I just found this article and couldn't resist sharing it. Raising awareness.
Along the lines of no one seems to understand what it's like in our shoes, continuing a pregnancy with a poor prenatal diagnosis -- maybe this will help.
While this happens to be a religious source, make no mistake -- this is a universal issue.
There are several parts that I found to be so true to the experience.
In case you don't read the whole article, let me summarize the highlights...
“I wanted this baby to have an opportunity at life, and I wanted my boys to have an opportunity to love her,” Mrs. Rose said. She added, “I didn’t want the boys to think, ‘She’s not perfect so we’re not going to keep her.’ What kind of a message is that?”
Indeed. What kind of message is that?
“A mother, by nature…is the one who loves her baby,” and so does the father, Dr. Parravicini said. “It is so unnatural to do anything that would harm the baby. The vast majority of the time, they just need support.”
She added, “Our call as physicians is not to eliminate the patient, but to provide whatever care the patient requires.” That can mean a cure, or treatment that will prolong life, or supportive care for however long the patient lives, whether “for 70 years or seven minutes,” she said.
...while parents in such a situation will be told exactly how to arrange for an abortion, there is “no road map” for those who choose to continue the pregnancy.
So true. Continuing the pregnancy feels like the most natural thing to do as a parent. But is also a scary and vast unknown when you are told that most people terminate. Parents are not given a What to Expect book in this case.
She scorns the notion that a baby who will die soon might as well be aborted. “What if one of my daughters came down with leukemia when she was 7 years old? I wouldn’t shoot her in the backyard to get it over with,” she said.
Exactly.
[Excerpts from Network Being Formed to Help Parents Whose Unborn Babies are Ill , by Claudia McDonnell, www.cny.org]
2 comments:
When I ended up in the hospital dilated to 4cm at 21 weeks, I was told we could "just end it here." I was completely floored that it was even an option let alone offered to me. We were told our odds of delivering a baby who would survive was next to nothing. We chose to at least try. Give him a chance. And although I delivered him 6 days later, at 22 weeks + 1 day, I don't regret making that choice. We were given another 6 days together, to bond and I'll never forget that last week I had him within me. I'll never wish that I had just given up and ended things. Who on earth would??
I stopped by to tell you that I was given a little fun blog award and told to pass the love and I thought of you. Enjoy =)
http://calebs-story.blogspot.com/2012/06/little-something-different.html
best shoes to wear while pregnant with swollen feet
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