Stork brings Kaplan couple huge surprise

Most couples usually have up to 40 weeks to prepare for a new addition to their family.
But one couple from Kaplan had only 30 days, then their little bundle of joy, made his appearance into the world.
Brooks Major Hebert was born Monday, February 15, 2016, weighing in at 5 pounds, 10 ounces and measured 18 1/4 inches.
Udona Hebert said she and her husband, Chuck, started trying to have kids after they got married 20 years ago
But the couple didn’t anticipate the struggles that were ahead.
Four years after being married, they tried the fertility injections and pills, but her body would miscarry after only a few days.
“The treatments were very expensive,” said Udona. “We had been married for only four years and we couldn’t afford to go through the treatments again. So Chuck and I decided that it was God’s will to be childless.”
So time passed and their hearts began to heal. They filled the void by hosting exchange students. Throughout the years, they have been host parents to seven foreign students.
On Friday, January 15, Udona and her mother, Judy, were spring cleaning her house and Udona told her mother she was so tired of gaining weight.
“I had to take a break and went to lie down because I was so tired. I was not eating any more than usual, but I was gaining so much weight, I couldn’t breathe,” she said.
“I had felt something moving around, and now I know it was the baby, but at the time, I thought of the worst. I was thinking it was a serious case of gas or a large tumor. I didn’t tell my husband, family or friends of what I was going through.”
While remaining silent of her fears, Hebert said she prayed each night that her prayers would be more powerful than medication and that God would take care of her and heal whatever was wrong with her.
Frightened and tired of carrying the burden alone, she called her mother into the bedroom and told her of the movement she was experiencing in her stomach.
“She put her hand on my stomach and immediately she felt the movement,” said Hebert. “My mom said, ‘Udona, that’s a baby!’ I looked at her and said, ‘Now Mama, really? At 40 years old, you really think God would do that?”’
Her mother’s response was, “Some people don’t think God has a sense of humor, but He does!”
She walked out of the room, and went on the back steps to say her Rosary.
“I later found out she did that because she felt guilty about saying it was a baby, because she knew how much my husband and I wanted a child for so long. She was apologizing for speaking about a ‘baby’ to me,” Hebert said. “She was upset that maybe she was giving me false hopes, but she had in mind to go get a pregnancy test for me the next day .”
But things didn’t quite work out that way. She didn’t have to wait until the next morning, she found out that night.
Later that evening, Udona went out with her two girlfriends to eat crawfish, but never mentioned what had transpired earlier with her mom.
“I kept telling my friends over and over how good the crawfish were,” Hebert said. “One of them told me I sounded like I was pregnant.”
Udona said her first reaction was that her friends had spoken to her mother about the days events, and the movement as being a baby, and they were playing a joke on me.
“Did my mom tell you I might be pregnant,” she asked her friends. “They all looked at me and their jaws dropped. They had no idea what I was talking about. So, I ended up telling them the whole story.”
As soon as they left the restaurant, her friends drove straight to a pharmacy for a pregnancy kit.
“I kept telling them they were wasting their money,” Hebert said. “Well, we purchased two tests and each one came out positive!”
Hebert said the first thing she did when she got home was to FaceTime her husband, because he was working in Texas.
“I was crying so hard and trying to tell him, he couldn’t understand what I was saying. He thought there was something seriously wrong with me.
“After realizing he was going to be a father, he immediately came home the next day.”
They went to a family doctor to get a confirmation. Once confirmed, they were scheduled for an ultrasound.
“I asked the tech doing the ultrasound if he knew the sex of the baby, I wanted to know right away. I had enough surprises. I can’t take anymore shocks,” laughed the new mother.
He told her he could only do that if the baby was at least 22 weeks.
Once the ultrasound began he said, “You are definitely more than 22 weeks. Your baby is big and in delivery position. And he is definitely a boy!”
After the calculations were done, she was told she had approximately seven weeks till delivery.
“After another shock of being that far along, I went to see a high-risk OBGYN, because of my age, diabetes and high blood pressure.”
The doctor informed her that some of the medication she was on for her medical problems were on the ‘no-no’ list for pregnancy.
She saw him twice a week for three weeks when he told her the baby wasn’t growing like he should.
“He told me to go straight to the hospital and we are going to do a C-section because the baby had also turned himself around and he was breech.”
On February 15, 2016, at 8:05 p.m., baby Brooks Major Hebert was born weighing five pounds, 10 ounces and measured 18 1/4 inches long - exactly 30 days since his mother found out she was pregnant.
Because the mother had only three weeks of pre-natal care, Brooks ended up in NICU for nine days because his lungs were not fully developed.
Today, Brooks is home with no medical problems whatsoever. When his lungs matured, he was sent home with a perfect bill of health.
“Our lifestyle has changed drastically,” said Udona. “But, my husband and I are on cloud nine. Even though we have had some bad luck since we came home with Brooks, we feel so blessed.
“My husband was laid off and his welding truck caught on fire, but everything is just fine and we will survive with prayers.
“I would also like to acknowledge all the prayers we received from friends, family and even from people we don’t know who were praying for all three of us. We are extremely and eternally grateful for all that we have received.”