+ JMJ +
Dear family and friends,
At 6:07 AM on Saturday morning, April 7th, Anastasia Maria Catherine was born. The reason we haven’t sent an email earlier to announce this news is that within seconds of birth the midwife said to call 911.
Baby Anastasia was not breathing at birth but between the immediate intervention of the midwife (who is neonatal resuscitation certified) and the paramedics, who arrived a few minutes later, Anastasia established stable respiration and was transported to Children’s Mercy Hospital (CMH) in Kansas City, Missouri. After a brief stop in ER for triage and stabilization she was moved to the NICU where she’s been since Saturday morning.
Another reason for delaying this update is that Anastasia has some pretty obvious and non-trivial medical issues. We are still waiting for confirmation from the genetics lab (which could come today, or tomorrow, or the day after that?) but the highly educated guess by the highly educated staff here at CMH is that Anastasia has a Trisomy condition. Initially we thought we would have confirmed information by now and we would share it by email but since it looks like we might be waiting a while longer we decided to send out this announcement and update even though there are still more questions than answers right now.
Sacraments: Anastasia was Baptized within two minutes of birth by her daddy and she received the Sacrament of confirmation this morning, through which she gained an increase in Sanctifying Grace as well as the name “Agnes.”
Prognosis: while the future is uncertain for us all, it’s pretty clear that little Anastasia will only be with us for a short period of time. Maybe weeks, maybe days. Or maybe she’ll be a miracle baby who lives several years. I guess doing a good enough job so far with her seven older siblings qualified her mom and me to receive temporary guardianship of this pure soul who will soon be in heaven.
Despite being a bit tardy getting this email out, word traveled quickly among local friends, so much so that for the next few weeks we have volunteers lined up to help with babysitting Anastasia’s older siblings, as well as an already-full meal schedule through early May, so mommy and I can spend as much time as possible at the hospital.
With lots of love and promises for more updates,
Anastasia’s Daddy and Mommy
“Receive the Holy Spirit…” — the Confirmation of Anastasia
Anastasia at Rest
