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Tuesday, October 04, 2005

Labor and delivery

10/4/05

Hello all,

Liz started having significant contractions late last night. After trying unsuccessfully to stop the contractions with medication, they made the decision to go ahead with the cessarian section and deliver the girls early this morning one day short of 27 weeks. Corinne Margaret and Kaitlyn Elizabeth McCarthy were born around 7am this morning. Both girls were between 1 lb 10 oz and 1 lb 14 oz, not sure exactly depending on the metric conversion done by different nurses.

Unfortunately, Corinne Margaret (also known as the prom queen) passed away approximately 3 hours later. She was definitely a fighter, and Liz and Brian had the opportunity to hold her and comfort her. As Liz put it to me, Corinne was alive for only 3 hours, but her memory lives on with them forever.

Kaitlyn Elizabeth is healthy and in the NICU with constant supervision. The doctors have said she's stable and that, given how premature she is, everything looks good with no immediate problems apparent. The next few days, weeks, and months will obviously be extremely important.

Mother and father are doing ok, considering the difficulty of the events of the last 12 hours. Liz made it through the surgery fine. They are trying to come to terms with both the miracle of new lives as well as the passing of one. The only thing they ask for at this point is for people to keep the McCarthy family in their thoughts, both in celebration and in mourning.

Thank you to everyone for their thoughts and prayers through this difficult period, I will try and keep this updated as things change.

Gary
garystolz [at symbol] stolzfamily.com

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

Dear Liz
My deepest sympathy to you and Brian for the loss of your wee prom queen, Corinne. My biggest wishes of good health and happiness to you and baby Kaitlyn. I hope her NICU stay is smooth. She is blessed with a guardian angel sister.

You have been through so much already. You are truly an inspiration. I will continue to follow your journey. Please know that I am thinking of you.

Big Hugs
Laurie Abbey

Anonymous said...

Liz,

I am so sorry for the loss of Corinne. You were blessed to be able to hold her and surround her with love in the short time before she became an angel.

My prayers will be with you and Kaitlyn. May her NICU stay be as uneventful as possible.

Anne S

Anonymous said...

Liz,

My heart breaks for you and DH. I am so glad you were able to hold Corinne. You will never forget the time you spent with her. I pray that Kaitlyn continues to get stronger and is home with you soon. May God surround you with strength and peace in the days ahead.

Kathleen
Prom Page

Anonymous said...

Dear Liz,
I'm so sorry to hear of your loss of little Corinne. Your little Angel will watch over you and Kaitlyn and give you strength in the coming days. Remember that you did everything you could for these babies and your positive attitute was so good for them. You are such a good mommy to them both. You, Brian, Kaitlyn and Corinne will remain in my prayers.
Please feel free to come to us at the PROM site for continued support for your loss and for NICU support.

Sincerely,
Jodi Donnelly (PROM)

Anonymous said...

Dear Liz,
On behalf of my family, I want you to know how sorry we are to hear of the passing of Corinne. She was truly a so brave & such a fighter She defied all of the odds and hung in there long enough to let her sister be able to survive. What a amazing miracle and blessing she is! She is undoubtedly in heaven and will be there each day to watch over you, Brian and her sister Kaitlyn.

You are also an incredible fighter and it was because of you and your optimism and strength that your girls made it this far. Don't EVER doubt that!

My continued prayers are with you and Kaitlyn as you gain your strength together to move forward one day at a time.

My heartfelt thoughts and prayers are with you and your family at this incredibly emotional time.

May God Bless you today and each day forward.

Love,
Julie DeRuvo

Anonymous said...

Hugs to you and your family Liz!!!
You are at the other end of the globe, but my thoughts are with you and I hope that you will deal with all the emotions and come home as a family soon enough. I don´t have words good enough to comfort you in your loss of Corinne, but I do hope that you can be happy for Kaitlyn. It requires so much braveness to endure the most intensive happenings of a lifetime when they appear within hours. Treasure every moment with the ones you love! My thoughts are with you!

Anonymous said...

Liz- I am so sorry to hear about Corrine. I'll keep all of you in my thoughts and prayers as you continue this journey.

I hope Kaitlyn continues to gain strength, and the NICU stay is smooth.

You guys have been through so much, and it has been an honor for me to know you this short time, you are truly an amazingly strong woman.

Please know that I'll be thinking and praying for you and your family.
Love, Michelle from Sidelines

Anonymous said...

Liz,

I'm sorry to hear about your precious little baby girl Corinne.
Congratulations on your baby girl Kaitlyn, hope she continues to do well and you'll be able to take her home soon.

Please know that I will keep your family in my prayers through this difficult yet happy time.

Lots of hugs,
Christina

Anonymous said...

Dear Liz,
We are so sorry about your little girl Corinne. You are very strong and couragious to have made through weeks and weeks of bedrest. We are thinking about you and keeping you, Brian and Kaitlyn in our prayers.

Sonja and Paul

Anonymous said...

Liz,

What a long hard road it has been for you and Brian - I'm so glad to hear that you got to spend 3 precious hours with Corinne (far too short) and that little Kaitlyn is doing well.

Now it's time to take care of yourself (the NICU nurses will do a good job with Kaitlyn) - your body has been through the wringer. Of course, this has when you are not in the "pump room" (what an interesting place) at CPMC.

Let us know when you are up for having visitors. Take Care and big hugs.

Anonymous said...

Liz

My deepest sympathy to you and Brian - you've come so far and tried so hard for BOTH your girls. I'm sure you'll treasure those 3 hours spent with Corinne before she got her angels wings. Wishing Kaitlyn a short and uneventful stay in the NICU and I hope you and Brian take comfort from knowing you did everything you could for both Corinne and Kaitlyn.

You're in my thoughts and prayers

Marion C

Anonymous said...

Dear Liz~
I am so sorry for the passing of sweet baby Corinne. I know she is proud of her mommy for being so strong and sacrificing so much for her. I know my Bret and Tess welcomed her in that beautiful place we call heaven.
My prayers for Kaitlyn for a uneventful NICU stay.

Hugs Jen
PROM Page

Anonymous said...

Liz and Brain--All of you are in my constant thoughts! I know Kaitlyn will do fine as she has many guardian angels watching over--especially her sister! I hope you are feeling much better. Over all these months we have admired yours and Brian's strengh and courage! We all can learn from the McCarthy's!

Anonymous said...

Dear Liz,

My heart broke for you and your family at the loss of Baby Corinne. I "can't even imagine" what you felt after all that you went through. Glad to hear Kaitlyn came thru her 48 hours as Gary posted recently. You and your whole family are in my family's prayers, everyday and all the time. You are so strong and amazing for all that you have done! I think of you and do more and complain less, so thanks for the inspiration.
You and Brian were blessed with the 3 hours with Corinne I am so happy for your time, she's your biggest lil trooper. What an eternal moment that must have been. She will live on in your mind, heart and soul! Soon now will be busy with healing yourself and eventually building up to feeding lil Kaitlyn...all the joys of Mommyhood! ;-) Happy pumping!

All the best and love!
Lisa Haugen and family