From a friend:
The precious 3-year old had a cold, which was nothing out of the ordinary for her. Seemed to be doing better, but then was awake all last night. Mom rocked her and gave her juice and then around 5 AM Mom noticed that Alice’s breathing was off. She and her husband were getting ready to take her to the hospital when she stopped breathing and went limp in Mom’s arms. She was gone when the ambulance got there.
On one hand, it’s so extraordinary that she lived for three years, as most trisomy 18 babies don’t live to be born, and of those who are (born), the vast majority don’t live past a few days or weeks. On the other hand, I cannot imagine loving and bonding with a child who you know is dying, and having them with you for three years. They just spent last week in Ocean City. It seems so horribly cruel. The poor little thing struggled every day of her life. She was never able to speak, sit up, crawl……. developmentally she was stuck at two months old. Compared to what Mom and Dad have been through and are feeling right now, any pain in my life seems to pale in comparison
