Our daughter Siena was born on January 14, 2015 after an early prenatal diagnosis of renal agenesis that was never confirmed. Due to an unknown factor, Siena did not have any amniotic fluid. Despite this, she continued to grow and thrive within the womb until she was born via C-Section at 36 weeks. Without amniotic fluid, her lungs failed to develop properly and the best efforts of the NICU team were not enough to establish an effective breathing pattern. She lived for 105 minutes.
Following the initial diagnosis, we were offered the option to end Siena’s life through abortion. We knew God had a plan for her, however, and wanted to do our part in making that plan come to fruition. #SienaStrong became the theme for my pregnancy, her life, and her legacy. Through Facebook and other social media, her story spread and this blog experienced an unprecedented growth spurt. We believe that we have only just begun to hear the many stories of how Siena’s story has impacted our readers.
It will take some time for me to create an index of the many posts I have written about Siena as she is such an active participant in our daily lives right now. If you are hearing this story for the first time, however, or landed here through an internet search after your own poor prenatal diagnosis or infant loss, here are some links that you might find most useful. (Note: I’m still working on tagging all of the posts from before Siena had a name.)
If you are currently facing a poor prenatal diagnosis, I highly recommend you connect with Prenatal Partners for Life. I also recommend that you read Kenna: Our Stillbirth Story. On that page I make several recommendations for delivery that I would encourage all poor prenatal diagnosis families to consider as well.
Did you face a poor prenatal diagnosis and decide to carry your child as long as God willed? Did your child die suddenly or unexpectedly after birth? I want to get to know you and your baby and would be honored if you would share him or her with me. Leave me a message with your story or share your story to our Facebook page.
Saint Siena, pray for us!
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