6) Goodbyes are Never Easy

August 26, 2015

At this point we knew that Weston wasn’t coming home, and we wanted to try and donate Weston’s organs. Knowing that we could potentially save someone else from the nightmare of losing their baby, made this decision incredibly easy. They ran the necessary tests and reached out to some doctors to see if they had patients that would need Weston’s organs. We got bittersweet news – they weren’t going to need Weston’s organs as they were so small which limited the possible candidates that could receive them, and at that time, there wasn’t anybody that did. It was happy news that nobody needed them. They were able to donate his heart valves which will go on to help numerous people. This was Weston’s first act of kindness.

We decided that we were going to take Weston off of life support that afternoon, and we thought it would be best if Chris and I were the only ones that stayed at that point. The PICU staff was amazing and accommodating. They truly made the experience as good as it could possibly be. Chris and I were able to hold him for the last two days, but that day they let everybody hold him. Everybody got a few minutes to hold him and say their goodbyes.

Taylee had come to see Weston the day before; it was truly amazing that all she saw was her little brother. She didn’t see the tubes and machines; she just saw Weston. They shared a few incredibly sweet and innocent moments. The hospital staff went above and beyond with their kindness and sweet ideas. Taylee and I helped them to take numerous footprint and handprint molds and prints. It was very special, and they are things we will treasure forever.

Saying goodbye was the hardest and easiest thing to do. We knew that our lives would never be the same but knew that he was ready to go and it felt almost selfish to keep him here. I knew that he was ready to be an angel baby and we had to let him fly.

I’m not going to write much about when we said goodbye to Weston as it is a pretty sacred moment to us. Saying goodbye to Weston was the most heartbreaking, life-changing, peaceful, nightmare experience that I wouldn’t wish upon anybody. As we told Taylee, our little Weston boy is now flying in the clouds.

We only took one picture at the hospital, and it is perfect. 

Lesson #3