Our son Brady Allen

bradyam09 - 09:25pm Oct 15, 2009 EST

I received a phone call on a Tuesday afternoon, from the nurse at the doctor's office telling me that my test had come back with a high percentage rate of my baby having a neural tube defect. Honestly, I had no clue at the time what that meant. I was told I had to go to a local hospital and have a 3-D ultra sound done that Thursday to make sure and the doctor will explain it all. That Thursday, my husband, our daughter, my mother, and myself all went to the hospital. During the ultra sound, the baby was moving and kicking all around and looked as if he was having a ball inside. That is when we found out he was a boy and our daughter named him. The doctor came in to explain to us that our son will not make it because he has a rare condition called anencephaly.
 Anencephaly is a condition present at birth that affects the formation of the brain and the skull bones that surround the head. Anencephaly results in only minimal development of the brain. Often, the brain lacks part or all of the cerebrum (the area of the brain that is responsible for thinking, vision, hearing, touch, and movement). There is no bony covering over the back of the head and there may also be missing bones around the front and sides of the head.
That doctor asked us to go to another hospital for a second opinion. We did so the next day and it was true. All I could do was wait. My doctor and I discussed all about the options. No hospital would help deliver early. I was only 18 weeks along in the pregnancy. It was approximately 2 weeks after, that I started feeling more ill than normal. I was vomiting for close to 6 hours of blood and taken to the hospital. They thought it was dehydration and put ivy's all in me and filled me with liquids. After a few hours, I was sent home.
As soon as I reached home, I vomited blood again and went back to the hospital. This time I was admitted. After being treated in the hospital for a couple of days, my doctor came in and told me he had found a hospital who would help deliver our son and get me to where I am feeling well.
That day, I went to a hospital so close to home. They were willing to help. I was in that hospital for 4 days going through labor for those 4 days. The first procedure didn't work, so they repeated it. The second procedure was very painful but had to be done because on the fourth day at 2:55 in the morning, I gave birth to our son, Brady Allen McCarthy.
He was not alive when he came out. It's almost like he took his last few breaths and smiles and was gone. My husband, my mother, and I all had a wonderful, cherishing experience with Brady. We got to spend quality time with him before the nurses had to take him away. It was very hard to give our son away even though we knew he was already gone.