This is Mackenzie updating. Our lionhearted Liam is 6 months old today. I have cried many times today at this fact, and it’s only noon! After the diagnosis in January, the desire of my heart was to look Liam in the eyes at birth. Not only did I look into his eyes at birth, but…

After 78 days of fluorescent lighting and air conditioning, Liam has felt the sun on his skin and breathed in the open summer air. On June 3, we left the Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital and came home to be one family in one place. It was a surreal feeling, pulling into our home with a…

Liam had surgery last Tuesday on his throat and his stomach, in an effort to allow him a better airway for breathing and to get a stomach tube for feeding as well as re-organizing his intestines for processing food. The surgeries were successful as far as being safely executed, but recovery has been poor and…

Liam is 19 days old now, and he’s doing great here at Helen Devos. We have really been taking each day one at a time, and the medical team has been doing the same. They usually say that Liam will lead the way for his care with what he shows us and how his body…

Sending this update from our second home at Helen Devos Children’s Hospital. Gone are the days with spare time to think and write, so this will be brief and from the hip. Liam’s birth started at Celebration Cinema. We wanted a little time together on Saturday with our induction the coming Thursday, but the surround…

Born 5lbs 4oz, 19in long on March 17 at 4:31pm Hallelujah

We are within 2 weeks of meeting Liam, one way or another. We have an induction estimated for March 21 and the potential exists for an early delivery, either naturally or through an emergency induction. Will this be the end of the story or a new chapter? As I sit down to write, to bring…

It’s now been a little more than two weeks since Liam’s initial diagnosis. Two very long weeks. We’ve found ourselves oscillating between apathy about daily life and grief at the thought of a momentary one for Liam. It’s in these moments of reflection you can see the paradox of those two feelings. It feels like…

We are Dylan and Mackenzie Bronkema. We have a 3 year old daughter Callie and 1 year old son Caden. This is the story of our son in utero, Liam Joshua Bronkema. Liam was diagnosed with Trisomy 13 (T13), or Patau Syndrome, on January 9, 2024, at 26 weeks gestational age. Patau Syndrome is a…