Naomi Grace
In 2015 our only daughter, Naomi Grace Costanzo, was born with Trisomy 18. She passed away only 44 days later. This is her story—and ours.
Please pray for our baby girl!
Introducing little Naomi Grace Costanzo Our fourth precious child, Naomi Grace Costanzo, was born yesterday, April 6th.Since she was born 2 months early, she is still very small, weighing 2 lbs 3 oz and is only 14 inches long. She cannot yet breathe on her own, and...
Pictures of Naomi
Dear little Naomi Grace is in her 3rd day of life. She is stable, but tiny & fragile, and there are still many unknowns. She will be having surgery Friday to place a tube in her stomach. This will help her to receive nourishment and enable the doctors to do...
Naomi’s Surgery Postponed
Thanks for waiting, everyone! Here is the latest on Naomi and Jen: Jen came home from the hospital today! She is obviously tired, and sad to have to be apart from Naomi, but is nevertheless trusting in God's good care of our dear little daughter. Meanwhile, Naomi's...
A Sad Diagnosis for Our Precious Naomi Grace
Our beloved friends and family, After meeting with the doctor today, we have some sad news to share: our precious Naomi has a serious genetic condition called Trisomy 18. Most infants with this condition never make it to live birth, and of those that do, 90% do not...
Good News on Naomi’s One Week Birthday
Good news today: Naomi has been fairly stable this weekend, so today she finally had a feeding tube surgically inserted into her tummy (since she can't swallow anything). Sometimes even a simple surgery like this can be a problem with premature babies, but by God's...
A Hard But Good Day
Everyone, Thanks so much for your prayers! Today we met with Naomi's medical team to discuss big-picture questions related to her care. To be honest, it was really hard to once again come face-to-face with the reality of her diagnosis, since the likelihood of her...
Poop Is Good!
Great news--one of our prayer requests has been answered in a big way! Yesterday Naomi had some special fluid put into her feeding tube to test and see if her intestines are fully connected. Both Jen and I were feeling some anxiety about the results, since we hadn't...
Naomi’s Two Week Update
Everyone, Thank you so much for your continued prayers! Naomi has been doing well overall, so much so that I (Mike) was able to attend a Christian Men's Retreat this weekend. It was hard being away, but incredibly encouraging and a much-needed recharge. Naomi's doses...
Some Bad News, But Some Really Good News
Time for another Naomi Grace update! There is some bad news, but some really good news as well: The bad news (which really isn't news to us) is that further DNA testing has revealed that Naomi does indeed have "full" Trisomy 18. There are 2 other varieties of trisomy...
A Gut-Wrenchingly Hard Day
Today was a gut-wrenchingly hard day. We met with Naomi's medical team today, and were confronted anew with the severity of her disease. Up until today, we had thought that best-case scenario would be to keep her in the hospital long enough to get all of her internal...
Our Newest Family Pictures
Two days ago we got the first pictures of our whole family together taken, and today we're proud to show you some of the best! We are grateful for our beautiful, awesome, and zany family!
Some Very Encouraging Updates
It's hard to believe that it's been 5 days since our last update. Thank you to all of you who have remained faithful in prayer even when updates have been few! Naomi has been doing extraordinarily well on a number of important fronts. Her feedings have been steadily...
Naomi’s Three And A Half Week Update
Held Together by God's Grace Overall, Naomi has been doing quite well, but there have also been some slightly discouraging setbacks. Up until a few days ago, her feedings had been steadily increasing; however, her feeding tube recently came out, and although it was...
Happy 4 Week Birthday, Naomi!
Naomi is four weeks old today! We are so proud of her for making it this far, and grateful to our God for this incredible mercy. He is good! Thanks to all of you who prayed about Naomi's feeding tube---it has been getting steady use for the last few days. And while...
Naomi At 5 Weeks—Barely Holding On
Our dear family and friends, Today is Naomi's 5 week birthday. Sadly, this past week she has had some major setbacks, and the past 24 hours have been especially bad. Due to a leaky feeding tube and other problems she has lost a lot of weight over the last number of...
Naomi’s Baptism
This post is eight days overdue, and for that we apologize, but we wanted to share some happy news as well. It is our great pleasure to announce that on Sunday, May 3rd, 2015, Naomi Grace Costanzo was baptized into the church of Jesus Christ. Pastor Roth Reason of...
Naomi’s Special Day
Today is Naomi's six-week birthday! We truly thank God for every single day of this bittersweet journey with our precious and beloved daughter. This week has been one of gradual decline. While there have been no major medical crises, there has also not been much...
Naomi Grace Is With The Lord Jesus—Now and Forever
Our dear family & friends, At about 1:30am this morning, Naomi Grace Costanzo entered into the presence and joy of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. She fought bravely and endured much in her 44 days of life here on earth, but now she is free from it all. No more...
Naomi’s Funeral Service on Saturday, May 23
This Saturday, May 23rd, a funeral service will be held for Naomi Grace Costanzo. We will be celebrating her short life by singing hymns, hearing God's Word, and bringing glory to her omnipotent and all-wise Creator. There will be a time of visitation starting at...
Naomi’s Funeral
"The Lord has given, and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord." On Saturday, May 23rd, our family and many of our friends gathered together to weep and worship with us as we grieved Naomi's death and celebrated her life. It was a strange joy, quite...
Naomi’s Death Points Us To Ours—and Christ’s
Today is a day like any other day—the sun rose, the kids are off to school, and there is work to be done. But it’s also the three-year anniversary of Naomi’s death, so let’s pause the normal routines of our lives for a moment and reflect on what it means to die. What...