Sawyer Michael Henry Karau

Marshfield, Wisconsin (WI) - Full Trisomy 13

Sawyer Michael Henry Karau - My baby boy

Born-Friday, July 11th,2003 8:07a.m.
Passed Away-Friday, July 11th, 2003 8:52a.m.

We found out about our baby's condition on March 12th, 2003 at our first ultrasound. My doctor couldn't say for sure but by all of the signs for trisomy 13 that our baby had, he was leaning towards it being trisomy 13. We would not know for sure until I had an amnio done and we got the results back. Sure enough, Trisomy 13.

We went to see genetic counselors and had to decide if we were going to continue our pregnancy or terminate it knowing of the not so good outcome. Of course their were many questions but their was no doubt in my mind what I wanted to do.

On July 11th, 2003, 5 weeks early, our beautiful little boy was here. At 8:07a.m. Sawyer Michael Henry was born and at 8:52a.m. I was holding an angel.

Nancy Pilz-mom

I rarely ever get to talk about my little boy because others think that it bothers me to talk about his situation when in reality I would love to share our story about him whenever I could.

The genetics counselor along with the doctors all told us the same thing. Little Sawyer had many things wrong with his tiny little body. He has the bilateral cleft lip and palate, an extra little finger on each of his tiny hands and an extra little toe on each of his tiny feet.

I can't think of what they called it now, but when he was growing in me, where the umbilical cord connects to the belly area there was a little part of him that didn't get "closed" all the way. I don't know really how to explain it but he was born with a little sack on the outside of his tummy instead of on the inside. I believe that it was some kind of hernia...Also, his little heart valves were crossed
or the "wrong" way from the way that they were supposed to be. If it wouldn't have been for his little heart, he probably would have lived longer.

We decided that instead of rushing him off to any kind of surgery that may or may not have prolonged his life, that we wanted to cherish every moment with him while he was still "here" with us. All in all, his little heart was just not working as it should. He was born alive at 8:07a.m. and passed away at 8:52a.m. 45 minutes that was a LIFETIME of hugs, kisses, cuddles, and all the love a mother can share with her baby.

Thank you so much again for such a great place for the littlest angels.I'll be sending more of our story soon,

Nancy