Baby Abigail Changed Us Forever in One Day

Abigail Réileen lived for only one day, but it was the best day of my life. When I told my obstetrician, the lead surgeon in the C-section, that it was the best day ever, he chuckled incredulously and shook his head. He knew that I had died myself that day--flat-lined in the OR for twenty to thirty seconds, long enough for all brain activity to stop. I had been rescued by the quick thinking of an anesthesiologist who shot my IV full of epinephrine to revive me from death. If this had not worked, I would have met my first and only daughter Abigail in heaven. Instead, though our first meeting was delayed by about an hour while I was stabilized in intensive care, I did get to meet our baby girl in this life.

And that is what made it the best day ever.


Contrary to all predictions, even the optimistic ones, Abigail breathed on her own! It wasn't easy for her. A baby with anencephaly usually has a brain stem and some portions of brain beyond that, and is missing only the parts that are responsible for more complex voluntary movement. But Abigail had extra problems. Her anencephaly was caused by a rare disease called amniotic band syndrome. It is not hereditary and no known cause exists. It is, as our maternal fetal medicine doctor explained, a fluke.

Amniotic band syndrome (ABS) is usually not life-threatening when amniotic bands constrict blood flow in the womb to a limb, like a hand or a foot. In Abigail's case, it was fatal when the amniotic bands interrupted the development of her head. Her nose and mouth were intermingled.


And breathing was very difficult.


She did it, though! She breathed. She did it for twenty-two and a half hours. If she had died in that first hour, I never would have gotten to see this miracle, but she held on and let us all hold her, sing to her, read "I Love You Forever," and tell her how strong she was.

We witnessed many miracles, some big like Abigail being able to breathe and me coming back to life, and some small, like my husband coming back from driving my brother to the airport just in time to say goodbye to Abigail the next morning as her exhausted body finally succumbed.

Abigail herself was a miracle, one we will remember and cherish forever. She has made us want to be more tender with one another and to relish each and every day we have on earth with our other five children. She has taught us to be patient and to forgive. Her short life showed us the power of a moment if it is full of love.


How You Can Help

Our family was completely unprepared for this series of events and how it would impact us, emotionally, spiritually, physically, and financially. Through God's grace, we have received healing, help, and so much love from everyone around us. We are grateful. After working through the financial aid process with the hospital, we now have the official number that represents the cost of Abigail's C-section and NICU care and my ICU care for one day. It is big. So much bigger than we can handle alone, so we are asking our friends for help.

I was in the middle of my junior year at Brigham Young University studying neuroscience when we received Abigail's diagnosis, and I had just been introduced to an understanding of anencephaly and other neural tube defects in my neurobiology class. The irony was painful at the time, but I have since embraced the study of neural tube defects and taken advantage of my access to research as a university student, and I am currently writing a paper on neural tube defects for school. I have learned so much and want to continue. It makes me feel I am doing something to contribute to understanding birth defects like Abigail's. Any funds we raise in excess of the $30,000  needed for our medical costs will be applied to my continued study at Brigham Young University in the field of neuroscience.



Thank you!

We want to thank everyone who has already donated to help us put up this beautiful little memorial angel over Abigail's grave.


And we want to thank everyone donating now to help us recover financially from this unexpected, yet miraculous event that has changed us as people forever.


Spread Abigail's Influence

I have been so touched by friends and distant family members who have shared their personal stories with me of how Abigail has impacted them, whether in their dreams of her or solid, good-cry sessions after reading about her on our family blog. Other parents who have lost children can attest to how much it means to us when our little ones are able to cause big ripples that continue to spread love, healing, and hope. Even a small person can make a big difference, and even a brief life of one day can be eternally significant.

Please share our video with your friends and family so Abigail's sweet spirit and courage can be felt far and wide and her family can get the financial help we need.