Poetry emerges from heartbreaking loss
“I was 26 years old. It was my first pregnancy. I was healthy. I was athletic. Then it just happened. They told me, ‘Your cervix is gone.’ I had what’s called an incompetent cervix. It can lead to premature birth or losing your baby.
“They kept me in the hospital, head down and feet up, for two days. I was almost at six months. If they could get me to at least seven months on bed rest, my son could be born and possibly still live. But he would run the risk of cerebral palsy and some other things.
“I’ll never forget. After that conversation with the doctor, I was lying in the hospital bed and watching a Lakers game on TV. And I prayed. I was like, ‘God, I’m not sure if I’m strong enough at this point in my life to deal with a child with special needs. If my baby is going to be that, I don’t want him to suffer. So just do what you have to do.’ An hour later, my water broke and I went into labor. I delivered a beautiful 1-pound, 10-ounce baby boy. He breathed for just a moment, and that was it.
“It was heartbreaking. Initially, it was hard to come to grips with. One of the things I did was write about it in a poem called ‘Only Begotten Son.’ And when I would share things with people, they told me how much hearing what I had gone through helped them. I ended up publishing that poem in a book of poetry.
“Because of losing my son and other things I’ve gone through in life, I’ve been able to speak to other women and breathe life into other mothers. My son made me who I am. It’s a daily struggle. But it’s a beautiful journey.”
— Raquel Segura
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