The babies that were meant just for me

My dear friend, Melissa, always refers to me and my pregnancy losses as, "God chose you to carry His precious cargo." I just love the way she puts it. I truly feel as if the babies I have lost really were meant for me. Here is a beautiful post by someone who has had similar experiences. It's short, but oh, so beautiful. I hope you make time to read it.

The babies that were meant just for me

Carrying to term

If you haven't already heard about the story of baby Faith Hope, you should hear about it now! The Story of baby Faith Hope - It is remarkable and very similar to my own story of Isaac. If I could have a "do over," though, I wish I would have had more "faith" and "hope" throughout my own pregnancy and grief journey with Isaac. I would like to have been more like Myah. She truly is an inspiration...

Here is a recent post of Myah's regarding whether or not to carry a baby that has received a fatal prenatal diagnosis to term. She, like I, had no doubts about what the right decision was. But, for some, this decision is more difficult to make. Read about carrying to term.

Beautiful videos!

Two beautiful videos that will surely touch your heart!

Fearfully and Wonderfully Made
Who Will Save The Little Ones

The meaning of Gianna's name

Several people have asked how we came up with the name "Gianna." What a better time to share this than today, January 22nd? Today is the annual March For Life, a march by those who oppose the Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision to legalize abortion in the United States.

Well, as all of our friends and family know, we are Catholic. Very Catholic. We believe and profess everything the Catholic Church believes and teaches. We love our faith. We love the very church Jesus Christ established to pass on the truths that He taught.

Along with a love for Christ's Church, we also have a love for the many saints who have lived lives worthy of remembering and honoring. Saint Gianna is one such saint. She is known as the "pro-life" saint. She is the saint we ask to intercede for us when we pray for an end to abortion...when we pray for God's endless mercy upon those mothers and fathers suffering from the effects of an abortion.

Gianna Beretta Molla was pregnant with her fourth child when it was discovered that she had a fibroma, a benign tumor, on her uterine wall. It was suggested that she undergo a surgery that would involve aborting the growing baby inside of her, of which she immediately declined. Instead, she chose surgery that would remove only the tumor, still very aware of the risks involved in this delicate surgery – both to her and to her unborn child. She pleaded with the surgeon to save the life of the child she was carrying, and entrusted herself to prayer and Providence. She was able to carry her baby to term, at which point she was ready to give her life in order to save her child. She is quoted as saying, "If you must decide between me and the child, do not hesitate: choose the child - I insist on it. Save him." On Good Friday, Gianna entered the hospital, and the following morning of April 21, 1962, a lovely, healthy baby daughter, Gianna Emanuela, was born. But the mother had developed a fatal infection - septic peritonitis. (Modern antibiotics most likely would have saved her.) The inflammation caused immense suffering during her final week on earth. In the midst of her terrible pain, Gianna called to her own mother, Maria, who had died in 1942 – and she prayed. On the morning of April 28, amid unspeakable pain and after repeated exclamations of “Jesus, I love you. Jesus, I love you," the mother died. She was 39 years old. The tiny infant, Gianna Emanuela, was exactly one week old.

*For more information and for references, click here:
Saint Gianna Parish
Saint Gianna -- A Model for Mothers


"The canonization of Saint Gianna is the first of its kind. Many mothers have been beatified for their heroic virtues but they entered religious life after becoming widowed. In St. Gianna’s case, the very condition of her being a spouse and mother is being exalted and highlighted. St. Gianna is the first canonized woman physician and professional who was also a “working mom”."
(http://www.saintgianna.org/sainthood.htm)

For those of you interested in the language origin and meaning of the name, "Gianna," it is Italian, with it's origin being Hebrew, which means "God is gracious." It also means "Gift of God." And for everyone who knows our story and journey with Isaac, you certainly know how appropriate the name "Gianna" is for our precious gift (on loan) from God. Our baby girl, Gianna's, middle name is "Faith." It is quite obvious why we chose this name. After enduring the pregnancy with Isaac and then with Gianna so soon after, it required an incredible amount of faith to believe we would actually get to take home a healthy baby girl. We thank God for His gift of Saint Gianna's life and beautiful example of love and sacrifice. We thank Saint Gianna Beretta Molla for the many ways she shared the love of Christ with others so that we may strive for sainthood as she so willingly and successfully did. And we thank God, through His beloved Son, for His Gracious Gift of a child to take home and raise to love and serve Him. With all that said, "Gianna" is not a only a very pretty name for a baby, a little girl, and a lady, but there is much meaning behind it for us as well.

May God bless each of you on this day when we remember that our mothers chose life for us. Please continue to pray for the mothers who find that decision difficult to make.

Jennifer and family

In Memory of

Saint Gianna Beretta Molla

1922-1962

Check out this amazing video!

Click here to view this awesome pro-life video about our new President!

"The Unborn Child"

I just came across this poem in a recent issue of The Catholic Lighthouse, a publication of the Victoria Diocese.

"The Unborn Child"

The experts tell us to speak to the child,
while it is still in it’s mother’s womb.
They tell us to say different things,
and then feel how the baby will move.
They say that if we read to the child,
each and every day,
the baby will learn faster,
than children whose parents had nothing to say.
Some parents will play them music by Bach,
in hopes that the child will grow up in a conductor’s box.
For it’s said what the child hears before it is born,
will help him in school as he goes along.
The unborn child knows of his parents’ love,
from the moment of conception,
– a gift from above.
Now that it’s been established,
that the unborn can hear,
let me tell you something that should bring you to tears.
Think about all the unborn,
still in their mother’s wombs,
in silence they live,
there are no tunes.
There are no tapes playing,
so they can get smart,
but what they do hear tears at their hearts.
Their mothers are angry,
and saying they don’t care,
they want the baby aborted,
they have nothing to share.
That little bitty baby,
holding on with all its might,
knows that its mother is planning to take away its life.
If she could only listen to what her baby would say,
she surely would hear it screaming,
please don’t take my life away.
I want to be born,
just like any other baby;
please, please change your mind,
don’t even consider maybe.
I want to be born,
and see what life has to give,
if you would only do one thing;
please just let me live.
How can you even consider about taking away my life,
don’t you know that this will haunt you,
for the rest of your life?
So please dear mommy,
help me,
don’t end my life today.
I am a gift from heaven,
And in your womb I want to stay.

Donated by Gene Adamek of St. Mary Parish in Victoria
to The Gabriel Project, an alternative to abortion.

Somthing to ponder...
Imagine a crazy man running into the newborn wing of a hospital and murdering all of the babies in the nursery. He would be convicted of many counts of murder, no doubt. Yet, every single one of those babies could have been killed by their very own mother just a day or two prior and no one would be convicted of murder. And yet there are people out there that still defend the right to choose death for children. I pray for them as much as I pray for the unwanted babies and their parents...

Well Said...

Well, you all know how passionate I am on the topic of abortion. So many people are quick to defend "the choice," but remain silent when it comes to defending and promoting life. Well, one thing is certain, I will never ever be made to feel guilty for defending the unborn...the helpless...the defenseless...the innocent...

That being said, here is one way to describe what an abortion is like...don't worry, this is not graphic.

A worried woman went to her gynecologist and said: "Doctor, I have a serious problem and desperately need your help! My baby is not even 1 yr. old and I'm pregnant again. I don't want kids so close together."

So the doctor said: "Ok, and what do you want me to do?"

She said: "I want you to end my pregnancy, and I'm counting on your help with this."

The doctor thought for a little, and after some silence he said to the lady: "I think I have a better solution for your problem. It's less dangerous for you, too."

She smiled, thinking that the doctor was going to accept her request.

Then he continued: "You see, in order for you not to have to take care of 2 babies at the same time, let's kill the one in your arms. This way, you could rest some before the other one is born. If we're going to kill one of them, it doesn't matter which one it is. There would be no risk for your body if you chose the one in your arms."

The lady was horrified and said: "No doctor! How terrible! It's a crime to kill a child!" "I agree," the doctor replied. "But you seemed to be ok with it, so I thought maybe this was the best solution."

The doctor smiled, realizing he had made his point. He convinced the mom there is no difference in killing a child already born and one still in the womb. The crime is the same!

"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; before you were born I dedicated you" (Jeremiah 1:5)

On a more personal note, there were a few people who actually questioned our decision to carry our precious baby boy, Isaac, to term last year. Knowing he would die anyway, they didn't understand why we decided to keep him alive so long...in other words...allow him to live. You know...they felt as though we should just end the suffering...I simply explained to them that if their child were diagnosed with a fatal illness or disease, would they just end his life early? Wouldn't they want to spend as much time as they had left on earth to love him? Comfort him? Pray for him?

Here are some infamous words from the late Mother Theresa...
"But I feel that the greatest destroyer of peace today is abortion, because it is a war against the child - a direct killing of the innocent child - murder by the mother herself. And if we accept that a mother can kill even her own child, how can we tell other people not to kill one another?"

Know what you are voting for!

This is copied and pasted straight from The Bible Christian Society's website (Thank you, John Martignoni!)...please take the time to read and then pray.


I would like to ask you to ponder a few questions that I believe get to the heart of what is at stake in this election, and hopefully make it crystal clear what you are voting for this Tuesday, regardless of how you vote:

1) If Adolf Hitler said that electing Barack Obama would result in the gassing of more than one million Jews per year, could you still vote for Obama, in “good conscience,” even if you agreed with his position on the economy, the war, welfare, education, and so on?

2) If the Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan said that electing Barack Obama would result in the lynching of more than one million blacks per year, could you still vote for Obama, in “good conscience,” even if you agreed with his position on the economy, the war, welfare, education, and so on?

Now, I want to be clear in that I am not comparing Barack Obama to Adolf Hitler or to the Grand Wizard of the KKK. The point I am making with these two questions is this: If someone who has knowledge of, and a vested interest in, the gassing of Jews, or the lynching of blacks, says that the policies instituted by another person will result in the killing of millions of Jews and blacks…do you think they might know about that of which they speak?

Which leads me to my third question: 3) If the abortion industry said that electing Barack Obama would result in the killing of more than one million unborn babies per year, could you still vote for Obama, in “good conscience,” even if you agreed with his position on the economy, the war, welfare, education, and so on?

And, guess what? The abortion industry has said just that. The abortion industry has stated that the restrictions that a majority of states have put on abortion – parental consent laws, 24-hour and 48-hour waiting periods, informed consent laws – have all worked to reduce the number of abortions by a few hundred thousand per year over the last several years. Plus, the abortion industry has further stated that the lack of federal funding for abortions has “forced” women to carry more than a million pregnancies per year to term. In other words, more than one million babies per year are being born, that wouldn’t be born, if we had federal funding for abortions.

Now, Barack Obama has vowed to do two things that are relevant to these questions. He has vowed to sign the Freedom of Choice Act, which will eliminate all of the restrictions on abortion that have been enacted by the states; and, he has vowed to repeal the Hyde Amendment. The Hyde Amendment currently prohibits federal funding of abortion. In other words, Barack Obama has promised to do the very things that the abortion industry has stated will result in a million or more additional abortions per year.

So, if you answered, “No,” to the first two questions above, then to be morally consistent, you should answer, “No,” to the third question. But, there are any number of people who call themselves “Catholic,” who have no problem answering, “Yes,” to the third question. How can that be?

How can one not vote for a man if they know his policies would end up killing a million or more Jews per year, or killing a million or more blacks a year; but they can vote for that man even if they know his policies will kill an additional million or more unborn babies each year?

I’ll tell you how: Catholics, or any one else, who would not vote for Barack Obama if he was going to institute policies that would kill Jews or blacks, but they are more than willing to vote for Barack Obama knowing that he will institute policies that will indeed kill unborn babies, have de-sensitized themselves to what an abortion actually is. They speak of killing babies in terms of a woman’s “right to choose,” or a “woman’s reproductive freedom,” but they never think of abortion in terms of a baby getting sliced into pieces which are then removed, piece-by-bloody-piece, from their mother’s womb. They never think of abortion in terms of a baby being literally burned to death through saline poisoning within its mother’s womb and then being expelled from its mother’s womb by induced labor.

That is why I challenge anyone who plans to vote for Obama, but especially those who call themselves Catholic, to go to this website - http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6152070479992487290 and view this short video on what an abortion actually is. If you’re going to vote for a man whose policies will result in the killing of an additional one million human beings, then by golly have the moral responsibility to take a good long look at what it is your vote will allow to happen.

And, if you cannot bring yourself to look at this video, because something in your gut is telling you that what you will see will be too horrible for you to stomach, and will cause you to lose sleep at night, then how in the name of all that is holy, can you vote for a man who is promising to visit this horror upon a million or more babies each year?!

If you do not watch this video, yet you go on and vote for Barack Obama, then I call you a coward and a hypocrite and I ask you what, pray tell, will you say to the Creator of Life when you stand before His Judgment Seat with the blood of millions of unborn babies dripping from your hands? Will you say, “I didn’t know?” Or, will you say, “But I was worried about my tax bill?” May God indeed have mercy on your souls.

Now, if you are all in favor of increasing the number of abortions in this country; or if you don’t believe in God and that God will have the last say in regards to the horror of abortion; or if you believe the killing of millions of unborn children is just one issue among many that you need to consider…well, it is clear that you need to vote for Senator Obama and I am happy to offer this newsletter as an informational source that will help you to solidify your vote.

Please pray for God’s will to be done in this election on Tuesday, and may God have mercy on us, every one!