Category: D&E

Ethan’s Story

Posted on gracePosted in Congenital Heart Defects, D&E, Religious Perspectives, Stories, Trisomy 21 (Down syndrome)

By C.J. This is Ethan’s story–my youngest son. It started out much like I thought for a third pregnancy. I have two healthy children, a girl, age five, and a boy, age three. I was sick with morning/all day sickness. When you are that sick and you have been through it twice before, it is hard to be too excited, but my husband and children were over the moon about the new baby. My son kept looking at my stomach and saying “is it getting bigger?” While my daughter began kissing my growing belly and writing “I love you” cards for her new sibling. My […]

Our Baby Boy

Posted on gracePosted in D&E, Stories, Trisomy 21 (Down syndrome)

By J.D. I have polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), so when my husband and I decided to try getting pregnant earlier this year, we had a difficult time finding that “window” due to my irregular cycles. We were referred to a fertility office where we started months of testing to narrow down the issue and come up with a plan. My husband tested fine and it was determined that I had plenty of eggs, they just weren’t ovulating themselves. We would do ovulation induction with medications and timed intercourse. Our first cycle worked! I couldn’t believe it. I stared at the stick in pure disbelief then […]

Will You Let Her Go?

Posted on gracePosted in D&E, Stories, Trisomy 18 (Edward's syndrome)

By Vanessa Spiritoso When I was pregnant with baby number three, I wasn’t excited but I wasn’t unhappy. My mind was preoccupied with running after my two boys who are under the age of five. I really didn’t have time to focus on baby number three. Some days I felt pregnant, but most days I did not. I remember telling my family that I knew I was pregnant but it didn’t feel like it. I even remember talking to my baby asking, “Are you in there?” because I didn’t feel like I felt when I was pregnant with the boys. I didn’t have that aggressive […]

Real, not hypothetical

Posted on gracePosted in D&E, Stories, Trisomy 21 (Down syndrome)

by R.S. I was living abroad with my spouse and our 2-year-old daughter when I found out I was pregnant. It was an enormous but welcome surprise. I have polycystic ovarian syndrome and it had taken over two years of fertility treatments and two rounds of IVF to conceive our daughter. I didn’t think I could get pregnant spontaneously, and had planned on doing IVF once we moved back to the US a couple of years later. I wanted to be happy, to celebrate the pregnancy, but it just seemed too good to be true. So at first I anticipated miscarriage. Every time I used […]

I Couldn’t Go On

Posted on gracePosted in D&E

By J.S. My fourth pregnancy was a surprise. (All four were surprises of different degrees. I think we only “tried” once.) Not an unwelcome one. My first pregnancy was followed by two miscarriages. We wanted a second child, but our daughter started first grade that fall. Going back to diapers, with both of us rounding the corner on 40, felt a little like regression. No matter. Our daughter is the light of our lives. We were all in to do it again. I had had hyperemesis with all three pregnancies, so one of the first things we did was reach out for a prescription for one […]

The Worst Day of My Life

Posted on gracePosted in D&E, Stories, Trisomy 21 (Down syndrome)

By M.V. I am 37 years old and have a healthy 22 month old boy at home. My first pregnancy was a breeze, and I assumed my second one would be as well. At my 12-week ultrasound—which was the day before my birthday— my toddler got fussy so I told my husband to go home with him and that I’d call him after going over the results with my doctor. My doctor walked in and said she had not liked what she saw on the ultrasound, including the absence of nasal bones and a high nuchal fold of 5.2, both indicators of Down syndrome. I was shocked. […]

Nova, our shining star

Posted on gracePosted in Congenital Heart Defects, D&E, Stories

By A.N. Pregnancy is supposed to be a joyous experience. With a history of two prior miscarriages, we waited until 13 weeks to begin to share the news with people beyond our immediate family. We never did an official announcement but word of mouth travels fast. After 13 weeks, anyone who was in our close circle of friends and family knew we were expecting a little girl. Our family was excited for the addition; my daughter was thrilled that she would have a sister. Nova was our baby’s unofficial name, our shining star. You have big dreams for your baby, before he or she ever graces this earth […]

Q&A: Why Not Just Scan for Defects Earlier?

Posted on gracePosted in D&E, Induction/L&D, Omphalocele, Opinion, Q&A, Stories

Have a question for Ending a Wanted Pregnancy? Email us. QUESTION Why have an abortion so late? Why not just scan for defects earlier? A 12-week scan can pick up most issues. I had a scan at 12 weeks and discovered our baby had a giant omphalecele (all his internal organs were in a sack on the outside of his body). We were told his lungs and heart would not develop properly and he had a 1 in 10,000 chance of surviving to the age of two. Because nerve endings don’t develop until about the 18 week mark, we made the heartbreaking decision to end the pregnancy […]