Baby Miracles

Every expecting parent worries about their unborn child. Will they have 10 fingers and 10 toes? Will they have all their body parts? Will they have normal brain functions? Many children are born with birth defects or diseases that make them miracle children. Mallory Cooper was born with Hirschsprung's disease, which is a condition of insufficient nerve endings in the intestinal system. She has had more than 17 major surgeries and lives in and out of the hospital for her life. She is a miracle and her family loves her dearly.

Elizabeth Gallagher was born normal, but in her first year she missed many milestones and at 14 months, she started to have seizures. She had respiratory distress, was diagnosed with cerebral palsy and she had feeding issues. Eventually, Elizabeth had a feeding tube inserted and was finally able to gain some weight. She is developmentally delayed and does not walk, talk or eat, but she can laugh, respond to her name and she recognizes family members. She has taught her family patience, tolerance and acceptance. Her family celebrates the happy times they share with Elizabeth such as not being sick for periods of time, walking with her walker, etc. She has been seizure free for two years.

Twins, Kendra and Maliyah Herrin, were born conjoined, sharing a large intestine, bladder, liver and one kidney. Each girl had two arms and only one leg. The girls had a zest for life and learned how to crawl, which the doctors said would probably never happen. However, if they continued living conjoined, their shared kidney would eventually stop working. The parents decided to have the surgery to separate their bodies even though there was a chance that the girls would not survive. After 26 hours of surgery, the twins were successfully separated. Maliyah was given a kidney from her mother and Kendra has the kidney they shared. They're now 6-years-old and they're doing very well. The girls need back surgery to straighten their spines and three weeks later they'll get fitted for their prosthetic legs. They still have many challenges in their future, but they're happy to be alive.