heartbreaking decision Archives -

A Terrible Shade of Grey

Posted on October 10, 2019

hypoplastic left heart is a grey diagnosis

“Your baby has Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome. The left side of the heart did not develop. This condition does not have a cure.” A Prenatal Diagnosis of Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome I have always been a planner. Before making any decision, I evaluate the pros and cons and research the risks and associated probabilities. When my husband and I decided to get pregnant, I knew that, according to the CDC, 6% of women struggle with infertility. I knew it could take multiple months to conceive. When we got pregnant on the first try, I also knew that 1 in 4 pregnancies end in miscarriage. I […]

Stories

I Chose Peace

Posted on April 25, 2019April 28, 2019

By reading this story I hope you find comfort in knowing you aren’t alone. I hope some of the strategies I used to cope will give you a beneficial perspective. by Nicole C. I was five months pregnant with our second son. My first pregnancy was normal and I was just trying to survive through this one to “complete our family” as my husband put it. Little did I realize how much I was taking for granted. During our routine 20-week ultrasound, my OBGYN found a slight umbilical cord issue. It took me three weeks to get in for my routine Level II ultrasound that […]

D&C

My World Ended With That Call

Posted on February 5, 2019March 4, 2019

I began to love this little baby inside me. And I was sure it was a girl—I even came up with a name. By Anonymous I am 34 years old. I’m originally from Russia and I just got my U.S. citizenship. I am married (it’s my second marriage) and I have a wonderful husband who is originally from Iraq. We have a five-year-old daughter together. I have no other kids. My First Pregnancy I have never gotten pregnant with my husband without wanting to. It took us almost five months to conceive our daughter. This only happened because I read somewhere that Mucinex thins mucous secretions and allows the embryo to implant […]

Opinion

Think About It

Posted on January 25, 2019

by Margot Finn Do you know what it is like to live in the same house as a room that you intended for a baby who died? God help you if you’ve already set up a crib and changing table. Do you disassemble them yourself in a sobbing rage late one night, thinking about all the times people told you chipperly to “get sleep now while you can!”? Or do you hack them to bits and burn them some bleak February day when you would have been massively pregnant, about to go into labor any day now, in the alternate timeline where your baby wasn’t […]

Anencephaly

No Fear or Regrets

Posted on December 6, 2018March 4, 2019

I was little more than life support for her and within minutes or possibly hours from birth, she would die, without any sense of me or anything around her. By Sara This is my story of ending a wanted pregnancy. I’m putting in lots of details because it’s what I was looking for when we first decided to terminate, but couldn’t find a story like mine. The Anatomy Scan—The Diagnosis My husband and I and our two-year-old live in Japan. My husband is active duty and got stationed here about three years ago. In late July, I was about 21 weeks along with our second child […]

Induction/L&D

Our Daughter, Gabriella Grace

Posted on September 25, 2018

Gabriella Grace - Termination for Turner Syndrome

I believe in mercy, and that’s what we hopefully gave our daughter. By Chelsea “Not Compatible with Life.” Crushing words, that confirmed our worst fears. I remember blinking my tear-filled eyes, praying that by some chance of a miracle our daughter would survive. After 20 weeks of pregnancy, and exhausting every possible avenue of testing, willing and praying for our daughter to survive, we were faced with the reality that she would not. The cystic hygroma and fluid had overtaken her body and she was struggling to survive. The Ultrasound I’ll never forget sitting in the OB’s office around my nine-week appointment, excited to hear the heartbeat […]

Congenital Diaphramatic Hernia (CDH)

Kind, Compassionate Care When We Needed It Most

Posted on September 25, 2018

Abortion for CDH Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia

So much information was being explained to us. But I only heard the scary keywords: deformed, suffering, uncertainty of survival, termination. This was the most difficult news of our life. By Lillian Adam and I have been together for eight years, happily married for more than six, with two beautiful, healthy and extraordinarily happy and capable daughters. When we found out in June that I was pregnant with our third child, we were overjoyed. My pregnancy felt like all the others—morning sickness most of the day, exhaustion, lots of heartburn, and so much to look forward to. We were thrilled to add more love and […]

D&E

My Angel Amelia

Posted on June 24, 2018June 25, 2018

I wasn’t able to kiss her and tell her I loved her. I left empty handed with a broken heart. By Nicole Prior to the heartbreak From the moment I got pregnant my excitement and joy quickly faded and were replaced with fear. I thought this was normal because I was a first time mom. I feared the worst. When I called the doctor to make my initial appointment I got annoyed when they told me they would not see me until 9 weeks. Then I got furious when they said they would not give me an ultrasound until 20 weeks. I got so angry that I complained and […]

D&E

My Sweet Cami

Posted on June 6, 2018June 18, 2018

Termination for spina bifida and chiari malformation

“I decided to make her baby book and have a necklace made with her would-be birthstone and the letter ‘C’ “ By Megan December 15th was a great day for my husband and I. We heard our daughter’s heartbeat for the first time and my husband was accepted to the police academy all on the same day. Life couldn’t get any better. Then in February we went in for the 20-week ultrasound. The tech was very cold and barely spoke as she took 70 images of our baby, measuring every inch. We figured this was routine and asked if we could know the gender. She […]

Neural Tube Defects

Daddy’s Shoes

Posted on July 30, 2017June 18, 2018

We called several specialists around the country and Dana spent an entire day on the phone with the four big players in the fetal surgery specialty. In some cases, they can do surgery on the baby while still in-utero. All the specialists looked at our case of severe spina bifida and gave our son bleak prognoses.