April's Rainbow Baby Project Winner! :: Columbus, Ohio Newborn Photography
- Felecia Williams
- Apr 26, 2018
- 5 min read
Like I said in the runner up blog, we had two AMAZING, heart-string tugging rainbow baby stories. Earlier this month, I had the pleasure of meeting Kerri, a volunteer for Sufficient Grace Ministries and her 4 wonderful children. She brought Kinsley for me to photograph, and told me about the pregnancy, birth and passing of her sweet Greacelyn who was diagnosed with Trisomy 18.
We were able to get some beautiful pictures of all the siblings on a gorgeous rainbow tutu. We dressed the older sisters in a stunning frock from DollCake, while Kinsley was photographed with a sweet little unicorn lovie and floral headband from Three In The Nest while her pastel beanbag drop, pearl headband and pastel rainbow wrap are from Chicaboo.
Greacelyn's story is below, but before you read it, remember we are taking submissions for The Rainbow Baby Project every month! If you or someone you know would like to be considered, please apply here
In November of 2014 we had a drs appointment with ultrasound for 12 week. We thought everything looked good ben then the dr came in and said it looks like there are a few things are concerning. The baby didn't have a nasal bone present also the fold on the back of the neck was a little thicker then they like to see. I was offered a blood test to see what was going on. We were nervous as we waited a week for results. Finally we got the call. It was the hardest phone call of my life. I was told we were having a girl however she had Trisomy 18 and she was not going to live. I cried for days and wasn't sure what was going to happen. At our next appointment the Dr came in and told us our options. We could Terminate the pregnancy, a soft induction or we could continue and see how long she would make it! . I told the Dr. that God gave her to us for a reason and if I ended the pregnancy I would never know the reason. We were going to love on her as long as God would let us have her. Well we were told she would never make it to the next trimester and definitely not to full term. So week by week we kept going and was able to make it to full term. I was induced because of living so far away and we needed to control as much as possible to give her the best chance we could at life.
So on May 19th 2015 we had the best staff and also had a doula that helps prenatal hospice families and we had a photographer from Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep. The Dr. came in to check me and accidently broke my water and that's when things started going bad quickly. I had a placenta abruption with a cord prolapse. The Dr. checked me and found the cord prolapse and said I can take my hand out now and she will pass away soon or we can do emergency C-section. I said we didn't make it to 39 weeks for nothing lets to a C-section. So me, my husband, photographer and Doula were all able to go back into the OR. The C-section was difficult because my uterus was clamped down around her and the Dr. had a hard time getting her out. When they were able to get her out she had was not breathing but just had a heartbeat and that was it. she was rushed off to the NICU team where they were able to get her breathing. I was back in recovery and she had a few Apnea spells and we were told she probably would not make it through the day. We were able to go and see her and pray over her and the kids got to meet her. The day came to an end and she was still with us and breathing on her own but needed just a little bit of oxygen. We decided that if she was going to life we were going to help her and if she was going to pass we would hold her. We were able to learn more about her and what made her so special. She had cyst on her brain, her esophagus didn't go all the way down, 3 holes in her heart! , clinched hands, rocker bottom feet, abnormal bowls. Because of her esophagus issue she could not eat. She kept living and was doing better then expected I wanted her to get a feeding tube placed. So we got transferred to another hospital that could do the feeding tube surgery.
The surgery went great and no complications. She healed from that and was able to talk about bringing her home. We were so scared to bring this tiny little girl home and we were filled with questions. We did bring her home with hospice and we were ready to bring her home. When we got home we had some trouble with equipment and I didn't feel comfortable with staying at home so back to the hospital we went. I knew the next thing we needed to do was to have her esophagus fixed. This is a very difficult surgery for anyone to go though let alone a fragile baby that has already lived longer then what the Drs said she would. The Dr. did the surgery and was so very pleased on how she did and now we just need! ed her to heal. after a few weeks we were looking to bring her home again and grow her and maybe look into a surgery to repair her heart. So the time was come to take her home again and this time we were scared but also excited. She did have a few apnea spells but nothing we couldn't handle and just ready to be a family all together.
The day was July 20th and she was 2 months old we were bringing our baby girl home. We got home and was starting to unpack the van and I went to change her diaper and she had a apnea spell and then is when she passed away. We were home for 15 min before her passing. It was such a blessing to have her at home with us because all of our friends and family were able to come and love on her. We were able to donate her eyes so they could do some research for childhood glaucoma. We learned so much of God grace and love during this time with her and were so blessed to have her with us. I didn't want to have any regrets with the time we had with her and! we definitely do not have any regrets. I was able to journal on her page I made in Facebook and so many people shared her page and were praying for her. We were able to reach over 9,000 people with her story. She touched so many lives all over the world. With everything I had gone through with her I have a heart for families going through a loss of a child and now have been able to help other families during their loss as well.
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