Chicago, Illinois (IL)
(Need current email address)

Kaci D. Hyatt was born on 7-7-06 and weighed in at 4lbs/6oz.  Her mom went to the hospital for some test as her actual due date was 8-14-06. The test revealed that she was having contractions (she had no indication or symptoms).  The doctors made a decision that it was in the best interest to perform a C-Section because the baby's heart rate would
drop when the contractions occurred.  We planned to have the testing done and grab something to eat, in and out.  We were both very hungry!:^)  Obviously we ended up abandoning that plan because we had a beautiful little girl the very next day.

The neonatal doctor informed me about 2 hours after birth that our daughter had signs that may indicate a syndrome (clinched fist, low set ears).  Personally, I did not think it would be serious.  In my naivety I thought Down's Syndrome was the only syndrome with long term affects. Since the baby was born on a Friday we could not get the lab confirmation until the coming Monday.  During that time I would leave her mothers side in the late hours and head home to get on the internet and research what I found to be many syndromes.  I started conducting my research based on the symptoms I knew about.  I read about Trisomy 18 and it scared me more than anything has in my manhood.  I hoped it was not that serious.

It was confirmed that Kaci has a full T13 diagnosis which really does not differ from T18 a whole lot based on my findings.  We took it very hard of course!  We have since moved on, but there are challenging days. I am sure any parents know what I mean!  You recognize as parents that you have to step up and really value the life of your baby.  Also, you have to rely on faith, prayer, and be positive because our babies really do feed off our love and energy.  We have just been informed today (8-24-06) that Kaci will receive heart surgery next week to repair a large hole that is allowing blood flow to pass through to her lungs.  We are happy because she breaths really fast and are hopeful the surgery will help her!  She shows us her will to live every day!  She smiles, makes noises, and tries to stay up as long as she can.  We believe she knows we leave when she falls asleep.  We kiss her every chance we get.

I am not sure how long we'll have her here, but she has brought about a change in our lives and truly shows us what is most important!  This week Kaci weighs in at 6lbs/8oz.

Keenan Hyatt