On Oct. 11, 2014, Karla Weeden, who was 23 weeks pregnant, was simply driving home from the grocery store when out of nowhere, a driver ran a red light and hit her car. Although she was required to spend the night in hospital, she was sent home the next day on bed rest.
After days of not feeling good, Weeden went back to the hospital, where she gave birth to twins, Chase Michael and Autumn Rose. They weren’t able to survive for even a day, according to People.
Just a few months later in January 2015, Weeden found herself back in the hospital, where she was diagnosed with heart failure, where doctors told her that her heart was overworked.
She told People, “The doctors made it very clear that I was to not get pregnant [again]. It would kill me. My heart was too weak. It wasn’t safe for me to be pregnant.”
Despite the medical doubts, Weeden found love again and started to live a more healthy lifestyle.
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But medical intervention helped her change her life, she says: A defibrillator was surgically implanted, she had gastric sleeve surgery and switched to a plant-based diet.
She lost about 100 pounds, fell in love and got married to Javaris Weeden, 38, whom she first met online. The two were wed on Aug. 18, 2018.
Part of their evolving relationship included facing her past tragedy. (Her twins were with a previous relationship.)
Thanks to her changing lifestyle, seven years after being diagnosed with heart failure, doctors saw no more signs of the condition, leading to Weeden attempting to have children again with her new husband, Jarvis.
To their surprise, in November 2022, the couple learned they were pregnant. But it didn’t come with its own hurdles.
In April 2023, Weeden was diagnosed with Bell’s palsy, a facial disorder that can cause unexplained episodes of facial muscle weakness, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine.
But still, Weeden and her husband continued to fight, and on July 19, 2023, their daughter, Kapri, was born, according to People.
Despite dealing with post-eclampsia after giving birth, Weeden’s positive attitude led her to just stay home for a couple of more days before going back home to her daughter.
Her doctor told People, “She had the most optimistic, positive attitude. She just always wanted to make the best of things and was willing to listen and work with the team and do whatever she needed to do to take care of herself and her baby.”