As some of you may know, Jeremy and I received some interesting news last month. We are finally ready to share our story with the world...
On January 5th I had my 20 week ultrasound. Jeremy was out of town for work, so I decided to invite my sisters and my mom to tag along with me, hoping they could witness the epic boxing match in my belly :)
We were all excited as we walked back to the exam room. The ultrasound tech slathered my belly with that cold, sticky goo and went to town. Boy were they kicking! And yes, they were still boys (I was hoping for at least one girl) :)
Everything was going great...until the tech got to baby b's heart. She started talking with the specialist that was present, using all kinds of technical terms. I had
no idea what was going on, but had a feeling that it wasn't good. They spent a lot of time looking at his heart. Eventually I couldn't hold it in any longer and started crying. They finished shortly after and we were all invited into the specialist's office.
I don't remember much of what happened after that, just that I was crying, that I thought my baby was going to die, and that they thought he had something called Transposition of the Great Arteries. They also told me that if he did have this condition, we would have to deliver in Seattle or Spokane so he could immediately have open heart surgery to correct the issue. He wanted to see us in 4 weeks for another ultrasound before referring us to a cardiologist, just to get a better look at his heart. I relied mostly on my mom to repeat everything to me later, after I had calmed down a bit. I'm so glad she was there.
After our appointment, I had to call Jeremy and try to explain to him what was going on, though I didn't quite understand it myself. He wouldn't be home for another three weeks. I think the hardest part was knowing I had to wait to see him, hug him, and cry with him.
I'm not gonna lie, the past month has not been pretty. We have spent most of our time researching, crying, and praying our butts off. We prayed (and continue to pray) that God will heal our baby's heart so that he doesn't have to have his little body cut open (although now that we've had another ultrasound since then, it looks like this will have to happen), and that Jeremy and I will have the strength to deal with whatever gets thrown in our paths.
At first we were really scared, but the more we researched, the more we learned that his condition is very treatable, the operation has a 95-98% success rate, and as long as he gets through the surgery will be able to lead an active, "normal" life (what is normal anyway?). Don't get me wrong, it is going to be hard, but knowing that there are other kids and adults who have gone through this and live happy, healthy lives is very reassuring. Besides, if he is anything like us, he won't go down without a fight :)
So world, this is what we've been up to lately. If you are a friend or family member and are reading this, please don't be offended that we haven't told you or been hanging around much lately. We are just trying to figure out what is in store for us, and will be ready to venture out into the world again shortly :)
xoxo
Jen + Jeremy
(print below by LittleBeanPrints)
2 comments:
Jen and Jeremy
The double occupancy group on facebook brought me to this blog. Comments to the blog posts my wife and I created for our twins gave us TREMENDOUS support. Ours were born super early (@26 weeks) and we were devastated in the beginning. Hopefully you will be rewarded with the same powerful support from family, friends and sometimes people you dont even know. It goes a long way. We will follow your blog and hope to hear good news along the way for you and baby B. Keep us posted!
Thank you so much for your comment, and for reading our blog! This has been very therapuetic for us so far, and we hope to gain not only support, but also a deeper understanding of ourselves and, hopefullly, come out stronger :)
I am so glad your "wonder twins" are doing well. It is amazing how resilient these little miracles are!
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