Ruby Jewell

Since Caitie asked about my "hiding" sister, I shall tell you.
In about January of 1995, my mom got pregnant again. (Oh yeah- I was only 8 at the time, so I don't remember a whole lot. I'm reiterating what I have been told, and some of what I do remember. I will be as accurate as possible.) We were all thrilled, of course. This would be the 4th child, with me at age 8, Abby at 5, and Gwen at 2.
However, when my mom went in for the normal checkup, something was not right. After more testing and ultrasounds and all that fun stuff, we found out that we had a little girl (#5!!) with Trisomy 18. I'm not exactly positive what that means, but I think it means there were 3 chromatids instead of 2 on the 18th chromosome. Babies with trisomy 18 do not usually live outside of the womb. I think the longest one has lived has been one month, but they usually die during development. More common are people with trisomy 21; you know them as having down-syndrome. The lower the chromosome number, the more severe the effects will be.
Mom wanted to name the baby Ruby Jewell, after both her grandmothers. (Actually, JoEllen is named after Jewell as well- Mary Jewell, Mary JoEllen.) So Ruby Jewell it was.
Mom went almost full term- I think it was 8 or 8.5 months. In late September of '95, Mom went in for what I believe was an emergency doctor's appointment. It might have been a regular appointment, but I'm not sure. At any rate, she had not felt Ruby move for a few days, so she went in to check it out. The doctor couldn't get a heartbeat, so he sent Mom straight to the hospital.
They induced, and in the wee hours of the morning on September 27, Ruby was born. She was stillborn. They think what actually killed her was a large hole in her heart. One of the defects of trisomy 18 is that the heart does not close during development.
Abby, Gwen, and I were staying at Grandma and Grandpa's house. Grandpa was already at the hospital (he was at the hospital for each of our births), so Grandma drove us over early in the morning (3am?).
We each got to hold Ruby. She looked like a perfect little baby. Often, trisomy 18 babies have club feet or their ears are on crooked. But she looked perfect. She had brown hair and blue eyes, much to Abby's delight. =)
I cannot imagine what my mom went through. I get weepy just thinking about it. We sang "It is Well With My Soul" at the funeral, so if you ever see me get teary while singing it, you know why. =)
I'm not sure why God put this tragedy in our life, but obviously He has a reason. Maybe my parents can look back and see why. But it might only be revealed when we get to Glory.

So there you have it- the 5th girl.