Our special gift from God
Amanda Paige Smith
Oct. 3, 1992 to Feb. 8, 1999

In memory of our beloved son
Eric Scott Smith
Oct. 3, 1992 to Oct. 5, 1992

Amanda Paige, Eric Scott and Kelsey Marissa were born just before noon on October 3, 1992. They entered the world 15 weeks sooner than they should have and only weighed 2 pounds (Paige); 2 pounds, 4 ounces (Eric); and 1 pound 15 ounces (Kelsey). We had battled for six long weeks prior to their arrival to get them as close as we could to their due date in mid-January. Bed rest and drugs were only successful for so long …

The doctors were not hopeful for any of them to survive and prepared us for the worst. Every report we got for the next 48 hours was not good. The babies were all very “sick†and on ventilators. Eric had the biggest issues because, in addition to the expected breathing problems, he also had kidney trouble. By 9:00 p.m. on October 5, it became evident we were going to lose Eric. We held him for the last few hours of his short life. 

Paige and Kelsey held their own but faced issues too. Paige had several episodes of her lungs collapsing, requiring multiple chest tubes to be inserted and she suffered a grade four brain bleed, requiring a shunt to be placed in her head. Kelsey, too, suffered some brain bleeding but not as severe as Paige. Both girls remained in the hospital for months with Kelsey coming home first, six months after she was born. Paige finally came home from the hospital eight and a half months after she was born.

Paige made multiple trips back to the hospital for various reasons over the years, all due to conditions of being born so early. Although Paige was extremely sick, she never showed that she was. She smiled constantly and was an incredibly happy and funny girl. She never walked or talked, but she did crawl, sit up and had one good hand she could use purposefully. She communicated with her eyes and her smile.

Despite her limitations, Paige was able to attend school and even rode a school bus most days. She was in a special class that catered to her needs, but it was good for her physical and mental progress. It was also a blessing to us to provide us a few hours “off duty†every school day.

Paige suffered from seizures, not the violent shaking type, but two different types that we could distinguish. One type was like a dream state, where she would become somewhat quiet and have a blank stare in her eyes. Trish was very acute at recognizing these seizures, even better than the doctors. These seizures lasted mere minutes and then she was right back to her old self.

The second type was much more severe and caused her to become rigid and at times stop breathing. This severe type of seizure would usually occur when she was extremely sick or became sleep deprived.

The day before she died, Paige was extremely sick, requiring hospitalization. The medical treatment she was given caused her to be hyper and non-drowsy. It took a long time before we were able to finally get her to sleep that night. During the night we think she had a major seizure and stopped breathing. We found her in her crib the next morning in her favorite position on her stomach, holding onto the crib rails like she loved to do.

She lived a short six years, but she left a huge impact on those who knew her. We can honestly say that she changed our lives forever. We consider her an Angel of God.

Sterling and Tricia Smith
Parents of Eric and Paige