Troy

Troy ~ Partial Trisomy 13 ~ Born:  June 8, 2011

"It's a boy!" Those happy words were a heavenly comfort as I held my wife's hand during her emergency C-Section. She squeezed my hand as we heard Troy cry for the first time. We had been in the hospital since the day before, and the baby had been having trouble inside after they induced labor... so to hear his voice, healthy, made us both so relieved and happy. The doctors were surprisingly quiet, however. I'd planned on cutting the cord after debating it for a couple of weeks. But they never brought the baby to us. The doctor came over and said "Before you look at him there's a few things I need to tell you...." He gave us a list and said that he'd like to do an ultrasound, an xray, issue a genetics test. The doctor looked like a mad scientist, thrilled that he hadn't seen anything like this before. As soon as I saw Troy's face, though, I thought what is this doctor talking about… The baby looks great... he's cute! I touched Troy's hand, still covered in that cheese stuff that baby's have,and he grabbed my finger and looked up at me. We stared at each other for several seconds. It was amazing.

The day after he was born, the preliminary chromosome tests indicated that Troy had Partial Trisomy 13, and Partial Monosomy 7. I googled this information and discovered quickly the seriousness

of this syndrome. It felt unreal. And then I discovered this site, and I realized there was hope. I realized that despite the statistics there were survivors, and more importantly there were happy lives... some shorter than others, but no less precious. We were hopeful because Troy didn't have any problem that put him in immediate danger, just lots of concerns. We met with the geneticist a month later for the official result. It was confirmed, Partial Trisomy 13. The part duplicated was significant, although not complete. The monosomy 7 was trivial he said. He talked about how well Troy was doing, and that he is the best case of Trisomy 13 he had personally seen. This made us so happy to hear that. And then he told us for the next twenty minutes that he did not expect Troy to survive for a month or two. He said that he would probably get complications with his heart or lungs. I told him I was aware of the statistics, but look how good he is doing. He doesn't have anything that should shorten his life, I said. He disagreed and said just having Trisomy 13 was reason enough. My wife and I left the hospital overwhelmed. We went out the door and headed to the car. Halfway there I looked over and saw a dove sitting on the hand-rail, with a twig in his mouth. It looked like the symbol of peace. I walked closer and closer to him, and the dove was not afraid. It nearly let me touch him before it flew away. Immediately a Bible verse came in to my head, "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." Despite the diagnosis a moment ago, I smiled... knowing God is in charge. Jesus is with us and He knows what is going on.

Troy is now over 2 months old and going strong. Instead of deteriorating, he is thriving! He was born

4 pounds 6 ounces and is now 8 pounds 8 ounces... nearly double. His pediatrician says that despite being Trisomy 13, he is doing great. He does have trouble breathing at times, trouble eating, has kidney swelling and a Tethered Cord. However, his lists of problems a month ago were twice as long and twice as serious, including a hole in his heart that now seems to be healed. I thank God for the serious conditions that have simply gone away without surgery. God performs little miracles in people's lives everyday... the best miracle He gave us, was Troy.

We hope these stories of children with trisomy will inspire you. From cleft lips to contagious smiles, group of families are here to offer you support as you begin your trisomy journey. It seems we only hear of the problems that come with a child having Trisomy . There is so much more to these sweet lives. Each day the living children bring joy to their families as they accomplish simple tasks or reach a milestone, the angels remind us that life is short but a blessing all the same and they will forever be engraved in our hearts. Be sure to check back for our next story or update and until then....Embrace life one moment at a time ~  Vanessa BACK TO LIVING MIRACLES PAGE