Faith, Hope, and Claire

There is a feeling that every parent, at one point or another has nightmares about. That cold, lost helpless feeling...almost like drowning, but then they get to wake up. I clearly remember the day my husband and I felt that feeling. Only our nightmare, we did not get to wake up from. "There is something seriously wrong with this fetus."

"The only thing I can do for it is terminate." The doctor said with absolutely no emotion at all, as though he was discussing golf. "At least it will save you the inconvenience of a miscarriage...in all honestly, this fetus only has a 5% chance of even making it."

My husband and I were quiet for a very long time. I heard my husband say, "A 5% chance is still a chance." His voice sounded so far away. The doctor shrugged and said, "Not much of a chance. It is very unrealistic that, with the abnormalities of the fetus, that it would continue any longer than two weeks. Termination would get it over with."

"We're Catholic. That is not an option for us. What else can you do?" I am not sure how I spoke these words, as I was crying uncontrollably at this point. The doctor stared at my husband and I as though we had three heads the moment those words left me mouth.

"It is unlikely that this fetus will be compatible with life and if it does make it, it will be extremely unlikely it will have any kind of a life. Do you really want to put your family through that? You're still young, you can still have more babies."

"Well...that's not our decision. That's God's decision," my husband said, and we walked out of that office with tears in our eyes, just like the ten or so women we had seen walk out while we sat in the waiting room before our appointment.

Take a look at these beautiful Crib Medals here --

The battle we fought over the next few days was an intense one. My husband began praying for a miracle, and I...well, I would scream at God. I would get angry with our Father in Heaven. Why would a loving Father make a child pay for my sins? Why would He take this little girl that I had been waiting for for so long? Why was He punishing me?

Things progressively became worse as my husband faithfully prayed for them to get better. When looking at ultrasounds of our little girl, one could not see a baby...no, just a blob. She had been diagnosed with severe fetal hydrops, edema, cystic hygroma , and eventually, Turner Syndrome. Each of these things having more than a 95% fatal percentage attached to their titles.

At one ultrasound, my husband and I could only be given a picture of her hand, because it was the only appendage the ultrasound technician could see properly. I was so filled with anger, that even when my husband would tell me that our little girl was going to be alright, my blood would boil. How did he know? How did anyone know! My Father would tell me he was praying and that he would go to the church everyday and light a candle just for Claire. He would tell me to pray, that God had a reason for doing this, we just did not know what it was yet. My sister would cry over the phone with me. She never said much...but she let me cry.

It was too much. It was getting worse and worse...until the day that I fell down on my knees and prayed to Jesus Christ that He would heal my little one. I began to read the bible again, and I told God, finally, that no matter what the outcome, it was in His hands and that I trusted His decision.

Something amazing happened in the weeks after. My husband and I switched hospitals from Florida to one in New Hampshire. All the doctors at this new hospital could do was watch and wait...but not one ever told me that I should have an abortion. What they told me every time I came in was quite different. "God does not believe in percentages."

At 32 weeks into my pregnancy, the hydrops disappeared completely. She still had the hygroma on her neck, but it had been shrinking at an amazing rate. There was no more fluid in her belly, or lungs, or around her heart. We couldn't believe it, the doctors couldn't believe it...this little girl was a miracle.

She was born on November 28th, 2014 at 37 weeks pregnant. She is perfect. She has Turner Syndrome, she is a little on the small side, but our little Claire is perfect in every way. She laughs and smiles, she adores her four older siblings (particularly her big sister) and Daddy seems to be her favorite!

Pray for your family and others --

Now imagine if we had listened when we were told over and over again to have an abortion? We would have never seen her face, or smile. We would have always been wondering...

Our Claire is a little fighter, and we thank God everyday for her. There is still a lot of work to be done though. Because of the abortion rates stemming from doctors advice to terminate pregnancies like mine, the figures on the survival rate of things like hydrops and Turner syndrome are skewed. There is no way to tell what the real rates could be, because women are lead to believe these things are death sentences and that abortion is the only way.

Our little girl made it though, and we have a duty to share God's grace and hope with all who will listen. He gave us a miracle, and He has blessed us thousand fold.

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