Letters To Minnow: To start at the begining click the letters to minnow tab on the right side bar, these are entries that chronicle my pregnancy and Brennan's life.
Brennan's Story in short:
My husband and I found out we were expecting our first child in September of 2010. I started this blog as letters to my baby so that one day she could read her birth story from day one. I never thought the letters would end up chronicling the life and death of my first born. At the end of the first trimester sonogram the doctor noticed that the baby's bottom jaw was severely undersized. He sent us to the hospital for more tests, they told us that it could be one of more than 60 different syndromes or genetic disorders and urged us to end the pregnancy. We chose genetic testing and so the needles and the bad news began. Our little girl was diagnosed with a rare chromosome disorder, the bottom halves of her 16th and 17th chromosomes were translocated and after many many tests we were told a large part of her 17th chromosome was missing. 17q24.3 deletion, a deletion larger than any 17q24.3 deletion ever recorded, she wouldn't make it. The doctors were amazed that she lived in the womb as long as she did. At her 19 week level II ultrasound she had stopped moving, her chest was too small to support life outside of the womb, her bones were curved and her little shoulder blades were half the size they should have been. She was struggling to hold on, they knew she would not last to full term and if she had she would never walk or breathm she would only live on life support. We chose to end the pregnancy and give our baby girl the rest she so deserved. It was a decision I struggled with but knew it was cruel to let her suffer just so I could spend more time with her, so on January 18th we went to the hospital to start the process of medical termination, that is when God mercifully intervened. We found out that I was already dialated, on January 19th 2011 I went into labor while waiting at the hospital for the surgery, she was already gone. Brennan Esther O'Neill was and is loved.
