Stories of Lost Children
My Son..My Hero
by Nicole Meyer, Barnegat, New Jersey, U.S.A.
My story begins in December 2000. I was 16 weeks pregnant with my son, Andrew. I took the AFP test and had a bad feeling about it. Sure enough I received a call from my OB saying that the results were abnormal. This I found out 3 days after my daughters 2nd birthday. I made an appointment with the perinatologist. I had to wait until the 5th of the new year. I worried over the holidays. At my appointment I learned the dreadful news. My son had cystic kidneys, clubbed feet and a thickened nuchal fold. All signs of a chromosomal abnormality. We decided to wait until it was safe for Andrew to survive outside the womb to have an amnio done. At 24 weeks (Valentine's Day) I had the amnio. 6 days later I found out that my son had a rare chromosomal abnormality. I wound up delivering him at 35 weeks due to low waters. He was born and transferred to Children's Hostital in Philadelphia 5 hours later. He was worse than they expected during my pregnancy. His lungs were very small and hard. He could not breathe without a ventilator. His kidneys were abnormal and full of cysts. His brain was missing the piece that links the left and right half and this frontal lobes were underdeveloped. They told us he would not survive long and we made the hardest decision of our lives, we took him off the ventilator. We had our families come see him at the hospital and had him baptized. After everyone left, they took him off. He lived 5 hours after. I cherish those hours. We were able to hold and cuddle him. We told him so many things and how much we love him. He never really made a sound or expression during his short life. But at 8:15 p.m. May 2,2001 only 3 days and 1 hour after his birth, he smiled and gasped and became an angel in my arms. After I got to give him a bath and dress him, something I wanted to do so bad. I know it sounds dumb, but I wanted to do something for him that I do for my daughter. I remember every minute I had with him and miss him everyday. We were told that Andrew was a very sick baby and should have never made it into this world that he shounld have been a misscarage. I believe that it shows how strong my little man was and that make him my hero. I love you Andrew! Mommy to Angel ^i^ Andrew 4/49-5/2/2001
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