By Sheila Walsh |
Fox News – The first few weeks of my pregnancy were ablur of absolute joy.
I told total strangers that I was pregnant.
I read books to the wee one in my belly and played an assortment of songs to see if he or she was more country or pop.
At our sonogram, we learned the baby was a boy. We were so happy.
Then one phone call interrupted our happiness. I would be 40-years-old when the baby was born, and my doctor had asked for additional tests, one being an amniocentesis.
When the results came back, she asked us to come to her office. We sat on one side of her desk as she sat on the other with a brown folder in front of her. I don’t remember everything she said, but I remember this: “Your baby is incompatible with life.”
I stared at her as if she was speaking in a foreign language. This was a phrase I’d never heard before. Neither Barry nor I said anything. We were stunned.
She went on to explain about “markers” and “abnormalities” and what my results showed. I could see her mouth moving, but I felt as if I had a glass dome over my head and couldn’t hear her.
Then she said that she recommended performing a termination the following day. I heard that, and her words snapped me back into reality. I was shocked. “No!” I said vehemently. “No! Absolutely not. This little one will have every day God has planned for him to live.”
We drove home in silence. There was nothing to say.
For the next couple of weeks, I was tormented with one thought: I had begged God to give me a child, and now He was going to take him away before we had a chance to love him. Why?
I felt as if I were falling into a dark hole. Some days I felt angry, others I was overwhelmed with sorrow. One day turned the tide for me … Read more.
OUR TAKE …
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Always, always, always get a second opinion (or even a third) before making irreversible, life-altering decisions.
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We love that once Sheila learned everything was going to be okay, she turned her attention to another woman facing a dark prognosis.
–Headline Health
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