Many couples, when presented with a deadly prenatal diagnosis, opt to abort the life within the womb in order to spare themselves the pain of going through a “doomed” pregnancy and childbirth only to have to say goodbye in person.
Not so for Jenna and Dan Haley, a Philadelphia couple who, when told their unborn son has anencephaly – an almost-always fatal birth defect in which part or all of the brain and skull are missing – decided to make the best of every moment with their baby boy.
“Most families wait until their baby is born to start making memories and traveling to places with them,” Dan told ABC30. “We understood what it was and knew that our time with our son could be very limited, so we wanted to make the most of the time that we had with him,” he explained.
The Haleys created a “bucket list” for their baby boy, whom they’ve named Shane. A bucket list, for those who don’t know, is a list of things you want to do before you die. Although Shane isn’t due until October 12, he’s already made more happy memories than many people do in a lifetime, thanks to his loving mom and dad, who checked off every item on the list they made for Shane by September 6, taking photos all along the way.
In a slideshow posted by ABC30, you can see many of the places the Haleys traveled with their baby boy. There’s an image of Jenna cheering Dan on at a baseball game. The white t-shirt stretched tight across her pregnant belly bears the handwritten message “Dad’s #1 Fan!” Other images show the family taking trips to the zoo, the beach, a hockey game, New York City, the Strasburg Railroad, and the Shrine of St. John Neumann.
“We truly value every minute that we have with our son,” Dan told ABC30, “and we thank God every night for blessing us with such a special little boy.”
To visit baby Shane’s Facebook page, click here.