that I would miscarry since I needed an emergency treatment to address a burst cyst.”
Rebekah was brought to the hospital on April 2, 2021, at 28 weeks gestation, after feeling ill and noticing decreased activity.
Rebekah states, “I was placed on a monitor to keep an eye on the infant. Three hours later, the infant’s heartbeat decreased, and the room filled with medical personnel; the situation was quite frightening.
“I was taken into the operating room, and Roxanne was delivered via emergency C-section within minutes. She uttered a small moan as she was delivered, but then she lost consciousness and the doctors worked on her for the eleven longest minutes of my life. When she was hurried away to NICU, I saw a fleeting sight of her in an incubator wrapped in a plastic bag to keep her warm, with a small oxygen mask on her face.
“I visited her daily, but leaving the hospital without my child was devastating,” Rebekah says. “We received assistance from the incredible organization Emily’s Star, who donated me a neonatal box. “We shot the picture of her with the Coke bottle when she was two weeks old to demonstrate to our friends and relatives how tiny she was. I cannot believe how delicate she was.”
After 96 days in the hospital, Roxanne could return home. She still requires an oxygen supply, but she was able to celebrate her first Christmas with her older sister and family. Rebekah declares, “Christmas is always lovely, but this year is especially beautiful since we have our little miracle with us.”
