A Mom Sacrificed Herself to Keep Her 13-Ounce Son Alive, and Their Story Is Beautiful

Infertility Treatments Failed Me — and I'm Pretty Sure That's Exactly What Was Meant to Happen

"When the doctor told me the news, I was like, 'Yeah, well, I must be about 12 hours along because I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about.'""We had no idea. We were on vacation all Summer long. I wasn't paying attention to my body, but I had lost a lot of weight because I knew that we were going to be on vacation," she shared.

At a follow-up appointment, Dana received the news she'd been dreading: she needed to stay in the hospital's ICU due to congestive heart failure and was told by doctors that to protect her own life, she should consider terminating the pregnancy. But for Dana — whose life was now in jeopardy — terminating the pregnancy just wasn't an option.

Dana and Arkell's son Kaleb made his debut in October 2015, a full 16 weeks before his due date. The smallest baby born in Virginia at the time, he weighed a mere 13 ounces. While the Graves family was overjoyed at their new addition, Kaleb had a long health journey ahead of him and spent more than a year in the NICU undergoing four different surgeries.

It took 11 medical professionals to get Kaleb into Dana's arms. She spoke and sang to him for a half hour before saying goodbye."I told him that this was not going to be the last time that he heard my voice, and I just still believed — even though they told me that he was not going to make it — that he was going to make it through the night," she said.After asking for prayers on their social media channels, Kaleb miraculously survived the evening.

Eventually, Kaleb was allowed to go home for the first time, but it wasn't without challenges. Since he was diagnosed with 14 different illnesses and special needs — including cerebral palsy,, and lung issues — the Graves family had to adjust to their new life, which they were more than happy to do.

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