Pac Family That Almost Lost Own Child Ready to Lead March of Dimes Walk
For 121 straight days, Jennifer and John Degl couldn’t take their newborn child home. Over the time of almost four months the Degl’s dealt with the agony of seeing their baby girl Joy Degl in an incubator, but not being able to cradle her, and living everyday with the uncertainty of whether their fourth child would make it home at all.
Joy was delivered at Westchester Medical Center on March 12, 2012, only 23 weeks into Jennifer’s pregnancy. She weighed just one pound and four ounces and was almost 12 inches long. From there, Joy went through hundreds of medical procedures and medications that kept her alive and allowed her to get stronger.
“It was really hard,” Degl said. “It was hard to go home from the hospital without your baby and go back to visit your baby not knowing if she’ll even survive because she was so tiny.”
There were times when Joy was near death, but today she’s at home with Jennifer, John and the couple’s three other children. Next Sunday, the entire Mahopac family will lead the March for Babies, a benefit to assist the March of Dimes, which funds lifesaving research and program and works to end premature birth, birth defects, and infant mortality.
The event starts at Saxon Woods in White Plain down in Westchester County. According to the March of Dimes website, 1 in 9 babies is born prematurely in the United States and worldwide, 15 million babies are born too soon each year. In 2009, 35 percent of all infant deaths were because of preterm-related complications.
Jennifer, who is a science teacher at Mahopac High School and lived in Mahopac her entire life, has been involved with the March of Dimes since her experience with Joy, which forced the entire family to deal with tremendous adversity.
In March 2012, Jennifer experienced a life threatening hemorrhage at 17 weeks and went through another two hemorrhages before she was finally forced to have Joy much sooner than the typical pregnancy.
Jennifer was on bed rest and John, another lifelong Mahopac resident, had the responsibly of taking care of 8-year-old Sean, 7-year-old Jack, and 4-year-old Shane with the help of the children’s grandparents.
And as John pointed out, Jennifer’s “life was in danger, too” adding to a stressful situation.
“You just kind of go one foot in front of another,” John said. “Because you have the other kids and the rest of the life is normal. They don’t realize life’s different.”
The couple also gave considerable credit to surrounding community members, other teachers at Mahopac High School and the workers at Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital in Valhalla.
Throughout the entire ordeal, Jennifer kept a journal that she eventually turned into a book called “From Hope to Joy: A Memoir of a Mother’s Determination and Her Micro Preemie’s Struggle to Beat the Odds.”
When Jennifer was on bed rest and didn’t have much to do, she would write down her thoughts and anything else she experienced from that specific day. In a way, writing became like “free therapy” for her and a way to occupy her time.
Now, she hopes her recollections and eventual happy ending with a healthy baby gives other families struggling through the same fight the inspiration they need.
Not just that, but one day Joy will be old enough to read the book and realize the arduous path she experienced right from birth and how she was able to overcome it.
“She definitely has her own little way about her. I don’t think she’ll ever realize everything that she went through,” Jennifer said. “Everything that happened to her was more than what most adults have throughout their lifetime and luckily she won’t remember so that’s another reason for the book so she can see how strong she really is.”
