Thank you all

Thank you all for your prayers and support over the past year. The news has already begun to spread, Krystal is pregnant again, now 15 weeks along. We found out earlier this week that we will be having another little girl. You have all meant the world to us. With the new addition, I created a new blog, Our Family McCarty, to celebrate. I moved all of the posts on this blog over to the new one. I hope you'll continue to keep us in your prayers as well as follow the new blog as we grow our family. Thanks.

--Todd McCarty

Butterflies and Daisies

October 30th has been a day that was on our mind for the last nine months. Today was supposed to be our due date. Sara Kay should have been newly arrived or coming soon. Instead it has been almost 8 weeks since she entered Heaven.

We've tried to do what we can to preserve her memory. We framed her footprints, we made memory boxes and shadow boxes. We say goodnight to her every night, and we've made plans to teach our future children to say goodnight to their own personal guardian angel, Sara Kay.

A butterfly followed us out of the cemetery the first time we went back to visit her. It's a memory we hold dear, and we've seen plenty more, especially when it's been a tough day. I think there were daisies in every arrangement of flowers we got, so we try to keep a fresh arrangement at home as much as possible. Sara Kay's headstone was installed this week, and while we are stuck almost 4 hours away, our parents made it by as soon as they could to make sure she had fresh daisies.

It's so hard, and we thank all of your for your prayers throughout all of this, we would certainly be in worse shape now if it wasn't for all of the support of our friends and familiy. Please continue to keep us in your prayers, today is going to be extremely difficult, and there's still a long road of healing ahead.

Thank you.


~Todd and Krystal

An angel born to Heaven

Late Sunday evening Krystal began having contractions. Soon we were at the hospital, and Krystal was in full blown labor. Things progressed quickly. Early Monday morning at 3:32, our sweet angel Sara Kay was born into Heaven. She stayed with us for 32 weeks. Our parents arrived shortly afterward, and we spent all day and into the night holding our sweet baby, loving her in the best way we know how. She is beautiful and perfect. We know she is with family members that have gone before us, and she is looking down on us and giving us strength.

We thank you all for your prayers and hope you continue to keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we try to cope. In lieu of flowers, we ask that instead donations be made to the March of Dimes in memory of Sara Kay McCarty. Thank you all for everything.

A Plan

Today was our first visit back to our regular OB since learning of Sara Kay's diagnosis. She has been fantastic and is supporting us in whatever way she can. She told us to let her know how often we want to be seen and that is okay with her, whether it be every day or still just once a month. We decided on 2 weeks between visits, I guess it just feels right. She helped us come up with a plan for how to proceed.

Any time we want an ultrasound, it will happen. If we want to come back more often, it will happen, if we want to wait longer, it will happen.

We appreciate everyone that is praying for us and keeping us in their thoughts. It means the world to us. The past few days have seen us feel a little bit calmer, ever since the baptism on Saturday. We know God is taking care of us, and we owe all of you a debt of gratitude for that.

Baptised in Christ

This afternoon, accompanied by our parents, we went to St. Peter the Apostle Church here in Birmingham and had Sara Kay baptised. Fr. Kelly baptised her with waters from the Jordan River and said prayers over us for strength to make it through this difficult time.

It was a very emotional ceremony, but it is very reassuring now knowing that she is taken care of.

Monday we go back to our regular OB doctor. This will be our first time back to see her since we got the diagnosis a couple weeks ago.

Thank you for your continued prayers and support.

~~ Krystal and Todd

Brief Update

Krystal and I met with a genetic counselor today. The results of the amniocentesis last week showed triploidy, meaning instead of two sets of chromosomes, Sara Kay has three. More often than not, these babies are first trimester miscarriages. The ones that survive longer might be stillborn prematurely or might survive all the way to full term and live for a few hours or days after birth. There's no way to predict what will happen with Sara Kay, so for now we just continue to wait and pray. The heart and brain defects with the small growth are pretty typical, and these babies tend to have other problems that can't be seen on ultrasound. There was a concern for a problem called DiGeorge Syndrome because of the specific heart defect seen with Sara, but the test for that was negative.

We have been assured that this was just a fluke occurence, there's nothing we could have done to prevent it, there's nothing we did to cause it, and there will be no effect on future pregnancies. Still, it is all little comfort, Sara has been our first, and we so long to hold her close.

The response we have received from so many people, both people we know and people we have never met has been absolutely uplifting. We want to thank you all again for your prayers and support during this difficult time.

~~Todd and Krystal

The most devastating news imaginable

Earlier this afternoon, the MFM doctor called with the preliminary results of the amniocentesis. Sweet baby Sara Kay has a lethal genetic defect and will not be able to survive outside the womb. Please continue to pray for her, that she doesn't experience any suffering. Please continue to pray for us, that we have the strength to come through this most difficult time. Thank you for all of your prayers, love, and support.

~ Krystal and Todd