heavy heart

One of our treehouse girls gave birth two months ago to a beautiful baby girl.  She was unfortunately born with a disease called Trisomy 18.  This has caused her to have very low birth weight, a collapsed diaphram, and several other complications.  She was born at right around 4 pounds and now two months later is only 5.2 pounds. For her first month of life she came home with her mom, aunties, uncle and grandpa.  She soon was unable to breathe on her own so she had to be rushed to the hospital.  She has spent the past month in the PICU with a tube in her nose forcing her to breathe.  While her mother "Dana" is only 18 she is acting wise beyond her years.  She has spent every waking moment at her bedside giving her kisses, changing her tiny diapers and giving her every bit of love she could give.  Tomorrow is the baby's two month birthday and she is being taken off of her oxygen and is expected to pass soon after.  

I went to visit today and my heart broke for Dana.  I am not sure why she was chosen to get pregnant at 17, give birth to this beautiful baby girl and then have her taken away 2 months later.  It's funny because Dana is acting so grown up about all of this.  She told me today that God can take better care of her baby than she can, so she just has to give her back.  She thinks her baby was brought here to teach her what unconditional love looks like and she is so thankful for that. Dana told me she cherishes each and every second she gets with her daughter.  To keep her child alive at this point would mean surgery after surgery with no guarantee that she would not die on the operation table.  Dana does not want to put her through that. It has been hard enough watching her struggle to breathe for these past two months. 

Most babies diagnosed with Trisomy 18 do not even make it to birth and the ones who do, don't often make it to one year old.  Dana believes her baby girl is a fighter, but she knows she must now let go of her.  She is worried about going back to life without the newest love of her life.  I can't even imagine going home to her bedroom with her baby's crib, clothes, blankets and stuffed animals, .. but not her child. Please pray with me that she continues to look to God for her strength as tomorrow approaches.  Pray that her family surrounds her tomorrow with all the love she deserves and that they can be a support to her in this awful time. Last but not least pray for her child, that God would take her comfortably and embrace her tiny soul. 

Thank you for reading this and praying with me. 

I'll try to keep you updated.