SARATOGA NEWBORN PHOTOS | The Newton Family

Often God will put us in people’s lives for His use. Capturing something they cannot, helping them to remember, telling their story… Words cannot express how incredibly blessed we are to know and get to work with this sweet family for their Saratoga newborn photos. So we decided to let Annie tell you their story in her own words. If you only read ONE blog post from us THIS is the one to read.

Caleb and I married September 2009 and had tried for years and never could get pregnant. While not worrying and trusting our time would come, it increasingly became more emotional and obvious we needed assistance. We started out going to University of Colorado in January 2011 and after several months of drugs, they turned us to IVF (in vitro fertilization). We left feeling overwhelmed, defeated and feeling like IVF would be our last route to take. We took some time to ourselves, gathered our emotions and finances and I started acupuncture that fall. While it helped me emotionally, it didn’t do the trick, but we were sent to an amazing doctor, Dr. Bachus in Fort Collins- HIGHLY RECOMMEND, and after switching drugs to Letrozole, we were pregnant the first round and due in January 2014. 

The pregnancy was easy! Until I hit 16 weeks and thought I miscarried, only to find out I had Partial Placenta Previa. I was told to ‘take it easy’ but not to worry it should fix itself. Baby grew like he was supposed to and I had no issues until week 30. I was in the hospital for a few days due to another spout of bleeding, then sent home on bedrest. I only made it home one day and we headed back to the doctor, where I was sent to the ER. After many hours, it became apparent this little baby was going to come at just before 31 weeks….but Laramie couldn’t take both baby and I. I was life flighted out on Halloween night to Denver. It was a cold, nasty, and super windy night. The little helicopter could only fit the pilot, 2 nurses, and myself- and I was scared out of my mind because Caleb wasn’t with us. I remember my feet hitting the pilots back and hitting turbulence so bad, I left the board I was strapped to and landed on my hip. I felt totally helpless in the air and couldn’t hear anything but the hum of the helicopter. But I just cried and prayed for a safe trip and to keep my baby safe. 

We landed at St. Luke’s hospital and it wasn’t long after that Caleb showed up as well. (Speed demon!) I was relaxed and felt we were in great hands. Then I felt my water break. Or what I thought was my water….ended up being blood as I was hemorrhaging. I was not in the best mental state and vaguely remember much after this, other than calling our family to come back to the hospital (they JUST left) because the first grandchild was coming sooner than we all thought. I was rushed in for an emergency C-Section. 

Trigg James Newton was born at 2:36 a.m. on November 1, 2013….two months before his due date.

He came out screaming and we were told he would need some oxygen but looked like he would be fine.  Fast forward 8 hours, and I was wheeled the 1/4 mile to the NICU to see my son. I asked if he had the infection that I was told I had and I will never forget the blank stare I got back from the doctor. Apparently that information hadn’t made it to the NICU, and he was looked over and drugs were checked right away. This moment is also blurry, but I feel that right when I asked is when he started to take turn for the worst. Doctors told Caleb that he may not make it through the night but they would do all they could. He never stopped praying but began to prepare for the worst. Caleb never left his side and was with him through it all.

This little fighter did make it through that first night….had a stable day and moved on to a stable night. But at 6:30 a.m. on November 3rd, he had a massive pulmonary hemmorage and went to be with Jesus.

Life was tough. God sent us his people for us to lean on. But we made it through day by day.

I will always remember the first day Caleb returned to work. I was laying on the couch, crying and praying…. and at that moment, I had the clearest vision of Jesus holding baby Trigg and Trigg had those baby giggles….you know the ones that are so perfectly adorable? Those. He was safe. He was with Jesus. Right then and there I felt it, I felt the weight of the world lifted off my shoulders and cried for the Joy I was feeling. I was going to be ok. We were going to be ok. Trigg is in the best place and our angel is always with us. At this same moment, I saw Trigg on his Grandma Kathie’s lap, Calebs’ mom who passed in 1997. While I couldn’t make out her face, I knew it was her and Trigg was being snuggled the way we would have been snuggling him. Talk about relief, joy, and more emotions! God is so good. I needed this, right at that moment, I needed it and He knew it.

It was more apparent after we came home to an empty house with baby stuff that we didn’t want to wait very long before we tried again.  So move on to March 2014, and we started the ‘trying process’ again. After several months of Letrozole, several rounds of IUI, we still couldn’t get pregnant. It took a toll on us. We have always been considered to have “Unexplained Infertility”, which makes it harder in our opinion because we don’t know what to ‘fix’. By September 2015, our doctor told us to start thinking hard about IVF. The one thing we hadn’t tried, and I was adamantly not going to try. But by this point, we had tried it all and no success. So we took a couple months to pray about it and weigh our options. In those months, we celebrated our son’s second birthday in San Diego and came home to start the process of blood work and paperwork for IVF.

I. Was. Pregnant! Yes. But I knew it wasn’t right. And I was proven correct when my numbers fell on my second and third blood draws. I was miscarrying. I had prayed hard, so hard, for God to help me skip the IVF process and right when I felt He wasn’t listening, He proved He was, but it wasn’t right. So I changed my prayers and had days I couldn’t pray. I just couldn’t. I was mad. I was furious and I was hurt. This meant I needed to go through with IVF if I wanted a family. (Now- many have their own thoughts on IVF and I respect those, but to me, it was just time to do it after years of fighting it.)

January 2016 we spent 2.5 weeks in Fort Collins going through this In Vitro Fertilization process. It was grueling. It was intense. And it wasn’t fun. Due to my history, Dr. B wanted to do daily ultrasounds to ensure we hit everything just perfect. I have found that most women I follow on social media, only get 8-15 eggs at retrieval. Well not this momma! I had 50 eggs retrieved! And after the fertilization process, we ended with 13 “perfect/excellent” quality embryos. February 7th we transferred one fresh embryo and prayed like crazy for it to stick. On my 30th birthday (February 12th) I took test (a couple days before I was told to take an at home test) and during those few minutes for the result to come out, I just prayed that after all we had been through, and how much I hated the thought and the process of shots daily, that this would be it. BOOM! Another answered prayer and it was a positive!

October 5, 2016 we welcomed our Rainbow baby boy, Traegger J Newton at 6 pounds 12 ounces and length debatable, but more than 21″.

We again were told the same thing, “he is just going to need some oxygen”. Our hearts sank and even after a VERY emotionally tough pregnancy, we turned to the Lord. He was rushed to the NICU and as soon as I could get there, I saw him hooked up to machines. Caleb wouldn’t leave him, and I sure didn’t want to either. But ten days later, we were released to go home! (with oxygen, but home!)

He will be three months old next week and not a day goes by that we don’t feel Trigg with us and not a day goes by that Traeger doesn’t stare at his brothers pictures on our living room wall. The two of them have a bond that I feel so strong and am brought to tears frequently thinking of how it could have been, but then changing my thoughts to how it is and how blessed we have been on this journey of starting a family. Giving up was never an option. Turning against my spouse and he against me was never a thought; rather turning to one another and leaning on each other became a daily survival task. Sure we have bad days. We always will. But our faith and God’s love has us where we are today. A happy family with an angel watching over us and guiding us along and reminding us that love is a beautiful thing.