Faces of Loss, Faces of Hope

Heather

Mom to Addison Ward

February 8th, 2008

Salisbury, NC

In the summer of 2007, we found out that we were expecting our second baby. We were SO EXCITED! We have a beautiful precious daughter, and we want so much to give her a baby sister or brother to play with and love.

My pregnancy was pretty easy in the beginning,  I was amazed that I had no morning sickness, no cravings or aversions, I felt great! The baby's first ultrasound and heartbeat checks went great and I was measuring perfectly.

The first week in October, we had our routine ultrasound and blood tests. Addison was measuring a little small for her gestational age and my amniotic fluid was low, but not too concerning...we were SO EXCITED to find out that we were having a sweet baby girl and we named her Addison McKinley.

Then a week later, we received a call. The AFP blood test came back abnormal. The next few days were a whirlwind, but we finally received a diagnosis through amniocentesis that our sweet little girl had Triploidy. Triploidy is the existence of 69 chromosomes (3 of each) instead of the normal 46. Addison inherited 2 sets from one parent and one set from the other instead of one set from each of us.

We were told that this diagnosis was 100% fatal and that Addison would not most likely not survive the pregnancy, and would definitely not survive birth. We were offered the option to terminte our pregnancy at that time. In our hearts we knew that Addison was God's child and that we would continue to care for Addison for as long as God would allow it. 

Over the next few months, we had good and bad days. We loved our baby and it was very hard to know that she would probably not live with us in this world.

We had so much support from family and friends. We were surrounded with prayers and with God's love and strength.

We continued to monitor Addison, and her little heart just kept on beating, she was a fighter! 

In late January, I began having contractions and thought that I might go into labor, but it was a false alarm.
Addison hung in there for a few more weeks, then on February 8th around 1am, she decided to let us know she was on the way.

We went to the hospital at 6am and at 7:39, Addison was born.

Despite the odds, she was born alive! She lived for 13 minutes and passed away peacefully at 7:52am.
Although we thought she would be less than 2 lbs, she weighed 2 lbs, 7 oz and was 15 1/2 inches long. She was PERFECT in every way, she had big beautiful eyes and a head full of curly black hair. She had no significant physical deformities (we were told that this could happen with Triploidy). Our family was able to hold her, love her, and spend time with her.

We were so blessed!

Even though she was only with us for a moment, she will forever live in our hearts.