Our friend, Jessica Stiner, went into preterm Labor on Nov. 3, 2011 and was only 24 weeks along.
With the support of family and friends she was able to stay pregnant in the hospital for two more weeks.
Grandma-to-be, Tammy, was so excited for the arrival of her first grandchild.
Avery Scott Pierce Stiner was born on Nov. 16, 2011 at only 26 weeks and a mere 1lb. 9 oz!
We were in constant awe of his tiny perfection. In the next two weeks he amazed doctors and nurses with his strength, growth, ability to breathe on his own and lack of complications.
It was so neat to be at the NICU with Jessica as she held Avery in her arms for the first time!
He started having lung problems and had to be on a C-PAP machine at 2 weeks old, then was put back on the ventilator a few days later.
His Godmother, Kayla (Jessica's best friend) loved him so much and was incredibly helpful to Jessica.
On Dec. 15th we were told that his lung problems, and mysterious infection were extremely serious and in spite of all the tests they had done, and all the medications he had been on, he would probably not survive the night.
Although he wasn't getting much oxygen, Avery hung on for 4 more days and gave his family and friends a chance to say goodbye.
In order to keep his blood pressure up and keep him alive, the nurses had to give him a lot of fluids which caused his body, and poor belly to really swell. This further compromised the ability of his lungs to oxygenate his blood and made him very uncomfortable.
After holding him all afternoon on Dec. 19th, Jessica followed the doctors' advice to unhook him from the ventilator and ease poor Avery's suffering, letting him return to his Father in Heaven.
This was an unbelievably hard decision and saying goodbye was even worse.
We will always love you little man.
The funeral services were held on Dec. 27th, 2011. They were absolutely beautiful, full of touching memories, expressions of love and the comfort of the Holy Ghost. Russ said the opening prayer, Tess sang a song, chosen by Jessica, called, "Heaven Got Another Angel." She did a beautiful job. I spoke about Jessica's love and sacrifice for Avery, and his love and sacrifice for her, and about how perfect God's plan of salvation is, even though sometimes we don't see the big picture. We can trust in His love and in the Savior's atoning sacrifice for us. Everything is going to be alright.
Love you and miss you Avery. Give Liza a big hug for us! See you again someday.
I made a video for the family and used at the funeral. You can view it by clicking below:
No comments:
Post a Comment