Original Text of an E-mail from Douglas to Family/Friends
Dear friends and family,
Kimberly became full term this past Thursday. We have been struggling with how exactly to handle Alexandria’s birth, do we wait for her to come on her own, do we induce early, do we induce on her due date? We have read concerns about her coming early and others testimonials where waiting meant they were too late and their child died before labor. It has been difficult to know what to do, what actions we take would extend her time or lessen it. God has blessed us with very competent doctors, but even they cannot know.
After a great deal of prayer we have decided to induce next week, starting Thursday December 15. Kim will be admitted around 8pm and start medications to prepare her, and on Friday morning they will begin Pitocin. I will be staying with Kimberly in her room. This means, at the very latest, Alexandria will probably be born on Friday December 16th. We do not know how much time God will grant us with her, if any. Many of you have wondered about her chances and what hopes we have. Only 70% of babies with Trisomy 18 survive to full term, so she is a fighter and is beating the odds so far. Approximately 50% of children carried to full term are stillborn. There are no medical procedures we could perform to increase those odds, and a C-section would put Kimberly at more risk. Beyond that it is hard to know what her chances are. We have heard many accounts of only a few hours. The median life expectancy is one month, only 10% live to see their first birthday. We know that some families choose not to have a public funeral in these cases, we are planning to do so.
Kimberly’s parents will be coming here on Tuesday and will be staying with us during this time. As we need help with the boys we’ll definitely contact those that have offered to help.
Should Alexandria not be stable we will only have the boys and our pastor come and spend time with us in the hospital. If she requires surgery, or if she is stable, we have not decided on the amount of visitation in the hospital we’d be able to handle. We’ll send out additional e-mails if and when we’ll be able to have visitors (either at the hospital or at home). We know you will all understand and appreciate all the prayers, love, and comfort you have all provided us.
