At our tournament this year we will have a baby remembrance of babies that our foundation has helped, or that we have met along our journey of establishing and running the foundation. We believe it is important to share their stories and say their names.
Today we are remembering precious Issac. Issac’s Mommy Brittany, has recently launched the East Texas Hope Mommies Chapter. Brittany has the biggest heart helping other loss mommies in East Texas area.
Issac Kole Cleveland
July 11, 2017-July 14, 2017
“At 33 weeks and 5 days (July 10, 2017), I went into the hospital just feeling weird, and wanting to get checked on. Issac’s heart rate would go down occasionally so the doctor kept us hooked up to the monitor. They ended up taking me in for an emergency c-section, and at 1:51 am, on July 11, 2017 Issac Kole Cleveland was born. He was blue and not breathing on his own, thankfully the neonatologist was able to get medicine to him that helped. He was transferred to the NICU in Odessa, and we were left in the hospital room without him. We got updates daily from the doctors at the hospital and doctors at the NICU, sometimes they would be good, sometimes they would say certain things needed to happen to make other levels look better. When I was finally released, we went to Odessa and were finally together as a family. He was hooked up to all kinds of machines and wires were everywhere, making it impossible for either of us to just pick him up and hold him. A day later, the doctor told us that there was no coming back from what had happened. Issac had gone too long without oxygen getting to his brain, and the machines were the only thing keeping him alive. Together, with our parents and my brother, we went in, held our boy for what would be the first and the last time, took pictures with him and tearfully said our good-byes. At 11:27 p.m. on Friday July 14, 2017, our boy opened his eyes for the first time and saw Jesus. He never had to experience hurt or heartbreak on this earth, but oh how our hearts long for him to be here with us. What a wonderful day it will be when we get to see him again in eternity.
I miss not getting to see him grow up. I wonder what he would be interested in, his favorite foods, what his personality would be like; everything. I wish I was getting to go through the everyday life with him….even the hard days. I handle my grief through prayer and trust that God is good, always, even if there are tears. I’m thankful that because of Issac, I can still carry his memory on, and that I can show others who have experienced a loss what God’s love looks like.
Emotionally, we were at our lowest point. Everything that we were expecting instantly changed, and it felt as if it were all just a bad dream. My husband and I grew closer and stronger than ever before, through the tears and devastation. There were so many big expenses having to be paid immediately, while we were still even trying to process what had just happened. It blew my mind at how much things cost (I had never had to look into things like this, before our loss), and it really seemed to make things that much worse. Not only was our son gone, but so was money we had set aside for him as well.
The Rhett Sullivan Foundation helped our family by providing the full payment for Issac’s headstone. We had waited 2 years before ordering it, because not only did we not know exactly what we wanted on it, but because we knew it was going to be an expensive purchase. When we found out that they were covering the full price, tears filled my eyes. I never imagined they’d fully fund it for us, but it was such a huge blessing. We truly can’t thank them enough.”
~Issac’s Mommy
