The 3-week-old baby girl was in her car seat listening to a sweet lullaby.
Her parents, Melissa and Zachary Cranmore, knew just what to do to keep her happy and comfortable.
No one would have guessed, however, that just more than a month ago, the Seymour couple had no idea they were having a baby.
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For the past couple of months, Melissa had noticed a hard spot on the right side of her stomach where her liver is, and it stayed there.
“I had a stroke back in 2013, so I don’t have feeling in the right side of my body,” Melissa said. “I used to be 350 pounds and then lost about 130 pounds and had a fatty liver disease that cleared up after I lost weight.”
Melissa had been having some bowel problems and thought it was impacted, so she went to her physician, Dr. James Moeller at the Aisin Health and Wellness Center, two weeks prior to having the baby.
“I also had a bladder infection at the time, so they treated me for that and put me on a medication to help me go to the bathroom,” she said. “The medication didn’t work, so I had a follow-up appointment with him on Monday, May 13.”
Melissa said she went back to the doctor and told him she was still having bladder issues, and then on Sunday night, she got up to use the bathroom and there was some bleeding, which she assumed was from the infection.
“I went back to see him on Monday and told him I thought the bladder infection was still there and so was the constipation,” Melissa said. “He had talked about putting me on a cleanse and was going to send me to Columbus at 7:30 a.m. the next morning for an X-ray before I took my mom to dialysis.”
The next day, the X-ray technician had Melissa up on the table and pressed on her stomach, which caused fluid to leak out, leading her to believe she had peed herself and she felt embarrassed.
After her X-ray, Melissa went home, got cleaned up and then ran some errands in town before finally heading back home for the day. Then that night around 10 p.m., she felt like she needed to use the bathroom but couldn’t.
“Around 2 a.m., I called my grandma and I was screaming and crying and felt like something had ripped,” Melissa said. “She was trying to calm me down for like two hours and was going to send my uncle to come out and take me to the emergency room since Zach was at work.”
Zachary was working the night shift at Aisin, but Melissa said she felt like she needed to get to the emergency room as soon as possible, so she decided to drive herself to Schneck Medical Center in Seymour around 4:15 a.m.
“Our neighbor works at Aisin, too, and so I ran up and told her Melissa was in the hospital,” Zachary said. “I asked if she could please take me to the ER when she was done at work, and she did.”
Melissa said she couldn’t walk, sit or stand and told the hospital staff that she had felt something rip, so they examined her and was told she had a hemorrhoid.
“Then I faintly remember someone drawing blood, and by the time Zach got there, I was pacing and still couldn’t sit or lay down,” Melissa said. “I kept going back and forth to the bathroom. About five minutes before 8 p.m., I went back to the room, and Zach said he overheard them say that I was pregnant.”
Zachary had heard one of the staff members say Melissa’s room number and that the person in there was pregnant.
“When I heard that, I thought there was no way that was possible,” Zachary said. “But when they said she was pregnant, I thought, ‘Well, maybe we’ve got got one or two months before the baby’s due.’ They said, ‘No, she’s having a baby now.’”
They wer prepping Melissa for a CT scan when a lady from the lab called and told them to stop everything, and the doctor asked Melissa if she could be pregnant.
“I told him there was no way because we’d been trying for 10 years with no luck,” Melissa said. “So then two nurses helped me down on the bed while the doctor got the Doppler and held it on my belly and told me to listen.”
The doctor told her there was a strong heartbeat and said she was in active labor. Then several nurses from the obstetrics floor came rushing down to take her upstairs.
“They told me I was over 10 centimeters dilated already, and so they got me up to the delivery room at 8:11 p.m., and she was here at 10:02 p.m.,” Melissa said. “We had no crib, no clothes for her or anything.”
After the whirlwind of Melissa getting admitted and unexpectedly giving birth, Zachary remembered he needed to go home and check on their dogs because in her rush to the hospital, Melissa had left them outside.
“As I was walking out of the hospital, I felt a sharp pain in my foot,” Zachary said. “Apparently I broke my foot, but they called it a stress fracture, and it was kind of funny because I was stressed out and then got a stress fracture walking out of the hospital.”
When it was time for the Cranmores to take their baby home, a nurse asked if they had a car seat to put her in, and Melissa said no, so they were given one to use. They also were asked what the baby’s name was, and Melissa replied they didn’t know yet. They hadn’t had time to even think about baby names.
Later, Zachary and Melissa named their 21-inch, 8-pound, 8-ounce baby Haley Jane Cranmore. Jane is Melissa’s mother’s middle name.
“They had only given my mom six months to a year because she has congestive heart failure, along with being on dialysis,” Melissa said. “Mom seems to be doing a little bit better since Haley has been here, so it seems to have given her a push to try more.”
Zachary said his mother is getting ready to go on dialysis, too. She is trying to take better care of herself now that she has a grandchild. All of the grandparents were proud and happy when they found out about Haley.
“Haley had some sugar issues when she was born because I was on a diabetic medication that goes right to your blood,” Melissa said. “She got that in her system, but thank goodness I was only taking it once a day, instead of twice a day, which is what I was supposed to be doing.”
Haley’s sugar fell to 21 and they had to put a tube in her umbilical cord, and she was on that for about 48 hours. They also had to put her on a liter of oxygen due to the sugar dropping so low.
She’s doing pretty well right now, Melissa said.
“Life has definitely been different now that we have the baby,” Zachary said. “Before we leave the house now, we have the checklist to go through, like diaper bag, backup outfit and diapers.”
Zachary said they had talked about having children but finally gave up hope. They thought it was never going to happen. Then, surprise.
Melissa said even though she was shocked when they told her she was having a baby, she and her husband were thrilled with the news. They have a lot of the things they need for Haley, but diapers and formula are an ongoing need.
“My daughter and I were calling the hospital every 20 minutes when we found out Melissa had been admitted,” said Melissa’s grandmother, Delores Ann Waggoner of Freetown. “We were all so excited about the baby and still are.”
Waggoner is at home now, but when Haley was born, she was at Hoosier Christian Village in Brownstown for therapy.
“I was excited to show pictures to everyone there to let them see what a beautiful little girl she is,” Waggoner said. “There was also a photo taken of Zach in the hospital with a surprised look on his face, but he looked so happy.”
Waggoner said Melissa was at the hospital feeding Haley with a bottle, and her face just had a beautiful glow about it, like a new mother.
“My son and daughter and I went in together and bought them a crib and mattress for the baby because she didn’t have anything, and she still needs a whole lot,” Waggoner said. “Because when you come into this world with nothing, you need a little bit of everything.”
So when Zachary got to the hospital to see about Melissa, he thought he would be taking home one, but instead, he ended up taking home two, Waggoner said.
“Years ago, Melissa had a stroke as she was getting ready to go to work at Walmart,” Waggoner said. “She got a headache, and next thing she knows, she had to crawl across the floor. She couldn’t walk or anything.”
Waggoner said Melissa has come a long way since then, and she is a miracle herself. She had no insurance at the time of the stroke, and the hospital could only keep her one day.
“She had to learn how to walk again by herself, she takes her mother to dialysis and now, she has a baby,” Waggoner said. “So there are really two miracles here: My granddaughter and my great-granddaughter. We’re very proud of them both and Zach, too. The two girls are miracles.”
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Names: Melissa and Zachary Cranmore
Ages: She’s 34, and he’s 33
Childhood homes: She’s from Indianapolis, and he’s from Connersville
Residence: Both now live in Seymour
Family: Her parents are Jeffrey and Kathryn Gorbett of Freetown, his parents are Monty and Patricia Cranmore of Noblesville and her grandparents are Delores Ann Waggoner and Glen Waggoner (deceased) of Freetown
Education: She graduated from Ben Davis High School in 2003, and he went to Connersville Middle School and then dropped out early to take care of his parents, who were both disabled, and went to work in construction.
Occupations: She’s a caregiver, and he works for Aisin USA Mfg. Inc. at Plant 1
Married: Going on 14 years
How they met: They met at a Halloween party on a blind date, and it worked out pretty well.
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Anyone who would like to donate baby items for Haley Jane may contact Melissa or Zachary Cranmore by emailing [email protected] or [email protected].
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