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| The invitations we designed for Baby Kimble's gender reveal party. |
We arrived at the ultrasound on time and waited patiently for our turn in the ultrasound room. We were so anxious to see the baby. Once we got in the room and the tech started, things took a dramatic turn. The tech began scanning and became very quiet. She didn't point out much of the baby or any of the things that had happened at the prior ultrasound. After a few awkward minutes of her scanning and asking some off-putting questions, she declared "Something is wrong, I need to get the doctor. I am sorry to be the one to tell you this." We then waited for what seemed like an eternity for the doctor. We were saying to each other, "what could it be?" It is at moments like this that your mind races through the options. When the doctor finally came in, the information she presented to us was not even in the realm of what we had thought. Instead of saying that it was something like a birth defect or a possibility that the baby would have some sort of mental disability, the doctor explained that in here opinion there was essentially no scenario in which our baby would survive beyond birth, at best. We were floored. The shock that set in can not be described at all. At this point the doctor went through a variety of medical explanations and explaining that the best option for us was termination. We just stared at her blankly. After she was done, we went and sat in our car, uncertain of what to do next.
Our OB called shortly after we were in the car. I am not sure how long we had been sitting there. We went in to see the OB that very moment, as her office was in the next building over. We hoped to go in and find out our options and see what could be done. Unfortunately, that was not exactly what happened. When we went in, the doctor said, "So this must be some difficult news." From there she went on to explain the baby would not make it and that because of this, the best option would be immediate delivery to avoid any potential risks to my health. She wanted us to come in just 4 days later to deliver the baby so that the pregnancy would be terminated. At first, we didn't even realize what she was offering us. Once it all clicked, I said that I was not comfortable with this option. The doctor continued to try to convince me, and then told me to go home and think about it.
I immediately decided that this option was not for me. It goes against everything I believe in. When we got in the car, that was the first thing I said. But now what do we do next? We went to my parents that night and explained the information we had received. Jason called his mother after the appointment to tell her what we now knew as well. Everyone was as devastated as we were.
Friday, the day after the ultrasound, we went to Jason's parents house. My mother came with us. We just wanted to be with family and get some support. When we arrived, Jason's mother said that her friend Judy wanted to come over and talk to us. Judy is a nurse at Einstein Medical and her friend is very high up at Einstein. After speaking with them both, we were referred to CHOP. We made a call at 4 p.m. to see about getting an appointment. By 5:30 pm., we had an appointment for Monday morning. We at least had a little hope at the moment.
Bless your hearts. I have read a few of your posts and my heart just yearns to hug you! My husband and I also found out our baby had a cystic hygroma at nine weeks and were offered a "termination" because there was a HUGE chance the baby wouldn't make it. We refused because it goes against what we believe. We had a Cvs performed and it showed Turner Syndrome. The doctors told us that 98-99% of these girls pass before delivery and we could consider terminating and simply trying again. Again, we adamently refused. This girl was in our lives for a reason and her heart was beating each time we had an ultrasound. At our 16 week u/s, we were told she was in the beginning stages of congestive heart failure and not to expect good news at our next appt. At 23 weeks, we went back and her heart was STILL beating. She was fighting and we were right there behind her and lifting her life up to Christ. Week after week we went back receiving more and more bad news (a few major heart defects), still... she held on. I carried her to 38 weeks 5 days and delivered via csection in atlanta. She was transferred to egelston to await the first of her three open heart surgeries. She was there six days before we heard anything. Finally, they came in with some news. The surgeon was refusing to operate on her due to the elevated risk associated with turner syndrome. Devastated isn't even the word to describe how we felt. She had beaten horrible odds to make it to this world and now MAN was willing to just let her go? We were given two options. A. Fly to CHOP where they were willing to do surgery. B. Let her pass peacefully and not put her body through the stress of surgery. We chose LIFE, yet again. We went to CHOP where they performed a surgery (completely different one than what she was originally thought to have needed). She is now six months old and a complete and utter miracle. We have had a few procedures done since her trip to Philly, but we could not be more proud of her. While I do not know the horrible ache that comes from losing a child nor will I ever claim to, I know the fear of it being anyday. Our pregnancy was riddled with "anyday now's". Your family is in my prayers. God bless you and your beautiful little butterfly!
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