Introducing… Bella Ceballos, born February 4, 2014, the newest Warrior of Team Isaiah.
One of the most incredible blessings in this journey that Paul and I have been called to embark on is the brand new “family” we’ve joined, the family that exists of parents with children who have special needs. So many have shared their stories. So many have been so gracious to pray with us, for us, and in turn, we have asked you all, Team Isaiah’s Prayer Warriors, to pray for them. You’ve answered the call in a big way and we’re asking for a very special prayer this morning…
Meet Bella Ceballos… beautiful daughter of Drina and Daniel, adorable sister of Evan. Drina reached out to us after the story on Isaiah, written by our friend Jim for Golfweek.com, was posted on the International Down Syndrome Center’s facebook page. Below please find Bella’s story. This little girl is the epitome of a “Warrior”. We can’t wait to see Bella and Isaiah playing together in the future. Her story is so moving… and if you’re as moved as we are we ask for two things from you:
1) PLEASE pray immediately for Bella. For her health. For the doctors and nurses who are treating her. For her sweet big brother and his parents who just want their Bella home with them.
2) Please consider making a small donation to their local Buddy Walk, which raises money for Down syndrome causes in their local Nevada community. They’ve asked that we pray that she’s home in time to “stroll” the walk with her family. We will, but I’d also like to ask that you consider giving. $5. $10. $100. Whatever moves you. You can click here to read more about the walk and to give in honor of Bella.
Also, please feel free to send us prayers for Bella through our prayer page and we will be sure to get each prayer over to the family so they can feel the peace of your love and prayers for them.
We are so appreciative of all of you. I can’t even tell you. Thanks for reading Bella’s story below.
Meet Bella Ceballos… beautiful daughter of Drina and Daniel, adorable sister of Evan. Drina reached out to us after the story on Isaiah, written by our friend Jim for Golfweek.com, was posted on the International Down Syndrome Center’s facebook page. Below please find Bella’s story. This little girl is the epitome of a “Warrior”. We can’t wait to see Bella and Isaiah playing together in the future. Her story is so moving… and if you’re as moved as we are we ask for two things from you:
1) PLEASE pray immediately for Bella. For her health. For the doctors and nurses who are treating her. For her sweet big brother and his parents who just want their Bella home with them.
2) Please consider making a small donation to their local Buddy Walk, which raises money for Down syndrome causes in their local Nevada community. They’ve asked that we pray that she’s home in time to “stroll” the walk with her family. We will, but I’d also like to ask that you consider giving. $5. $10. $100. Whatever moves you. You can click here to read more about the walk and to give in honor of Bella.
Also, please feel free to send us prayers for Bella through our prayer page and we will be sure to get each prayer over to the family so they can feel the peace of your love and prayers for them.
We are so appreciative of all of you. I can’t even tell you. Thanks for reading Bella’s story below.
Bella’s Story
Baby Bella was planned over two years ago. When we finally got pregnant last summer we were super thrilled. We have a 3-year old son, Evan, and I was so happy to tell him he was going to be a big brother. I immediately started daydreaming of my babies growing up together. Both pregnancies were fairly easy. But getting pregnant was not so easy. It took us about 2 years to get pregnant each time. Although it felt like getting pregnant was never going to happen each time, we were blessed to be able to get pregnant without any help (IVF).
While I was pregnant with Bella, I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes at 28 weeks. From that point on I was put on a strict diet and scheduled to visit the High Risk Pregnancy Center twice a week for fetal monitoring and ultrasound. About a month before Bella was born, it was at the High Risk Pregnancy Center when we were hinted that something was wrong. The doctor there asked if I had a “down syndrome” test done. I assumed he was referring to the usual blood tests and ultrasounds done. So I said yes and everything came back normal. He mentioned things like, short femur bone, large head, and large abdomen. He seemed concerned but not definitive. When I visited my OB the following week I shared my concerns with him. He said that the other doctor reported nothing unusual to him and so I left the office relieved and trusting that everything was fine. I was in the full blown nesting stage at that point. Getting the room ready, did lots of baby laundry, packed our hospital bag, and even found a beautiful vintage inspired bassinet that i had been searching for, for months.
Bella’s actual due date was 2/27/14, but I already had a scheduled c-section for 2/20/14. On the morning of February 4th, I was scheduled to visit the High Risk Pregnancy Center for a usual monitoring session. When they set me up on the heart monitor, they became concerned and asked me to immediately go to the hospital, which was the next building over. They said I had to deliver that day. I became nervous, excited, stressed…all at once. I called my husband (Daniel), employer, and my son’s babysitter to let them all know what was going on. I checked in at the hospital, slip into their fancy gown, and they start hooking me up to the monitor, setting up the IV. Then things went into panic mode and there were more nurses entering my room. I was being rushed into surgery.
Within 20 minutes Bella was born. Her cry didn’t sound healthy. In fact she sounded as if she was struggling. The nurses were doing their thing. They had her wrapped, quickly showed her to me (I really only saw the side of her head). They stitched me up and moved me back to my room. About 30 minutes later my husband walked in and I could tell he had been crying. I asked if she was ok and he said “she does have down syndrome”. My heart sank but then I thought ‘ok, as long as she is healthy’. Then he said “but shes’s really really sick”. He explained that she needed a lot of help to breathe because her lungs were being compressed by her enlarged liver. At that point the pediatrician came in and explained that she needed to be sent to the local children’s hospital quickly because they were much more equipped to help Bella. I was able to get another quick glance at her before they took her away. I was still under a lot of medication so my vision was pretty blurry and I felt really sleepy. Too sleepy to cry or feel anything. My sister slept at the hospital with me that night while my husband went to be with Bella for the night.
Waking up the next morning was hard. I had just given birth but there was no baby in the room with me. I begged my doctor to let me go that day so I can be with my baby. I didn’t know it at the time but he agreed to let me go because the staff was unsure that Bella would make it. So he wanted me to be able to be with her as soon as possible. I was discharged at 7pm on February 5th and we rushed over to Bella. On my way there I was nervous and scared. But I couldn’t wait to finally meet my beautiful baby.
She was hooked up to lots of wires and her eyes were covered because she under the UV light for jaundice. The doctors had a meeting with us and basically told us she was on the maximum support they have to offer. The hematologist explained that she had TMD, a rare blood disease that only 10% down syndrome babies get. It creates an enormous amount of white blood cells. She suggested a small dose of chemo over a week. This would help with two things; bring her white blood cells to a normal level and possibly shrink her liver a bit. She would try this in three separate sessions. We were blessed because Bella responded well to the treatment. And the chemo worked on the first try, as the doctor had hoped and planned. During the chemo treatment she was also being treated with nitric oxide to expand her lungs. That worked as planned too. And slowly they weaned her off meds and started feeding her my breast milk.
We have had many good days. And some small set backs. Bella is now breathing on her own and the final step before she comes home is to bottle feed and gain weight. Today, however, we took another step back. They discovered blood in her stool, so she is back on IV and antibiotic. They ran some tests and we will hopefully get some results tomorrow.
The past 5 weeks have been an emotional roller coaster. I had such a beautiful experience when my son was born. We really thought we were going to experience that again. We were completely blind sided when Bella was born. Coming home to a house prepared for a new baby was really hard. I couldn’t go into her room the first two weeks. The hospital bag full of baby girl items was unused and still packed. It has been heartbreaking. We still get emotional about the whole situation and at first I questioned, why us? Why our baby? I wondered if I had done anything wrong during my pregnancy. I read statistics and although were are not young, we’re not old either. For us, it was a random occurrence, a fluke. But if we had found out at any point in our pregnancy, we would have pushed forward. We are pro life. We planned to have Bella. Her having down syndrome was definitely a shock. But it was all the complications that came with it, that was heartbreaking.
I am still trying to find understanding in all of this. But that isn’t of importance as much anymore. God will show me when the time is right. For now we are focused on bringing Bella home. We pray a lot and have faith in God that He is watching over our sweet baby girl. And we are blessed with loving family and friends, all of which are prayer warriors for Bella. Attached are pictures of Bella and Evan, and our first family photo. We are so blessed to have our babies.
While I was pregnant with Bella, I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes at 28 weeks. From that point on I was put on a strict diet and scheduled to visit the High Risk Pregnancy Center twice a week for fetal monitoring and ultrasound. About a month before Bella was born, it was at the High Risk Pregnancy Center when we were hinted that something was wrong. The doctor there asked if I had a “down syndrome” test done. I assumed he was referring to the usual blood tests and ultrasounds done. So I said yes and everything came back normal. He mentioned things like, short femur bone, large head, and large abdomen. He seemed concerned but not definitive. When I visited my OB the following week I shared my concerns with him. He said that the other doctor reported nothing unusual to him and so I left the office relieved and trusting that everything was fine. I was in the full blown nesting stage at that point. Getting the room ready, did lots of baby laundry, packed our hospital bag, and even found a beautiful vintage inspired bassinet that i had been searching for, for months.
Bella’s actual due date was 2/27/14, but I already had a scheduled c-section for 2/20/14. On the morning of February 4th, I was scheduled to visit the High Risk Pregnancy Center for a usual monitoring session. When they set me up on the heart monitor, they became concerned and asked me to immediately go to the hospital, which was the next building over. They said I had to deliver that day. I became nervous, excited, stressed…all at once. I called my husband (Daniel), employer, and my son’s babysitter to let them all know what was going on. I checked in at the hospital, slip into their fancy gown, and they start hooking me up to the monitor, setting up the IV. Then things went into panic mode and there were more nurses entering my room. I was being rushed into surgery.
Within 20 minutes Bella was born. Her cry didn’t sound healthy. In fact she sounded as if she was struggling. The nurses were doing their thing. They had her wrapped, quickly showed her to me (I really only saw the side of her head). They stitched me up and moved me back to my room. About 30 minutes later my husband walked in and I could tell he had been crying. I asked if she was ok and he said “she does have down syndrome”. My heart sank but then I thought ‘ok, as long as she is healthy’. Then he said “but shes’s really really sick”. He explained that she needed a lot of help to breathe because her lungs were being compressed by her enlarged liver. At that point the pediatrician came in and explained that she needed to be sent to the local children’s hospital quickly because they were much more equipped to help Bella. I was able to get another quick glance at her before they took her away. I was still under a lot of medication so my vision was pretty blurry and I felt really sleepy. Too sleepy to cry or feel anything. My sister slept at the hospital with me that night while my husband went to be with Bella for the night.
Waking up the next morning was hard. I had just given birth but there was no baby in the room with me. I begged my doctor to let me go that day so I can be with my baby. I didn’t know it at the time but he agreed to let me go because the staff was unsure that Bella would make it. So he wanted me to be able to be with her as soon as possible. I was discharged at 7pm on February 5th and we rushed over to Bella. On my way there I was nervous and scared. But I couldn’t wait to finally meet my beautiful baby.
She was hooked up to lots of wires and her eyes were covered because she under the UV light for jaundice. The doctors had a meeting with us and basically told us she was on the maximum support they have to offer. The hematologist explained that she had TMD, a rare blood disease that only 10% down syndrome babies get. It creates an enormous amount of white blood cells. She suggested a small dose of chemo over a week. This would help with two things; bring her white blood cells to a normal level and possibly shrink her liver a bit. She would try this in three separate sessions. We were blessed because Bella responded well to the treatment. And the chemo worked on the first try, as the doctor had hoped and planned. During the chemo treatment she was also being treated with nitric oxide to expand her lungs. That worked as planned too. And slowly they weaned her off meds and started feeding her my breast milk.
We have had many good days. And some small set backs. Bella is now breathing on her own and the final step before she comes home is to bottle feed and gain weight. Today, however, we took another step back. They discovered blood in her stool, so she is back on IV and antibiotic. They ran some tests and we will hopefully get some results tomorrow.
The past 5 weeks have been an emotional roller coaster. I had such a beautiful experience when my son was born. We really thought we were going to experience that again. We were completely blind sided when Bella was born. Coming home to a house prepared for a new baby was really hard. I couldn’t go into her room the first two weeks. The hospital bag full of baby girl items was unused and still packed. It has been heartbreaking. We still get emotional about the whole situation and at first I questioned, why us? Why our baby? I wondered if I had done anything wrong during my pregnancy. I read statistics and although were are not young, we’re not old either. For us, it was a random occurrence, a fluke. But if we had found out at any point in our pregnancy, we would have pushed forward. We are pro life. We planned to have Bella. Her having down syndrome was definitely a shock. But it was all the complications that came with it, that was heartbreaking.
I am still trying to find understanding in all of this. But that isn’t of importance as much anymore. God will show me when the time is right. For now we are focused on bringing Bella home. We pray a lot and have faith in God that He is watching over our sweet baby girl. And we are blessed with loving family and friends, all of which are prayer warriors for Bella. Attached are pictures of Bella and Evan, and our first family photo. We are so blessed to have our babies.
Love,
Drina, Daniel, Evan, and Bella Ceballos