Matteah - The Miracle

Day 355

Matteah - Christmas 2010

Today is my niece Matteah’s 5th birthday - Happy Birthday! It just amazes me, because it doesn’t seem like it has been five whole years since she was born! Anyway, I’d like to share a few excerpts from my journal entry written on this special day:

Wednesday May 24th 2006,

11:28 pm - On more than a few occasions I have written about what a difference a year makes, or years make for that matter. So true today. I just read my entry from 10 years ago today, which was about Jaimee attending a big military banquet/dance with some guy. And here we are, a decade later and Jaimee has been married almost 8 years and today she became a mother. Jaimee and Daniel are the proud parents of a beautiful baby girl. At 3:55 pm Matteah Lyn Shepard was born, weighing 7 pounds 9 ounces, 19 ½ inches in length! It is hard to believe that she is in our lives now, so suddenly, so definitely…

…At 3:30 I heard from Mom; she explained that Jaimee was going to have a C-section and asked me to call Dad, to make plans to come to the hospital later in the day. I called Jordan and left him a message, then I called Dad - he was talking with a client and said he would have to call me back. As I waited for his call Mom called me again, this time to give the good news that Matteah was born! It seemed impossible, unbelievable…

…Dad and I both marveled at how sudden all of this seemed and we recognized just what a miracle this is, a gift from God. We already knew that both mother and child would be in quite a vulnerable state of health, that even though the delivery was a success they weren’t out of the woods, yet…


…Daniel beamed as only a proud, first-time father would. He wanted to show us his daughter right off the bat, but first we checked in on Jaimee. She was laid up, tubed and medicated, but fully coherent and aware. After brief, congratulatory talk, Daniel took Dad and I to the nursery. A gathering of nurses worked on Matteah and we soon learned she was being transferred to NICU, as her breathing wasn’t what it should be. We were calm, as the head nurse explained what would be happening next…

Matteah and Me - Halloween 2008

…Matteah’s skin was a healthy pink (although at birth she was a less favorable color - gray) and she had some dark hair on her head and such a cute face. So adorable! We reported back to Jaimee’s room, and Mom was there and then Daniel took her to NICU to see Matteah. Then Daniel and Mom returned and Jordan and Erin arrived. They were next up to see Matteah. Then we all decided that it was probably time to give Jaimee and Daniel some alone time…

…It is a surreal experience, knowing that Jaimee and Daniel are parents! I just hope and pray that Jaimee and Matteah will be able to come home soon. For now, it seems like it will be a couple of days for Jaimee, a week for Matteah.