It Is My Pleasure To Announce…

~ Mrs. Gaby Garcia ~

As the recipient of a free maternity photo session =)

I was absolutely delighted to see my inbox fill up with such gorgeous stories from expecting moms, and from those who were nominating a friend or family member. I love hearing stories that are miraculous, touching, and remind me of just how incredible the act of having a baby truly is. Each letter raved on and on about a hard working mom, or another beautiful miracle story about a pregnancy that doctors thought would never happen. Honestly, they were beautifully written stories and letters. I started to wonder what I got myself into because, how could I choose one??

But there was one particular story that was so remarkable, I just had to share part of it with you. The letter was written to me from her sister-in-law who was nominating her, and she wanted to surprise Gaby with this session by sharing her story with me. When Gaby was 10 weeks along with her second baby, she was experiencing extremely painful headaches that finally brought her to the ER, and an MRI scan revealed that she had some large brain clots in her brain. She was helicoptered from her home in Flagstaff to Phoenix, and was informed that treatment would be surgery and blood thinners…. which could be detrimental to her new pregnancy. So harmful, in fact, that she was told that terminating the pregnancy would be the best option at this point ~ for the pregnancy would not make it through the painful treatment, as well as the strong regimen of blood thinners.

Here is how her sister-in-law begins to describe the treatment,

“The doctors immediately started treatment on Gaby once she arrived in Phoenix. She was injected often with blood thinners.  They were not doing enough. She went through her first brain surgery… still pregnant. The surgery was a                                   success, to some extent.  They were able to remove most of the clots…still pregnant.  About three days later, she was still heavily medicated, barely able to speak, had lost some hearing, and all vision.  After further testing, it was                                             found that there were more clots that had formed.  Brain surgery round 2… still pregnant.  This time it was a success again, and 90% of the clots had been removed…still pregnant.  She continued with the injections to thin her blood.                                     The injections were working this time, and the remaining clots broke up and were gone….still pregnant.. and about 2 weeks in Phoenix.  Meanwhile, her 2 year old son was still back at home, and unable to visit her in the hospital.                                       She was weak, frail, and praying to regain her hearing and vision.

She stayed in the hospital to be observed and continue treatment to keep more clots at bay.  The medication made her lose all her hair.  Her eye sight began to return.  However, the brain surgeries caused her eyes to become completely                                  crossed, causing her to be unable to see straight, and causing everything to be doubled.  She had to wear special glasses that allowed her to only see out of one eye at a time, to minimize the double vision.  Her hearing returned. And                                        more, she was still pregnant. All the while, she was unable to see her son, Andrew.  She had been gone for about three weeks now.

She returned home. Paler. 20 pound thinner. Bald.  Cross eyed.  Frail.  Pregnant  and more- she returned home happy. Yes. Happy. Joyful.  Literally filled with joy.  She NEVER said a foul word about her circumstances.  She never                                      complained. She never felt sorry for herself (even though the rest of us did).   She remained faithful, that while she fought through all this hell, she was determined to walk in faith that the Lord would do a miracle. “

And the Lord DID provide her with a miracle. She continued through the rest of her pregnancy, even having to give herself blood thinner injections in her stomach every day. Eventually, her hair started to grow back in, and her eyesight began to improve daily. Eventually, her body started to heal itself, and the best part ~ she gave birth to a perfectly healthy, full-term baby girl. God is good.

These pictures were sent to me with the email of her story ~ the picture on the left was Gaby as she was going through treatment. She had lost her hair, still had slightly crossed-eyed vision, but still smiling and still pregnant! The picture on the right is of her and her beautiful miracle baby girl =)

Now Gaby is pregnant with her third child, and although she still remembers the scars of her traumatizing last pregnancy, Gaby is thankful for what God has provided in her life. And I think that this pregnancy should be enjoyed and celebrated after such a miserable experience last time!

So it is my pleasure and a blessing to me, to provide you Gaby with a free maternity session that will make you feel beautiful and celebrated! You are an incredible woman, and I can’t wait to meet you =)

*** And for everyone else who sent me an email or story for the giveaway, I would like to offer you a free gift as an incentive to book your maternity session with me, so please email me if you are still interested! ****