Spiritual Bouquet for Baby Brayley

Please pray for *Baby Brayley this morning and for her mother and father. Brayley is scheduled to be born via C-section at 9:30am CST. This little one is not long for the world according to multiple medical personnel but our hope is in Heaven and the mercy of Our Lord. Please pray that her mother is granted as long as she needs to at least baptize her and say goodbye. Any more time than that will be a precious gift. There is a photographer coming to take pictures. Haley and Billy will need many prayers to support them as they say "hello" and possibly "goodbye" to their little girl today. If you would like to offer your specific prayers or sacrifices as a spiritual bouquet, you may do so in the combox. I will print them out for Haley as a memento.


UPDATE:
1:30pm ~ Haley's godmother called just now and said that Brayley was born around 10:30 this morning. She was doing well for right now resting on her mother's chest trying to stay nice and warm. She is beautiful and plump at 6 pounds. Please keep praying!

1:50pm ~ Just got another call saying that Brayley's health is deteriorating rapidly. Blessed Virgin, cradle them in your loving arms.

5:28pm ~ I just received an email from Haley's godmother that Brayley, who's brief journey on this earth was filled with only love, has passed away into the heavenly arms of Our Father of perfect love. Please continue to pray for the family she leaves behind as they mourn their loss.



*I will leave the donations button on the sidebar open through this weekend.

Another update on Brayley

Thank you for all the prayers. Haley is scheduled to have a C-section on Tuesday, August 31 at 9:30 am. There was some concern that she might not get the surgery, but it truly is the best thing for her and for Brayley. A photographer will be coming from Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep and a priest or deacon will be there to baptize her. Please keep praying for Haley and Billy. Thank you all so much!

A Quick Update

Baby Brayley is still tucked up snugly in her mother's womb right now. Please continue praying for a C-section delivery!

Update on Baby Brayley

From Haley's godmother:

Baby Brayley is sitting very low right now, but there are no signs of active labor. The doctor is considering a C-section to give Brayley the best chance at being born alive and it could be scheduled as early as tomorrow. Please pray fervently for Haley and Brayley's father, Billy, during these next few days. May God grant them His grace and peace during this precious short time they have with their daughter.

Many thanks, again...

...to those who are keeping Haley and Baby Brayley wrapped so warmly in prayers, to all who have so generously donated so far, and to those who have helped to spread the word through blog posts, email, Google reader share and Facebook.

A couple of people have suggested looking for a program/ministry to help with funeral costs. I wish there was something like that in the DFW area (if anyone knows of one, please let me know). If you have a program like this in your area, count yourself very blessed! Those of you who know about the video, Choosing Thomas (warning: very painful to watch, a box of tissues just isn't enough), will recognize the writer of this note posted on Jill Stanek's blog. In it, Thomas's mother marvels at how in a large metropolitan area like DFW, there is no official perinatal hospice program.

Right now, I am wondering how there is no program for assistance with burial costs for these infants. Burying the dead is a corporal work of mercy and something no mother plans for unless she is forced to by the heart breaking news of a fatal pre-natal diagnosis. Sadly, since most children with a diagnosis like anencephaly or Trisomy 18 are killed in their mother's wombs rather than allowed to live in Love's embrace for however long Our Lord sees fit, some doctors have never had the experience of delivering an anencephalic child and most funeral homes have never had the task of arranging a burial for one. It seems there are no resources for these poor grieving mothers.

This is where the pro-life community can step in.

I have spoken with a friend very active in the pro-life community who has spent many years helping young mothers, single mothers, mothers who choose life in the face of the Culture of Death find ways to provide for their babies either themselves or through the gift of adoption. These mothers need diapers, blankets and sometimes even job training and education and there are many resources within the pro-life community to help with that. But there doesn't seem to be any assistance program for a young mother who chooses to carry her dying baby to term just so she can hold her too briefly and love her for those sweet minutes, hours, maybe days. These mothers don't need diapers. These mothers need something more heart wrenching. These mothers just want to bury their child with the dignity and the respect that a short, precious life deserves and they should be encouraged and assisted in doing so as a testament to the beauty of all life. If anyone knows of another way to assist these brave women, please let me know.

Also, for those of you who have asked, yes, Paypal does charge a fee for transferring donations from one account to another, but Sean and I have chosen to assume those costs ourselves so that your entire donation amount will go Haley and Baby Brayley. Thank you, again!

Thank you for your generosity!

Just wanted to let everyone know that I've added the Paypal donation button for Haley and Baby Brayley to my sidebar.  Many thanks to those who have already donated.  I know that Haley will be touched by your generosity and concern.

Rather than link the button to the posts I've already written about Haley and her situation, I've decided to put all of the information here and link to this new post.  Hopefully this will clarify any questions about why donations are being asked for at this time.

Haley is a young, recent convert to Catholicism.  Her parents and other family members are not Catholic.  When Haley learned that she had become pregnant out of wedlock, she faced the pressure to abort her child that so many young women of our time have succumbed to.  Courageously, she chose life for her baby, and began to prepare to become a single mom with all of the challenges that involves.

But God had a different challenge in mind for Haley.  As the pregnancy progressed, she learned that her precious unborn daughter has anencephaly, and will not live long after birth. You can read this article for more information on an anencephalic baby's life before and after birth.

If Haley faced pressure to abort before, this pressure now grew to a new level from both a medical and financial perspective. She works as a day care center attendant--a low-salary occupation.  There will be bills owed to doctors and the hospital for her baby's birth and brief life, and there will be costs for Baby Brayley's funeral.

Despite all of these hardships, Haley continues to choose life.  Her precious daughter, Brayley, is due on September 1.  This bittersweet day is fast approaching, and first and foremost Haley needs to know that her Catholic brothers and sisters are praying for her to get through this Way of the Cross she is about to endure.

I also wanted to add something here at Haley's request... Please pray for Baby Brayley's father, Billy. He has been very supportive of Haley's decisions and is suffering with this difficult diagnosis along with her. 

But there are real, tangible, physical needs as well, needs that will be very hard for Haley to meet alone.

So if you can, please click the "Donate" button in the sidebar and offer what you can.  No donation is too small.  And again, if you wish to donate but can't or don't use Paypal, please contact me via the email address in the sidebar.

Your help is prayerfully requested...

Haley and Baby Brayley need our help.

This brave young mother who has received a heart-breaking prenatal diagnosis needs help. Medical bills, funeral costs, and the cost of starting life over again once her head finally buoys above the inevitable waves of grief to come are too much for her modest job as a daycare attendant.

First, she needs to know that she is not alone and that the courageous decision she has made to let her child live as long as God intends is brave and inspiring. She needs to know that the Christian family she has so recently embraced is here to support her during this time of feeling so isolated. If you can offer any financial assistance for medical bills/funeral costs, it would be appreciated; whatever your family can afford to give. Remember that even a little bit can help. If a PayPal donation won't work for you, please contact me at the address in my sidebar.

If you cannot give financially, please know that your gifts of prayer are strengthening her and encouraging her as she struggles through these final weeks before delivery. Please feel free to link to this post to help spread the word. Thank you so much for your prayers and support for this *stranger in need.



*Because I know the internet can be a strange place where deception, unfortunately, sometimes resides, I just want to assure you that Haley is a real person in my local area who is planning her daughter's funeral at our local parish with a wonderful priest we know personally. She is the goddaughter of a friend I see every week and I have had the privilege of seeing the sonogram pictures of the sweet-faced little girl she carries inside her.

Please pray...

For a young, single mother who courageously chose life for her child only to find herself now occupied with funeral arrangements instead of baby showers.

The baby has anencephaly.

She is not expected to live long after delivery. Her due date is September 1st. Please pray for this young mom, Haley, and Baby Brayley. She desperately wants to hold her child long enough to baptize her and tell her how much she is loved. As her delivery day approaches, will you spiritually accompany this brave young mom and her beloved little girl?