My name is Kathryn Rachel Fatz and I was born on April 17, 2002. I passed away 20 short minutes later due to complications from a chromosome disorder called Trisomy 18. I am sure you are asking "What is Trisomy 18"? Well, Trisomy 18 means that someone has an extra number 18 chromosome that causes many complications, most of which are fatal. It was a miracle that I lived as long as I did but I had some very important things to do here on earth before going home to Jesus!
My mommy and daddy found out they were having me in September, 2002. I am their first child and they were so excited to finally be having a baby! Mommy even bought my crib two weeks after she found out she was pregnant because she was just so anxious for my arrival!
Her pregnancy was very typical in the beginning. My daddy is a Radiologist and he would take mommy up to the hospital every couple of weeks so they could see me on an ultrasound. At 15 weeks they could see that I was a girl and they named me Kathryn Rachel. They chose this name because my Grandma Arlene's middle name is Kathryn (mommy's mom) and my mommy's very best friend is named Rachel. They couldn't have picked two more special people to name me after....I am lucky! At mommy's 16 week check-up she had a routine blood test done to screen for any abnormalities. Mommy and daddy never really worried much though because they had seen me so many times on the ultrasounds and I looked GREAT! On January 8, 2002 mommy received a call from her doctor and was told that the blood test was abnormal and I had a 1 in 10 chance of having Trisomy 18. Mommy had never heard of this before so she called daddy right away and they started to do some research. They could not find a lot of information but everything they did find said that about 90% of babies with Trisomy 18 die before their 1st birthday. They met with a genetic counselor and then had an amniocentisis done so they would know for sure whether or not I had Trisomy 18. They cried a lot while waiting for the results (it takes two weeks!) and everybody in the family prayed so hard that I would be okay. On January 18, 2002 the genetic counselor called daddy at work and told him that the results were back and I did have Trisomy 18. Daddy's heart was broken and he didn't know how he was going to tell mommy the news. They already loved me so much and now they were going to lose me sometime very soon! Daddy came home early from work to tell mommy and Grandma Arlene about the results and they all wept and wept. Mommy says the pain of that day is the worst she has ever felt in her life!
Mommy and daddy cried a lot during the next several months but they also tried to enjoy the time they had with me while I was still inside mommy's tummy. They knew this might be the only time they would ever have with me! Mommy prayed to Jesus everynight to allow her to see me alive but also not to let me suffer. |
