Pregnancy is supposed to be a joyful time for a couple, but for Amy Kuebelbeck and her husband it was tinged with tragedy as well. In 1999, halfway through their third pregnancy, they learned that their unborn son, who they named Gabriel, had an incurable heart condition and would not live long if he was carried to term. Committed to their son’s life from conception to natural death, they didn’t find much support except from one nurse who told them they still had an opportunity to love and parent Gabriel, even if it was just for a brief period. Amy took that advice to heart. Though Gabriel lived for only two-and-a-half hours, his family found moments of beauty and peace in the otherwise heartbreaking experience. Since then, Amy has been reaching out to others who are faced with the same kind of diagnosis, first by sharing her own story in the book “Waiting with Gabriel” – and more recently in the book “A Gift of Time: Continuing Your Pregnancy When Your Baby’s Life is Expected to Be Brief,” which she co-authored with Deborah L. Davis, Ph.D. patheos/blogs/christophers/2014/04/when-your-babys-life-is-expected-to-be-brief-a-look-at-perinatal-hospice-and-palliative-care/
Posted on: Tue, 15 Apr 2014 14:24:57 +0000