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Jun. 4th, 2009 08:46 amFirstly, a big thanks to everyone who called, texted, emailed or just sent supportive thoughts following yesterdays dire news after the scan. It means a lot to us, and words cannot adequately express how grateful I feel for all this support.
Aside from that, C & I are, as might be expected, in a bad place. Effectively being told that your baby has half a heart and will die within 24/48 hours of birth, barring immediate, massive & highly risky intervention is not something I would wish upon anyone.
For the record, and because it seems appropriate, our daughter is called Caitlin Elisabeth Parkinson, and we are spending as much time talking to Katie as possible because we know just how precious and fragile she is. One of the peculiarities of this condition (if it is confirmed in subsequent scans) is that she will remain perfectly healthy & safe whilst in the womb, but, upon birth, will inevitably succumb.
Whilst I personally cannot and do not agree with abortion as a moral choice, I can now see why such a choice might be deemed to be for the best. In Katies case, however, this is not an option - we have lost 2 children to miscarriages already, and, were we to deny her whatever life she has been allotted - no matter how short - then this would be a criminally cruel act.
So there we are. As you can imagine & expect, we're emotionally drained, having spent a night weeping bitter tears. Emotionally, this is vastly worse than the miscarriages because it has no end. The pregnancy will continue until term and then catastrophe will strike. Which means that we have 20-plus weeks of this.
As I say, it remains possible that this is an error on the scan, though this is highly unlikely, so we welcome any and all prayers, well-wishes, positive thoughts, voodoo charms or whatever people can provide. Frankly, we'll do anything.
S
Aside from that, C & I are, as might be expected, in a bad place. Effectively being told that your baby has half a heart and will die within 24/48 hours of birth, barring immediate, massive & highly risky intervention is not something I would wish upon anyone.
For the record, and because it seems appropriate, our daughter is called Caitlin Elisabeth Parkinson, and we are spending as much time talking to Katie as possible because we know just how precious and fragile she is. One of the peculiarities of this condition (if it is confirmed in subsequent scans) is that she will remain perfectly healthy & safe whilst in the womb, but, upon birth, will inevitably succumb.
Whilst I personally cannot and do not agree with abortion as a moral choice, I can now see why such a choice might be deemed to be for the best. In Katies case, however, this is not an option - we have lost 2 children to miscarriages already, and, were we to deny her whatever life she has been allotted - no matter how short - then this would be a criminally cruel act.
So there we are. As you can imagine & expect, we're emotionally drained, having spent a night weeping bitter tears. Emotionally, this is vastly worse than the miscarriages because it has no end. The pregnancy will continue until term and then catastrophe will strike. Which means that we have 20-plus weeks of this.
As I say, it remains possible that this is an error on the scan, though this is highly unlikely, so we welcome any and all prayers, well-wishes, positive thoughts, voodoo charms or whatever people can provide. Frankly, we'll do anything.
S