The miracle I call my brother

I was 12 when I found out that I was going to have a baby sibling. I was stunned, the doctors had already told my mother that she couldn’t have anymore kids. My mother was put through so much during her pregnancy that I really don’t know how she stayed sane.

She was now with a new man Henry but he wasn’t the father. My mom was in the process of leaving my dad when she got pregnant, everyone thought the baby was Henry’s except my mother.

About three months into her pregnancy Henry came over to tell her that he had cheated on her, and also got the other woman pregnant. My mother started stressing a lot more after this. At this time we were struggling with money living in a tiny 2 bedroom apartment to where my older brother had his room, and I gave up my room to my mom when Henry ended it, because she started to be home a lot more.

About five months into it my mother found out that the baby had downs syndrome, and a whole in his heart. This broke my mothers heart, to know that her baby could come out deformed, or maybe not even make it at all. People at her work began to tell her that they would not think any different of her if she agreed to have abortion. This was only making the problem worse.

She decided to keep the baby. After about 2 months my mother went to work, only to know that something was wrong. The baby had stopped moving. Instantly my mom rushed to the hospital, only to receive the news that an emergency C-section was in order.

My older brother rushed into my new house (we had moved about 5 - 6 months into the pregnancy) to wake me up and fill me in on what was going on.

A couple minutes later we were at the hospital, waiting eagerly for any news on what was going on, when my dad comes into the room to tell us that the baby was alive but was in critical condition. The baby was 2 months early so his lungs weren’t completely developed.

My mom was rolled into the room much later, and all we could do much later, and all we could do was wait for news on the new baby (Jacob). After a while the doctors came into the room and told us that he was fine, but would probably be in the hospital for at least a month. Our family drove to the hospital everyday to see him until after only two week he was released to go home.

After about 2 months Jacob got sick with pneumonia and was put back in the hospital for another week. Nobody thought Jacob would make it through this but he did and was soon released yet again.

In his fourth month alive he needed to have heart surgery for the hole in his heart. They said that he had a small chance of living. The family was scared to death, having the baby enter the world and feared that he would be ripped out as fast as he had been put in.

During the heart surgery he had a mini stroke and afterwards lost all use of his left arm and left leg. But yet amazingly, he made it out alive keeping us all complete. Now as I write this I am closer to him then ever and I couldn’t imagine life without him in it.

Jacob is and has always been the biggest fighter I have ever known. He has battled death over and over again and he always seems to come out on top. I love him to death….I didn’t put to much detail into this because it would have been forever long, but sense the heart surgery mini stroke, Jacob has gotten a lot of physical therapy and he is still trying to improve on walking, and using the left side of his body…