Our Beloved Vitoria de Cristo

We created this blog to tell the world about our beloved daughter Vitoria, who with acrania and anencephaly, lived with us for wonderful 9 months of pregnancy and exciting 2 ½ years of life outside the womb. May everyone know about her sweetness and tenderness. About her life, humanity and dignity. All the precious lessons learned with this little angel that God has sent us. It was a joy to have her with us. Vitoria still lives in our hearts and it will always be an honor to be her parents!

4/07/2012

during the holiday...

a little angel sleeping in my bed

peaceful sleeping

Easter basket that Grandma Alice sent to Victoria. Thank you, Grandma!

She tasted a bit of chocolate (just a bit)

I want more!

Wow, what taste is this, Dad?

4/05/2012

Vitoria on TV

Dear friends,

This is a link for a video about Vitoria's story that was released in a newscast of a Christian TV channel yesterday in Brazil - it is all in portuguese, but there are beautiful images.

http://noticias.cancaonova.com/noticia.php?id=285811

Next April 11th, there will be an extraordinary vote in the Brazilian Supreme Court to decide whether or not the release the abortion in the case of anencephalic babies and babies with severe brain malformations that are considered incompatible with life.

In Brazil abortion is not permitted, but in cases considered incompatible with life there are judges who authorize the anticipation of the birth by an injunction - which usually gives the mother more time to think about this decision.

For this reason there has been much awareness about the issue and some media have contacted us to tell the story of Vitoria, since her survival contradicts the medical predictions.

A summary of our story...

Vitoria de Cristo was the most wonderful and precious gift we have received in this life. She was an immensely loved and special child, that brightened and rejoiced our lives during the 916 days she lived from her birth, with 38 weeks of gestational life. 2 and half years of an amazing miracle!

During her pregnancy she was diagnosed with acrania and was considered incompatible with extra uterine life. At birth she was diagnosed with anencephaly, diagnosis that came to be questioned over her growth due to her survival, all her reactions and expressions.

For us, names never made any difference. She has always been our victory and we always knew she was worthy of love simply by existing.

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The beginning of our story

On 12th week of pregnancy, we discovered our first and so wanted baby had a serious problem called acrania. There was no skull over her head, and brain structures would be damaged in contact with amniotic fluid, resulting in anencephaly. We were informed this kind of malformation is incompatible with life, and that our baby would certainly die right after birth. For this reason, we could ask legal permission to terminate pregnancy, according to Brazilian law.

Even though, we decided to believe that God could change this sentence and make the miracle of healing our baby, permitting her to survive after birth. We named her Vitoria de Cristo (Victory of Christ) and decided to love her the same way we have been loved by God: in a personal, individual and unconditional way.

And when she was born, we were surprised by a wonderful miracle, a precious life we have seen growing in front of our eyes, by God´s mercy.