The Nursery of Heaven
Saint Gianna Marie Kelley
On Wednesday, December 4th, 2024, at 10:52pm Gianna Marie Kelley was born. She had blue eyes like her Daddy and dark brown hair like Mom. Our daughter is now Home.
Gianna Marie is with her older brother Joseph, our first baby who we lost last September, in the Nursery of Heaven. We buried their earthly bodies in the same hallowed ground plot so they will lay in peace together for all of eternity.
God allowed me to carry her to full term for 38 weeks + 3 days. A blessing we hoped for but were unsure would become a reality due to an early diagnosis of a life-limiting and fatal genetic condition called Triploidy. Instead of 46 chromosomes organized into 23 pairs, Gianna Marie had 69. During my pregnancy we hoped that our doctors were wrong. We desperately prayed that He would heal her and now He has. She left this earth surrounded only by our deepest love and the care of heroes — our incredible perinatal, neonatology, and palliative care doctors and nurses. While my husband, Xave, and I had months to prepare for this day, no amount of time prepares you for the heartbreak of giving your child back to Jesus.
Life is a treasure. Gianna Marie is now our treasure in Heaven. Life is a miracle. We prayed for a miracle for Gianna Marie, when all along she already was one.
Our sorrow looks like Mary’s at the foot of the cross on Calvary. We carried our cross, enduring the suffering of grief. But we also embraced the small moments of joy — every ultrasound where we got to see her, every confirmation that her heart was still beating, every single felt movement and kick, planning her celebration of life, delivering her into this world, and finally holding her in our arms. The crucifixion didn’t end on the cross, it ended at the Resurrection. Our Calvary doesn’t end with Gianna Marie’s death. We have hope that we will have our Easter one day. ‘It is finished’. We are completely broken, but clinging to the truth that we are complete in Christ. We are fragile, but strong in Him.
When there was fear and worry during my pregnancy, Gianna Marie filled the holes in our hearts with love. Grief is only walking so closely with us now because that great love came first. A love that can only be understood through the sacrificial love of Jesus. Because of her we think differently, feel differently, love differently and pray differently. Our hearts will never be the same.
We protected and advocated for her in my womb for 9 months and now it’s her turn to care for and protect us. We trust that God will use us and our children, now Saints in heaven, for something greater. We pray our suffering will be used for our sanctification. Our desire to live our vocation of marriage to help each other grow in holiness and get to heaven has multiplied as we now desperately yearn to one day be reunited with our babies and hear their sweet tiny voices welcoming us to thy kingdom come.
We will always celebrate you, little one. We wish you could have stayed, but feel peace knowing you’re where God destined you to be from the moment you were perfectly formed in my womb. We will feel your missing presence from our empty arms forever.
Please keep us in your prayers. We’re praying for you — the mothers and fathers with children diagnosed with a life limiting or terminal condition and all those who have experienced the devastating loss of a child. We see you. We are you. Our silent struggle makes noise in Heaven. God is holding you and us in the palm of His hand.
Mary, Our Lady of Sorrows, comfort us. St. Joseph, head of the Holy Family, be near our family. St. Gianna Beretta Molla, pray for us.
Love,
Joseph and Gianna Marie’s Parents, Angela & Xavier Kelley