DANVILLE — A miracle has come to the Ronto family of Danville.

At least that’s how Melissa Ronto looks at her new baby. At age 44, Melissa and her husband, Brian, never dreamed of having another one.

And after 20 years of marriage and only one pregnancy, the Rontos had accepted the fact that their 12-year-old Emily always would be an only child.

“We always expected to have a lot of children,” Melissa said, “but we finally figured it wasn’t meant to be.” She comes from a family of 11 children that includes two sets of twins, and Brian has six siblings.

After dating for nine years before marrying, the couple was ready to start a family once they tied the knot in 1988.

“When we didn’t have children right away, we started down the long, frustrating path of fertility treatments,” she added, “but nothing worked for us.”

“Before I got pregnant with Emily, after eight years of marriage, we even considered going the route of adoption,” Melissa said. “At that time we were pretty convinced that I could never get pregnant.”

Melissa and Brian began dating when she was a sophomore and he was a senior at Danville High School. She was a cheerleader and he was on the baseball team. They both graduated from Danville Area Community College. After that, Brian moved immediately into his uncle’s business, selling Yellow Pages advertising nationwide. He is now vice president and co-owner of the business.

Melissa went on to get her bachelor’s degree in recreational therapy from Southern Illinois University, and her master’s degree in community counseling from Eastern Illinois University. She worked at Provena United Samaritans Medical Center for 18 years, first in behavioral health and then for the foundation, where she chaired the Festival of Trees for three years.

Ironically, she had just accepted a new position with the Department of Human Services Division of Rehabilitation Services in Danville — and enjoying a one-week hiatus between jobs — when she found out she was pregnant with her miracle baby. “I just didn’t feel well,” Melissa said. “I took a home pregnancy test before going to the doctor, but I never expected it to be positive.”

‘Are you sure?’

The morning Melissa found out she was pregnant with Eva Marie already was a hectic one in the Ronto household. Brian was running late for work and Emily was late for her student council meeting. But Melissa’s positive pregnancy test made these other things seem unimportant.

“When I shouted to my husband that the test was positive, his response was, ‘Are you sure you did the test right?’

“He asked me the same question when I found out that I was pregnant the first time. He likes to double-check everything,” she added, laughing

When Brian verified that Melissa indeed was pregnant, all he did was laugh — and then he laughed some more. “Then we both sat down on the couch and laughed, and then called our friends and family with the good news,” Melissa said.

Emily took the news seriously and was quite excited about having a new baby in the family. “I prayed and prayed that I’d get a new baby brother or sister,” Emily said, “and it worked, even though my Mom always told me that it probably wouldn’t happen.”

Emily loves to help care for her baby sister, when she isn’t busy with her own activities. She is an honor roll student and in seventh grade at St. Paul’s School, where she also is into track, basketball and volleyball. She also takes gymnastics at Roselawn Fitness Center and swims for the Turtle Run team in the summer.

There are a couple other coincidences in Melissa’s pregnancy story. “When I couldn’t get pregnant the first time, a close friend of mine recommended that I buy a dog so I would have something to care for and love,” she said. “Well, we got a Shetland puppy — and three months later I found I was pregnant with Emily.”

That puppy died, and the Rontos got another dog, which they named Roxy. It was only four months after they brought the new puppy home that Melissa found herself pregnant for a second time.

Also, several people in Melissa’s life had dreams about her becoming pregnant.

Melissa underwent multiple sonograms and other genetic tests because she was considered “high risk” at her age, and she delivered her daughter at 39 weeks with a planned Cesarean section.

“Eva Marie is just perfect,” Melissa said. “She’s a beautiful gift from God.”

More relaxed

Melissa and Brian said they are more relaxed caring for Eva Marie than they were with Emily. “I guess it’s true that you are able to sit back and enjoy your second baby more,” Melissa said, “even though it’s been 12 years since the first one.”

Melissa said that having a baby at age 44 has definitely been a life-altering experience.

“I’ll miss just stepping outside my door and doing my regular runs,” she said. Melissa formerly ran with the Kennekuk Road Runners and completed a half-marathon in 2007. “It looks like I’ll be pushing a stroller rather than running for some time in the future,” she added.

Brian said it was difficult at first to get accustomed to the “getting-up-in-the-night thing” so that Eva Marie could be fed.

“I’ve also noticed a lot of upgrades in the baby equipment since we had Emily,” Brian said. “There’s so many gadgets attached to everything now. If one thing doesn’t quiet the baby down, there’s always another gadget to try.”

Brian was especially impressed with the baby video monitor that seems to be a popular item on the market now.

The Rontos agreed that they will have to do a better job at budgeting their time, now that they have Eva Marie in their lives.

Melissa still hopes to find some time to work in her flower garden this summer and plans to volunteer for the Festival of Trees. She also has returned to her job at the Division of Rehabilitation Services. Brian will continue his golf games, but gave up his position with the men’s softball team so that he could help out more with the family.

“It will probably feel strange to go through the whole preschool thing again,” Melissa said, “and I’m sure we’ll feel old compared to most of the parents of preschoolers. But I look at this as just another opportunity to meet a whole new set of parents who will become our friends.”

“Do you realize that Emily will graduate from high school the same year that Eva Marie starts kindergarten?” Brian said.

But, he added, “I’m sure that watching Eva Marie grow up will keep us both young.”