Category: Bad News

Thank You

We just wanted to say a quick thank you for all of your love and support.  We truly could not ask for better families and friends and appreciate all your kind words and prayers more than you know.  This is certainly a challenging time for us, but it is so comforting to know that we are not alone …

Although we had planned on keeping the sex of Minimarr a surprise until delivery, when we found out he/she had Trisomy 18, we changed our minds.  We decided that we wanted as much time as possible to bond with our baby and knowing if we were having a boy or a girl would help us do just that.  Last week in a meeting with our genetic counselor, we found out quite accidentally that our sweet little one is a precious baby girl.  We have a daughter!!!!

We feel truly blessed to be her parents and love her more than we ever thought possible; she is truly a gift.  It breaks our hearts to know that we won’t have as much time with her as we want, but at the same time, we know how lucky we are to get to know her now.

We had an ultrasound today and got to see our sweet little angel again.  It’s comforting each and every time to see her moving around and hear her little heartbeat.  As hard as it is for us to see our baby and know that we won’t have nearly enough time with her, we treasure every opportunity to visit with her.  Despite the sadness and uncertainty that surrounds each visit to the doctor, we cherish every moment we get to spend staring at our beautiful girl.  She looks perfect to us …

Thank you again for all your support, we are lucky to have you in our lives.

Love,
Pat and Laurie

Change in Plans …

This is by far the hardest post we’ve had to write, but we learned some sad news last week and felt it was time to share with all of you … our precious little baby has Trisomy 18.

Trisomy 18 is a chromosomal abnormality/genetic defect – essentially a fluke – second only in occurrence to Downs Syndrome.  Sadly, Trisomy 18 is considered “incompatible with life”.  Most babies die before birth, and the few who do make it typically live just a few minutes, hours or days.  A very small number of babies (<10%) live at least one year.

At this point, we don’t know what the future holds for MiniMarr, but are planning to carry this little baby as long as he/she will allow us to.  We know the outlook is grim, but we’re holding on to hope and praying that God will guide us.  We are so sad to know that our little baby won’t have the life we dreamed of, but we still love him/her very much and just ask for your love and support.

Despite the incredible loss we’re experiencing, we know how lucky we are to have such amazing family and friends and we are beyond grateful for them.  We especially want to thank our parents and sisters for being such an immense support to us over the last week.  We know how much they are hurting too, but they’ve been so strong for us and we truly would not have survived without them.

If you’re interested in more information, the Trisomy 18 Foundation is an excellent reference.

Love,
Pat and Laurie