Angel Marie's Baptism

On October 7, 2012, at 21 weeks of pregnancy, Angel Marie received the Sacrament of Annointing of the Sick and the Sacrament of Baptism. In a small service surrounded by family and her God Parents, (both John and my parents), lead by Father Whately at St. Mark's, she received the "Baptism of Desire," a tradition in the Catholic Faith in which if a person wishes to be Baptised, they already are. As Catholics we believe a Sacrament is "an outward sign of God's Grace," and we truly felt His grace and peace as we celebrated our little girl, her life and potential journey to heaven (whenever that may be).

Additional Resources for Adverse Prenatal Diagnosis

Below is a list of resources and articles that have been helpful to us;

Isaiah's Promise
http://www.isaiahspromise.net/
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/may/10/mothers-choosing-not-abort-children-disabilities/

Be Not Afraid
www.benotafraid.net
http://article.nationalreview.com/422510/parents-be-not-afraid/kathryn-jean-lopez

For Love of Angela
http://00434a2.netsolhost.com/nancymayerwhittington

I Will Carry You; The Sacred Dance of Grief and Joy
http://www.amazon.com/Will-Carry-You-Sacred-Dance/dp/080546428X
Bring the Rain
http://angiesmithonline.com/

Loving Peter (recent Catholic Review article)
http://lovingpeter.blogspot.com
http://www.catholicreview.org/article/home/st-ursula-couple-chose-life-though-it-also-meant-death

Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep
www.nowilaymedowntosleep.org

The National Catholic Bioethics Center
www.ncbcenter.org

Sharing the news, September 30, 2012

Dear Friends,

Thank you for all your love, support and prayers, we are so blessed by you.

This past Thursday, We received a rare and very serious adverse prenatal diagnosis for our little girl (Jenny is 20 weeks pregnant). Our baby is not expected to survive the pregnancy and if she does, she will die shortly after birth. We have chosen to find out it's a girl and have named her Angel Marie. Obviously, we are and always have been united in our belief that every baby is an irreplaceable gift from God and every child is a blessing with divine purpose. We are preparing to pray our baby girl into heaven all the while praying for a miracle.

We know you are asking what you can do, and we appreciate all your support. At this time, other than prayer there is not much you or we can do (or could have done.) For now, we will live out our decision to "choose life and choose it more abundantly," and plan to continue our daily routines while loving Angel Marie to the fullest. We are due in February, but have been told we may loose the baby at anytime up until then. We are asking for your understanding of our need for privacy. Although this is clearly not a secret, we will share our experience further and ask for help as we need and see fit. We apologize for the email correspondence, but as you can imagine, we want you all to know but don't quite have the strength to share and re-share our story quite yet.

We are overwhelmingly grateful for the gifts of each other and Abigail Grace as well as our extremely supportive parents, wonderful loving family and friends and Dr. Sorra (our incredible Pro-Life Doctor, who fully supports our decision to continue the pregnancy, despite the odds). Thank you again for all your support and prayers it truly means more than you know and will sustain us through the next four months and beyond.

Gratefully,

Jenny and John