Alexander

This little angel was designed in memory of Alexander Gill whose mother wrote, "I lost my youngest son, Alexander, to SIDS on August 12, 2001. He was my little sunshine. His life ever so short touched so many.Since his death the number of butterflies we encounter has become amazing.  Alex was born at just 28 weeks and had the tiniest little feet. His foot actually cause the emergency c-section since he was a footling breach and it slipped out while I was in the shower. Also the pink and blue awareness ribbon would be great."

The Alex angel is about 1 1/2 inches tall and features a gold heart that will be engraved, "Alexander",  tiny feet, and a butterfly.  The SIDS pink and blue ribbon sits on  his wing.

Alex's story began in December 2000. It was just before Christmas and our older children wanted to go see Santa just to make sure he knew what they really wanted. We went off to the mall and waited for our turn to see Santa. Christopher, who was almost 8 at that time, wanted all the typical boy toys. He wanted Power Rangers, Legos and Pokemon stuff. Haleigh, then 2 years old, wanted just one thing. She asked Santa for a BABY BROTHER.... My husband and I looked at each other and had to laugh because having another baby now was not in our plans at all. We devised a plan to make Haleigh's wish come true, well kind of. I bought a beautiful doll and changed her into baby boy clothes wrapped it all nice under the tree. That doll would be Haleigh's Baby Brother. Later that week I was feeling not quite right and realized that my period was late. While I was out shopping I decide to buy a test and took it before I went home. I was PREGNANT. I swear I almost fainted when that pink line popped up but I held it together and decided to be creative in telling my husband. I bought pretty wrapping paper and wrapped the test complete with a bow and went home to give Corey, my hubby, an early gift. All he could do was laugh and say no way. We held off telling family until after New Years since we did not want the news of a new baby to over shadow our oldest son's birthday on December 31. Our baby was due on August 27, 2001- perfect day being it was his great grandma Molli's birthday. The pregnancy started out perfect and things went downhill from there. I was on bedrest by 20 weeks with my cervix thinning and we had many ultrasounds to watch our baby. We learned that we would be having a baby boy but also learned that same day that I had placenta previa. We thought long and hard about names for our new son and decided to name him Alexander Charles Gill. Daddy picked the name Alex and though he says he named him after a baseball star I simply agreed on the name Alexander because it sounded nice and strong for our little man. Charles was my Dad's name and I wanted Alex to be named after him since he had passed away from cancer on June 22, 2000. Alex may never meet his Pawpaw on Earth but he would always carry part of him in his name. Early in May when I was just 24 weeks I began preterm labor and was admitted to the hospital until the contractions stopped. After coming home it was just a few days before we had to go back. On May 27, 2001 I was laying on my bed and coughed just a little to clear my throat and at first I thought I had wet myself but then it hit me... My water had just broke. I was only 26 weeks and I knew it was way too early for our son. I went downstairs to tell my husband and had him get our children ready to go to the hospital. I had not even packed a bag yet but now it was too late. We called the hospital to tell them we were on our way and off we went. After they confirmed that my water had indeed broke they told me they had to transfer me to another hospital because their NICU was full and they would not be able to care for our son. I was scared and went by ambulance to UCSD Hospital in downtown San Diego. I was terrified but they were able to stop my contractions and I stayed in the hospital practically standing on my head for weeks. On June 8th my nurse came to tell me that since I had not had contractions for a few days I would be allowed to take a five minute shower so I could wash my hair. She set an egg timer and into the shower I went. I washed my hair and began to wash my body when I found something terribly wrong. I reached down to wash my private areas and there was my sons foot. I had just washed the foot of my unborn son. I called my nurse and it seemed to take forever for her to get to me. I was rushed into an emergency c-section and our son was born. He did not make a sound when he was born. I think he only squeaked and then they intubated him and rushed by to the NICU. I begged them to let me see him and reluctantly they did. He was tiny and red and had a tube in his mouth and then they ran. I would not see him for 8 more hours. My blood pressure crashed and I spent a long time in recovery before they wheeled my bed into the NICU to see him. He was so small- just barely 3 pounds and almost 15 inches long. He had so many wires and tubes you could barely see him at all. My husband arrived at the hospital about 2 hours after Alex was born. He was called as they rushed me into the OR but he had to get our daughter dressed and then she wanted to stop and get her new baby brother a toy so they went to Toys R Us and got Alex a little stuffed frog. It was perfect since he did resemble a frog with those skinny legs. Alex did great for being born so early. He was only on the ventilator for 12 hours and then he was breathing on his own. His biggest problem was tolerating his feedings which did not go well at all. He lost weight so fast and was 1 pound 12 ounces by time he was 10 days old. I was so scared but then he started growing. He began opening his eyes and looking at us once in a while and started to kick his legs occasionally. He spent 6 1/2 weeks in the NICU before we were able to bring him home. He came home on July 20, 2001 weighing 4 pounds 6 ounces and 17 inches long.

On August 10, 2001 Alex had his first well baby check up. He was 2 months old and growing fast. He now weighed 6 pounds 11 ounces and he was 19 inches long. The doctor told us that day that Alex was in perfect health and she saw no problems with him getting his 2 month shots that day. I was concerned since he was not even due to be born yet but she assured me it was fine. He was given 5 shots that afternoon and we went home. My husband was away on a military exercise so it was just the kids and I and we just played and watched TV and and enjoyed each other and having Alex home. On Sunday, August 12, 2001 Alex and I tucked Christopher and Haleigh into their beds and went back downstairs for our time to just cuddle. He fell asleep in my arms before I could give him a bath or feed him so I decided to go change into my pajamas and brush my teeth before I woke him to be fed. I put him in his crib, in our room, he squirmed and peeked at me as I tip toed away and I told him to give me just a minute and I'll be right back. Less than 10 minutes later Alex died. I got to him immediately since he had an apnea monitor I knew right away that something was not right. I stimulated him and that did not work so I began CPR and dialed 911. My screaming woke Christopher and he went downstairs to let the paramedics and police into our house. They came and left with my baby but they never got him back. Just that fast our lives changed forever. Alex was dead and it took a 48 hour flight to get my husband home.

The days after Alex died are just a blur in my mind. I felt like I was in a nightmare and all I wanted was to wake up. We decide to take Alex to my hometown in Louisiana for his funeral since we are military and move so often. The flight was like walking in a fog and then realizing where you are and not knowing how you got there. Family came from all over the country to attend Alex's funeral. Only one Grandma had seen him while he was alive so everyone else was saying hello and good bye all at the same time.

It has been 4 years since Our Angel got his wings and there has not been a day that we don't miss him and long to have him in our arms once more. Our children were forced to grow up fast that day and they lost an innocence that they will never again find. They know now that people die and it's not just the elderly people. They know that sometimes babies die and sometimes they die for no reason at all. Alexander's death was ruled as Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. Simply stated SIDS means that they have no idea why this perfectly healthy baby died.

Phone: 281-464-3277