5.19.2008

21 Weeks

Our baby girl, Ruby, is 21 weeks old this week. It's hard to imagine, but that's how old the world's tiny preemie was when she was born back in 2007...and survived. Her name is Amillia Taylor.

Doctors say Amillia is the first baby known to have survived after a gestation of fewer than 23 weeks. She was just 9 1/2 inches long and weighed less than 10 ounces when she was delivered by Caesarean section.
21 weeks is also how old baby Samuel Armas was when a photographer snapped this picture of him grasping a doctor's finger from in the womb.
Life is an amazing thing. I'm barely showing, yet the tiny life inside of me could potentially survive if something terrible happened and she had to be born today. That's too much for my mind to grasp. She has everything she needs -- it's all just tiny and underdeveloped.
People, THIS IS A HUMAN! My heart breaks for the mother who aborted her 21-week-old baby and then saw the pictures of baby Amillia, and it rages with fury over the person who can look at baby Samuel grasping to his doctor's finger and say "that is not a baby -- it is an option."
I'm crying now. These babies could be future doctors who hold the cure for cancer or the solution to poverty and hunger. They could be civil rights leaders, musicians, teachers, world-changers. If we abort them, we'll never know.
I love my Ruby, and ALL the babies.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Awesome blog Audra!

God bless-

G

margaret said...

The picture of that tiny hand grasping the dr.'s finger has always been one of my favorites!

Anonymous said...

It's a wake-up call to say the least. I wish every pregnant mom could have a free early-term ultrasound and see their little miracle up close.