St. Patrick Catholic Church

• I am already 10,000 times bigger than at conception.
• I have developed the foundations of a brain, spinal cord, and nervous system by the twentieth day.
• My heart began to beat on the twenty-first day.
• My blood type can be different from that of my birth mother’s.
• I am very vulnerable to abortion during this next month—thanks for your prayers.  Please keep them up!

I am making rapid progress developing all my external and internal organs. During this month, baby teeth form and my fingers and toes are developing. My ears, nose, lips and tongue can now be clearly seen. My skeleton changes from cartliage to bone and brain waves can be recorded. My central nervous system is now functioning and so forty muscle sets begin their first exercises. By 8 weeks all body systems are present and now I am called a "fetus" a Latin word meaning "little one". Ultrasound reveals that I can spring and jump - my first dance steps!

Thank you for praying for me.  I’m three months old now.  I’m about 3 inches long and I weigh one ounce.  That’s not much, but I’m fully formed and can even suck my thumb! 
Your spiritually adopted baby.

We are at the end of the first trimester!  Your spiritually adopted baby is becoming very active in the womb now.  Here are some things I can do:

• Squint
• Swallow
• Move tongue
• Make a tight fist if you touch his or her palm

"We must not be surprised when we hear of murders, of killings, of wars, of hatred.  If a mother can kill her own child, what is left but for us to kill each other."
- Mother Theresa of Calcutta

Thank you for praying for me.  I’m bigger and stronger now.  I’m about 6 inches long and I weigh 4 ounces.  When mommy goes to the doctor, she can even listen to my heartbeat!  REMs (rapid eye movements) have been observed in babies at this stage in my life – a sign of dreaming.   Keep praying so I can fulfill my dreams.

I hope that one day I will run and play with friends like you.

Your spiritually adopted baby.


"Abortion kills twice.  It kills the body of the baby and it kills the conscience of the mother.  Abortion is profoundly anti-women.  Three quarters of its victims are women: Half the babies and all the mothers."
Blessed Mother Theresa of Calcutta
 

I am 5 months old now.  I’m 12 inches long and I weigh about one pound.  I’m really getting big and mommy can now feel me kick and move around!  Hey!  Someday maybe I’ll play soccer!  Thank you for praying for me!
Your spiritually adopted baby.

We are now mid-way through the pregnancy!  I am growing stronger each day, and now can kick hard enough for my birth mother to feel   
This month, please say a special prayer to St. Joseph for the father of your spiritually adopted baby, that he the courage and strength he needs to support mom and baby.

"It is a poverty to decide that a child must die so that you may live as you wish."
- Mother Theresa
 

Thank you for your prayers!  I’m 6 months old now.  I just opened my eyes.  Before today they were sealed shut for protection.  I wonder what you look like.  I can hear sounds, too!  It’s great to have someone praying for me. I am now at the end of my second trimester and weigh almost two pounds. I sit up straight to accommodate my internal organs which have moved into their final place in my little body.
Babies born prematurely at this point in the pregnancy have a very good chance of surviving.
Your spiritually adopted baby.

"America needs no words from me to see how your decision in Roe v. Wade has deformed a great nation.  The so-called right to abortion has pitted mothers against their children and women against men.  It has shown violence and discord at the heart of the most intimate human relationships.  It has aggravated the derogation of the father’s role in an increasingly fatherless society.  It has portrayed the greatest of gifts - a child - as a competitor, an intrusion, and an inconvenience.  It has nominally accorded mothers unfettered dominion over the independent lives of their physically dependent sons and daughters.  And in granting this unconscionable power, it has exposed many women to unjust and selfish demands from their husbands or other sexual partners.  Human rights are not a privilege conferred by government.  They are every human being’s entitlement by virtue of his humanity.  The right to life does not depend, and must not be declared to be contingent, on the pleasure of anyone else, not even a parent or a sovereign."
 

Thank you for praying for me.  I am 7 months old now.  I am growing every day.  I’m between 14 and 17 inches long and weigh about 4 and 1/2 pounds.  I move around a lot but it’s getting crowded in here!  Sometimes I even get the hiccups!
Guess what I can do now…

• See
• Hear and recognize mom’s voice
• Taste
• Cough
• Yawn
• Hiccup

Your spiritually adopted baby.

“The greatest destroyer of love and peace is abortion, which is war against the child.  The mother doesn't learn to love, but kills to solve her own problems.  Any country that accepts abortion is not teaching its people to love, but to use any violence to get what they want."
Mother Theresa of Calcutta

Thank you for praying for me!  I am 8 months old now.  I’ve got long fingernails and I’m busy getting ready for my birth.  I can’t wait to see my Mom and Dad.  Thanks to you and your prayers, I’ll see them soon.
Now I have finished developing and am concentrating on gaining weight; I might be making my mother uncomfortable because of her size (please keep her in your prayers, too!).   Your prayers have helped give her the grace she needed to bring me to term.

Your spiritually adopted baby.

I was born this month and I am truly a miracle.  I began as a 46-chromosome cell and have grown over the past nine months into an unique human baby you can now see and hold in your arms.  Never before in history, nor ever again, will anyone exist who is exactly like me.

Thank you for your participation in the Spiritual Adoption program.  The time and energy you put into supporting babies and parents in our community by your prayers is greatly appreciated.

With all my love and thanksgiving I am your spiritually adopted baby.