Kennedy Grace's Birth Story

When my husband and I discovered I was pregnant we were both thrilled beyond our wildest dreams. Going through the beginning stages of pregnancy was pretty uneventful but exciting nonetheless. We talked for hours about names, what he or she would look like and how our lives were about to change. When I went for my ultrasound it was one of the happiest moments of my life. Seeing the baby and hearing its heart beat seemed to only affirm how wonderful our lives were going to be once this little miracle came into the world.

When I went for my follow up appointment, the doctor told me that they had discovered some abnormalities during the ultrasound. I was shocked and heart broken to say the very least. They had diagnosed the baby with chloroid plexus cysts, which are located in the brain. They explained to me that although this can be a normal part of some fetus's development, they wanted to do further testing at a local children's hospital. From there I went to have a level 2 ultrasound where they discovered some other abnormalities. The baby had a thickness at the back of its head and its eyes were spaced unusually far apart. In combination with the cysts, these problems put my child at risk of trisomy 18, which is a severe type of retardation. Serious enough that children who have it are not able to survive. My husband and I were uncertain as to what this would mean for our baby and us. They suggested an amnio to which I refused. I felt that if the baby were okay, it would be unfair of me to put its well being in jeopardy just for my selfish need to know. Important to mention here, that I opted to find out the sex of our baby during this ultrasound. I needed to know in case any decisions needed to be made on its behalf. I needed to think of this baby as a he or a she and not an it. It turned out we were going to be having a girl.

So we decided that we wait. Life went on as usual and we just continued to maintain positive thoughts and wait for the day the baby would be born. My pregnancy was stressful despite any beliefs I had that everything would be okay. I ended up getting toxemia and gained 70 pounds. This only made me feel worse and my health was deteriorating despite any attempts I made to take care of myself. As my due date neared I was anxious, nervous, fearful and elated all at the same time. I wondered from time to time what would happen if our baby never got to see the beautiful nursery we had waiting for her at home. I continually worked at pushing these negative thoughts to the back of my mind.

Finally one Saturday morning, I went into labour, and was admitted to the hospital. After a VERY long labour, and a whole lot of pushing, Kennedy Grace made her entrance into the world. She weighed 9 lbs 13.5 ozs. I remember saying over and over again, "Is she okay? Is she okay??" They ushered her away and examined her at great length. My husband and I were terrified and thought all our worst nightmares had become a reality. A few minutes later, they brought her to us and told us that she was absolutely perfect!!! The only thing we could do as we held her there that day was cry.

Kennedy is now almost three years old. She is a blessing to us and keeps us laughing and smiling every day. She has a great sense of humor and she is strong willed and sensitive. She knows how to count to 30 and knows the alphabet. Nothing about her is average. In fact, she is extraordinary. She amazes us every single day and there is not one day that goes by where I am not thankful for her and her guardian angel.