Welcome, dear friends and family.

Thank you for being here. Whether you’ve walked beside us since the beginning or are just joining our story, we’re grateful you’ve found this space, and we are honored to invite you into this journey with our family and our sweet daughter, Dolores Margaret Mary Finegan!

Over the past several months, we’ve experienced a journey we never expected. Since learning at our 20-week anatomy scan that Dolores has Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome (HLHS) and an additional intact Atrial Septum, our days have been filled with appointments, conversations, preparations, tears, and many unknowns. Yet somehow, in all of that, another story has been unfolding for our little family.

If these months have taught us anything, it is that the deeper we love, the deeper we become vulnerable to suffering. And suffering is scary. Sometimes, imagining what lies ahead can feel even more frightening than the reality before us. Yet, time and again, we have found that when the moment arrives, God provides the grace we need for that day. Not all at once, but one step at a time. I have also experienced tastes of freedom within our suffering. The freedom to receive love from others and the freedom to pour ourselves out in love without knowing what tomorrow holds.

I have also learned that surrender does not mean “giving up” or means losing hope. It is choosing, day after day, to entrust the unknown to God. While we cannot control what lies ahead, we can choose to believe that He is already there, holding Dolores, holding our family, and inviting us to walk forward one faithful step at a time.

While we would never have chosen this road, we can honestly say we have witnessed God’s presence in profound and unexpected ways that only He, as a Good Father, could do.

As we prepare to welcome Dolores into the world and begin the medical journey that awaits her, we’ll use this CaringBridge page to share updates, prayer requests, milestones, and the many ways God continues to work in our lives.

More than anything, we hope this helps you come to know and love Dolores. She is so much more than a diagnosis. She is a beloved daughter, a precious little sister, and an incredible gift whose life is already drawing so many people closer to Christ.

As we prepare to welcome Dolores into the world, we are grateful for every person who has chosen to walk this road with us.

Our scheduled C-section is August 6, and that will be the day we finally get to meet our sweet girl. Shortly after birth, she will undergo evaluations and receive specialized care as our medical team determines the timing of the next steps in her treatment, which will most likely include an immediate procedure and potential surgery.

We know there will be many unknowns in the days and weeks ahead, but we also know we won’t walk them alone.

Practical Ways to Help

So many of you have asked how you can support our family, and we are incredibly grateful.

A Meal Train has been organized to help care for our family during the weeks surrounding Dolores’ birth and hospital stay. If you’d like to participate, you’ll find the information here:

Meal Train (Out of Town): https://my.babylist.com/jen-finegan

Meal Train (Local):https://mealtrain.com/5wqk97

If bringing a meal isn’t possible, your prayers, messages, and words of encouragement mean more than you know. They have carried us already, and we know they’ll continue to sustain us in the days ahead.

Thank you for loving our family so well. We are humbled by the generosity, kindness, and prayers that have surrounded us, and we can’t wait to introduce you to our precious Dolores.

With love,

Jen, Patrick, Ellie, David, and sweet Dolores