Miracle Baby

Tonya Bogart was 25 years old when she had her miracle baby, Katelynn Bogart-Norby. She was born at Everett Pavilion for women and children, thirteen and a half weeks early. On August 6th, 2008, Tonya's life did a complete 360. She wasn't expecting to have her this early, is any mother. She went into preterm labor not because of anything she did wrong, but because she was very sick and being poisoned. They couldn't figure out why, she had gained no weight during the pregnancy, she actually lost 8 pounds due to vomiting morning till night.

She went to the Cascade Valley Hospital all the time trying to figure out the reasoning, they just told her she had very severe morning sickness, which was false. This went on until it was so bad she got sepsis a disease that shuts down multiple organ systems and could have lead to death. Her kidneys were shutting down, she had gallstones stuck in her cystic ducts that was backing up poison into her liver, pancreas, and kidneys. By the time they had figured this out, Tonya and her daughter had been poisoned for a long time. The doctors didn't know if the baby or even she would make it through the surgery, but they had to or it ultimately meant both of them would die. They removed the gallbladder and duct, while removing them they had to grab the baby and move her out of the stomach and out of the way for at least one hour, these kind of surgeries can take up to two hours. She went back to the hospital every day up until she gave birth to tell them that she was in preterm labor. They never listened, just told her it was from the surgery and gave her more pain pills than sent her back every time.

 She ended up giving birth to Katelynn 10 days after her surgery, she had just gotten back from the doctors telling her she was fine, and her water broke. She didn't want to go back there because of how many times they didn't see that she was actually in labor. She called her mom too come pick her up and they drove to the Everett pavilion, right after they arrived Tonya gave birth to a 1 pound 13 ounces little girl. She was only 12 inches tall sprawled out which she never was because her little body wouldn't let her. When she came out, the doctors weren't expecting it because she was only dilated to six, but because she was so small she came right out.

Tonya said that the doctor caught her like a football and almost dropped her, they said she would be purple and not breathing when she came out, and not to be scared. Katelynn was purple but Tonya said she took a little gasp and made the teenist mouse cry you’ve ever heard, and in that moment she knew that she was going to live and that all the doctors were wrong. They took her away as soon as she was born, and they wouldn’t let Tonya leave to go see her. She sent her mother down to keep an eye on her while she couldn’t.

Once she was all cleaned up after the labor and she had some time to relax, the doctors came in to prepare Tonya for the worst. They explained to her how scary this is going to be and not to be naming her yet because they didn't know if she was going to make it, but somehow she knew that everything was going to be alright. That didn't stop her from doing everything in her ability, to make sure her daughter lived through this without permanent health defects. She stayed with Katelynn every second of everyday, she didn't start going outside to take a smoke break for a month and a half. She also left only one other time when her oldest daughter Brooklynn got into a car crash and was at the hospital a few blocks away, she didn't have a car but she ran. Leaving her oldest at home was one of the hardest things Tonya had to do. Having a baby is supposed to be a joyful experience for a sibling, but it was very confusing and difficult for her 7 year old daughter. She didn't understand why her mom had to stay in the hospital for so long and leave her with aunt Becky and uncle Larry and even her grandma Tina at times, she loved them but she just wanted her mom back. Once Tonya and the baby finally got back, there was more that Brooklynn couldn’t understand. Katelynn had to be hooked up to an oxygen tank, this scared the living crap out of Brooklynn. She would barely hold her sister. She was afraid that the beeps would go off and that would mean something was wrong and it was hurting her sister. Evreything was always alright though, and it always would be.
-Brooklyn Bogart

The High School Experience of Hannah Hendrix

Hannah Hendrix was an amazing and bright student. She had gone through a rough patch and fell into a deep and dark state of mind. Her Freshman year in high school was spent attending school at Granite Falls High School. She absolutely despised every moment of it. People and teachers just didn’t care for her. Everyone belittled her and treated her like they were above her. Halfway through her freshman year she dropped out and moved to online. Hendrix spent most of her time secluded and hidden away in her room. She never wanted to be around anyone or do anything. She ended up falling behind and realized she wasn’t going to graduate. Her mother thought of a solution for her. She was going to transfer to Crossroads. Crossroads is an alternative high school that was made to give kids second chances and to help them through their problems. Crossroads was the first step in Hendrix’s life to change her outlook entirely. 

Hendrix started Crossroads in the 2014-2015 school year as a Sophomore. At first she felt anxious and alone. She found that the people at Crossroads were different. Most people were kind and wanted to get to know her rather than the people at the high school who were aggressive and snobby. Throughout that year Hendrix came home almost every day with a smile on her face. Her grades went up from failing every class at the high school to straight A’s. Crossroads truly changed her for the better.

Within her years attending Crossroads, her main support was her family. That family didn't stop at blood however, as she also had people like Matlack, Kayla, Orr and Bridgett. These people felt like family just through helping her though school. One of Hendrix’s favorite things to do was draw. She loved expressing herself through her artwork. She has two ceiling tiles in the school one in Carlson’s room and another in Matlack’s old room. Hendrix had a lot of favorite things about Crossroads but what she really enjoyed was Challenge Day. The first week of school sets the path for how your year will go. Challenge Day is a day for people to open up and get their feelings out. It brings people together. 

Hendrix thinks that the school could improve if we did more things like challenge day to keep us together and open minded. Knowing someone’s problems to an extent can help you understand them better. Hendrix has always been so understanding. That’s what makes her such an amazing person.

I asked Hendrix how she feels about Crossroads now and she said, “I am extremely grateful for Crossroads and everything they have done for me and my family.” She truly feels that Crossroads is like her second family. She even still talks to some of the teachers. It’s an amazing thing when people get second chances. My sister was able to get that second chance and she graduated Salutatorian of her class in the 2016-2017 school year. Crossroads made her who she is. She would not have turned out to be as successful and strong as she is if not for Crossroads.

-Laura Grissom

Baby Sophia

Carlie Anne Crosby has lived the majority of her life knowing her grandparents as her parents, as they adopted her and her brother both in 2006 when she was just 13 years old. Since then they´ve raised her to be a motivated, caring and stubborn, as she would call herself, mother and daughter who pushes through everyday to be the best she can be for her new, expanding family. Carlie and her partner, Will, have been together for close to six years now, and have lived together in their Kenmore apartment for about four years. They aren’t married, but it isn’t something that they’re against at all. According to Carlie, “Now I’m ready to be married and settled down with the person I love.” Carlie’s dream job would be to have a business of some sort, something where she could own her own adult family home, or run an in-home care business. Previously, she’s been a C.N.A., certified nursing assistant, at several different locations. Soon they are transitioning to living in a house in Granite Falls with her grandmother and brother, where they intend to remodel the house and be closer to their grandmother as their grandfather just passed away.

            It was on Carlie’s 25th birthday, November 4th, when she confirmed with a pregnancy test that she was pregnant. Previously they had gone through times where they thought there could’ve been a possibility, but it never was the case that she was pregnant. So when they were beginning to get skeptical this time around, Carlie wasn’t all too worried. She figured she was stressing for no reason, in a few minutes she would check the pregnancy test and like all other times it would show up negative. Not this time, though. This time the suspicions they had were true and the test showed up as positive. Despite never expecting to have a kid, they both agree it’s the greatest thing that’s happened to them. Even when they found out, they were more excited than scared because they now get to grow together as a family and share that excitement with their loved ones. The weekend following Carlie’s birthday, the day they found out she was pregnant, they went over to Carlie’s grandparent’s house in Granite Falls as if it were a regular visit, but little did her family know they were about to be told big news that would change all of their lives. Inside a small Ziploc bag Carlie brought with her contained the positive pregnancy test that she handed to her grandparents and family to break the news. Everyone was happy and excited at the news, and just a little bit surprised that there’d be a new addition to the family.

           Throughout the pregnancy, they were beginning to notice that the baby, Sophia, wasn’t growing as much as she should be and wasn’t as big as she should’ve been. This was due to Carlie being diagnosed with I.U.G.R., or intrauterine growth restriction, so parts of her placenta wasn’t properly delivering nutrients to Sophia like it should’ve been. This also caused the baby to have to work harder at circulating her blood back to the placenta. At 37 weeks they decided to induce Carlie using a foley bulb, or balloon, which is used to open the cervix to induce labor. For Carlie, she said the foley bulb experience was extremely painful. Nearly 12 hours had passed and she realized she was finally in labor, and they began letting some family know that they might be needing to take a trip to the hospital. It was at 11:24 a.m. on June 24th, 2019 that Sophia Anne Sanders was born, weighing only 4 pounds and 4 ounces, and 17 inches long. She got her middle name, Anne, because it was her great-grandmother’s name and her mom and grandmother also get to share it as theirs. Sophie was blessed to have a handful of support on her first day on earth, including her grandparents, uncle, and grandmother on her father’s side who were at the hospital to join.

           

Following birth, Sophia was immediately taken from the room and up a couple of floors to the N.I.C.U., or neonatal intensive care unit. She was born at such a small weight because of the I.U.G.R. Carlie was diagnosed with, so she was hooked up to all sorts of feeding tubes, wires and needles. This was obviously hard on Carlie, as her whole pregnancy all she wanted to do was hold her baby and keep her safe. Eventually, she got moved up to the N.I.C.U. with Sophia, where the spent the next 18 days in the hospital room. Being unable to go home or even take care of your baby the way you wanted to only added onto more stress for Carlie, and she said “I couldn’t wait to be home. I hated being there everyday.” Even through the excitement of wanting to go back home, it was a huge adjustment for them once they did. It might have even been more stressful going from having plenty of nurses and monitors making sure your baby is okay, to just having your own motherly instincts to go off of. Carlie admits it was hard once they came back home, but it was better than being cooped up in a small hospital room with a small selection of TV shows to watch or food to eat.

-Jordan Trussell