Around 3 p.m. is when my world came crashing down and my life was changed forever.  My good friend and co-worker, Sheila, came to my desk and told me it sounded like Marilyn on the phone and she was very upset.  My stomach knotted up as I picked up the phone.  Marilyn asked, "Michele, can you come to the house?"  I asked what was wrong and she repeated her question.  I said, "Marilyn, what's wrong?  Is it Colby?"  She was silent.  Marilyn again told me to come to the house.  I was panicking, my heart was beating fast, and I needed to know right then what was wrong.  I said, "Is Colby okay?"  She said she didn't know, he was out in the ambulance.  I frantically asked, "Is Colby alive?"  She tearfully said, "I don't know."  By this time Sheila had run to get my dad, as we work together.  He was already at my desk with his keys in his hand saying, "Come on, let's go."  When we arrived at Marilyn's there was an ambulance and a fire engine in front of her house.  Colby was already dead, but I didn't know it.  I called my pediatrician and told him what I knew.  Marilyn put Colby down for his nap on his side and returned a little while later to find him dead.  There was blood coming out of his mouth, which is something that happens when you die.  She performed CPR to no avail.  I'm sure my doctor knew he was dead, but didn't want to tell me without being there himself.  While I was on the phone my husband showed up and the ambulance took off to the local hospital.  Once in the emergency room, the team of doctors and nurses surrounded Colby's tiny fragile body.  How odd that earlier in the day I was impressed by his big size.  The doctor shook his head at me and my husband and said something like, "I'm sorry, but too much time has passed and his temperature is so low."  I remember screaming and sobbing, "No!  Please save my baby!  Save my baby!"  I sunk to my knees and clung to my husband, who somehow managed to find a chair before collapsing himself.  It was like a slow motion movie.  It was so unreal.  To this day I still can't believe that it happened to us.  Colby was pronounced dead at 3:53 p.m.  Fortunately they let us hold Colby for as long as we wanted.  All of our parents showed up and got to hold Colby, too.  It was such a sad and unbelievable day.  I never before worried about SIDS.  The doctor questioned the shots he had been given earlier, but attributed his death to SIDS more than the immunizations.  His belief was confirmed by the coroner as well.

It is unbelievable that in this day and age SIDS is still a mystery.  No one knows why our precious babies are dying during their sleep.  All we can do is reduce the risk and trust that God will watch over them.  Please visit the links on this site to learn more about SIDS and how to reduce the risk.           Since Colby's death, we have been blessed with the births of our subsequent baby girl, Carlee, on November 23, 1999, and our subsequent baby boy, John Cooper, on February 2, 2002.  Please pray for our family as we continue to heal. Our prayers are with the families of all the precious SIDS babies.            We would like to thank our family, friends, church members and doctors who have all been there for us in more ways than one during our journey to heal.  And if it wasn't for our oldest daughter, Caitlyn, I don't think we would have had the courage or the strength to make it as far as we have.  She's our living angel.  One day when she's older, I'll tell her just how special she is and how she saved her Mommy and Daddy's lives. Michele and Dwayne Cozart

Colby only got to stay at Marilyn's just 5 short weeks before he died.  When he was 9 weeks old I took him to the pediatrician for his two month check up and immunizations.  Our appointment was at 10:30 a.m., so I picked him up from Marilyn's at about 10:10 a.m.  While we were waiting for the doctor, Colby was giving me some big smiles and cooing at me.  I was enjoying this break from work a lot!  Our pediatrician pronounced Colby very healthy, weighing in at 12 pounds, 10 ounces and 24 inches long.  WOW!  I couldn't wait to brag to everyone about my big boy.  After the doctor checked him out, the nurse came in to administer his shots.  He received IPV, DTP, Hib, and his 2nd Hepatitis B.  Two shots in each leg.  Ouch!  Colby of course cried.  The nurse told me to pick him up and love on him.  I think it hurt her almost as much as it hurt him.  We gave him some Infant's Tylenol to counteract any reaction or fever.  I got Colby settled down, and then he gave me one more cry.  This time it sounded like he cried, "Mom!"  It brought tears to my eyes.  I jokingly thought, "He just called me Mom."  I got Colby back to Marilyn's around 11:30 a.m.  He was sleeping soundly in his infant carrier after such a big day.  I went back to work and bragged to my friends during lunch about Colby's big size.

Just like my daughter Caitlyn, he was a very easy baby.  And very hungry!  He was soon eating 4 ounces of formula every 3 hours.  He got so big so fast that we joked with friends that we fed him pancakes and bacon for breakfast.  We didn't mind getting up to feed him during the middle of the night because he gulped his bottle down in just a few minutes.  He never spit up either.  We couldn't believe he was such an easy baby.  After a four week maternity leave I was ready to go back to work and get back into a routine.  While I was at work, my babysitter, Marilyn, took care of the kids.  She is a licensed in home child care provider who lives just a few minutes from my office.  She is wonderful and very trustworthy.  Colby fit into our lives perfectly.  We were so happy and complete.  We didn't know our lives would soon be changed forever.

Finding out we were pregnant with Colby a few days before our daughter's first birthday was one of the happiest days of our lives.  We were hoping for a son to round out our family, but would be elated with either a boy or a girl.  I couldn't have asked for a more perfect pregnancy.  I knew in my heart early on that we were having a boy.  My husband, Dwayne, was preparing himself for another girl, but I kept telling him, "It's a boy, I just know it!"  Sure enough, the midterm sonogram proved it was a little boy, perfectly healthy in every way.  We were so anxious to meet and hold our new baby boy.  Dwayne was so proud.  Finally on August 17, 1998 at 2 a.m. I went into labor.  When we arrived at the hospital I was 4 cm dilated and progressing quickly.  Colby was coming out on his own with every contraction.  Before my doctor got there, the nurse kept saying, "Don't push!  I've delivered lots of babies before, but I want the doctor to be here for this one."   Colby arrived at 9:57 a.m. after just a couple of pushes.  He had apgars of 9 and 9.  He was beautiful and perfect.  Colby weighed 6 pounds, 13 ounces and was 19 1/2 inches long.