We shared our exciting news of our first pregnancy with our family on Christmas Eve 2007. We couldn’t think of a better present to give to everyone.

As the new year went on, we had a very uncomplicated pregnancy. All of our ultrasounds showed a healthy baby girl who was growing accordingly. At 18 weeks, Jason was able to feel her kick for the first time. She was very active and always passed her kick counts with flying colors.  I could elicit movement from her whenever I pleased.  This was very reassuring to us.

My father had been battling an illness for several years and this escalated quickly in the early summer of 2008.  We immediately flew out to see him while he was in the ICU. It was there that he felt his granddaughter kick for the first time. This was a joyous moment during a very tough week that had our family laughing together. Sadly, my father passed away the following week. Up until this point we could not decide on a name for our little girl.  We decided to name our daughter after my father, James. Her name would be Jamie Piper Arnold.

The arrival of our first child got us through some tough times that summer. While we mourned the passing of my father, we looked forward to the future and the great joy that our daughter would bring into our lives.  On July 24th, I noticed less movement than usual from Jamie. I did not find this too alarming at first as I had been busy all day. I went to the store to get some chocolate as this always made her kick and dance. This did not work. Next, I thought that I could be dehydrated so I drank some water. Again, this did not elicit movement. Jason had me perform a kick count. After 2 hours of little movement, we went to the labor and delivery triage.

They immediately hooked us up to a fetal monitor. We heard her heartbeat as clear as could be.  I felt instant relief.

After 1 hour, the nurse did not detect any movement and decided to call in the OB. After a quick sonogram, the decision was made to deliver Jamie that night. We were rushed to the operating room for an emergency c-section. Jamie was born at 11:05 PM weighing in at 6lb 11oz, and 19 ¾ in. long. She was a very healthy looking beautiful baby girl.

We were in the post surgical recovery area when we first heard from our neonatalogist that Jamie had hemorrhaging in her brain. We would not know until the following day how serious this would be. We spent every moment we could in the NICU with our daughter while the doctors scrambled to figure out what they could do for her, if anything. By the following evening, multiple specialists had come to see us and look over Jamie’s CAT scan. None of them had good news. Their prognosis was that they were not going to be able to help her. Jamie passed from this world in her mother’s arms surrounded by her father and grandparents at 7:25 PM on July 25th 2008.

We feel very blessed to have known Jamie for the 20 hours that we had with her. She was a bright light in our lives and her memory will always bring a smile to our face. Jamie forever changed us and we are grateful for the joy she brought and continues to bring to us.