Next appointments...

I can hardly believe that I do not have any pregnancy related appointments until the end of the month! Is this what a typical pregnancy is like?? Whoa!

I will be having another level 2 scan at the end of the month. They will be checking out baby again, especially focusing on potential bowel and heart related issues. It should be a good time to see everything and prepare for anything prior to birth. Not sure how many more ultrasounds we might have after that. What we seem to hear is that if there are heart issues, those will take some time to deal with. They like to wait until baby is nice and strong before surgeries with the heart. The bowel issue seems a bit different a that would be taken care of much sooner after birth. Hoping we don't have to deal with either of these issues, but only time will tell!

The other question I keep getting is how are we doing with all this. Honestly, I am at a point where I am a bit emotionally spent. I have read and researched and googled so much, that I feel a bit on overload. The one thing that I am sure of is how wide a spectrum this diagnosis can entail. That unknown is what is hardest right now because I cannot plan ahead for this and must trust and go with the flow.

There are several words that continue to plague me as my thoughts drift during the day and night: retardation and termination. There are so many things that I have been unaware of in life (truth be told, I was blissfully ignorant and wish I could be again). I have crafted several posts encompassing my thoughts around this, but am still struggling with it. All I keep coming back to is the apparent statistic that 90% of parents who receive this diagnosis prenatally decide to terminate the pregnancy. This is something that is truly eating at my core beliefs and I cannot believe it. I am so grateful that my husband and I both agree on this and we are carrying on together. I may post more later about this, if the words come.

How are we doing? Living life as best we know how and loving our kids. Now that I think about it, I can't imagine that will change with our new arrival!