Teodora was conceived around our 15^th wedding anniversary. She is our first child. We found out on February 26^th, 2007 that our long-waited child had full-Trisomy 18. After 10 agony days from the initial diagnosis, we decided to carry our daughter to term. Against all odds, our brave daughter fought for 39 and half weeks, and was brought into this world alive on August 27^th, 2007. She lived with us for 2 hours and 20 minutes, the most precious moments of our lives.

Throughout the brief journey of Teodora’s life, we have received enormous amount of love from people around us. We are blessed to have extremely loving and caring friends around us from the day we’ve received the adverse diagnosis. We are also fortunate to meet a group of compassionate and gifted medical personnel led by Dr. Berman. Our daughter is truly a blessed child who is loved by many. Her brief life journey can be seen from the montage we’ve made. Here is the link to this montage. http://www.onetruemedia.com/otm_site/view_shared?p=398e5bcb17efb67e2c0c6a&skin_id=601&utm_source=otm&utm_medium=email 

Our friends, colleagues, and brothers and sisters prepared us with two beautiful services to celebrate and memorize the life of Teodora. Hundred of people showed up at the services. At the memorial service, Rev. Westerholm gave a moving message about “The Lord gave,” citing versions 1: 20-22 from the Book of Job.  My best friend’s daughter, Jenny, played violin and sang the “Angel’s Lullaby,” one of my favorites during my entire pregnancy (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OL6EMXUhLwY). Dr. Berman read a stunning poem he wrote for us on the day of Dora’s birth and passing (Link to Dr. Berman’s poem).  I also gave a Eulogy on behalf of our family (Link of my Eulogy). At the graveyard service, our minister gave us a brief message and prayer. We wrote words on two dozens of pink and purple balloons and released them into the sky.

The love we’ve received is overwhelming, not only from people we know, but also from those whom we had never met before. Examples are Aurora from http://www.aurora-photography.net/ who represented NIMDTS (http://www.nowilaymedowntosleep.org) to shoot pictures for us with free of charge, and Richard, Jon, Frank, Kelli, and Erin, representing Beecher & Bennett (http://www.beecherandbennett.com) who donated their entire service.  Above all, Trisomy 18 foundation provided daily help to me throughout my pregnancy, making the difficult time easier.  I cannot imagine what I would be without the Trisomy 18 foundation. Although my heart goes out to families who experience similar situation like ours, a website like this is a true blessing, and an important part of healing.

We are forever grateful for what we have been giving during this special journey of our lives. We owe these to our sweet little angel, Teodora Babe Guo. We miss and love her so very much!