Getting pregnant is one issue to deal with, all the nausea, vomiting, emotions, and sharing the news, but what about issues with your little one growing inside you? At some point of your pregnancy you should get your ultrasound. It is during the ultrasound that your doctor may find some deformities with your child. Any deformities could be heart problems, spinal problems, or more mildly, deformities of the hands and feet. After talking with your doctor you start feeling overwhelmed with all the information. How do you deal with this?
No mother wants to hear that her perfect little angel she has yet to meet already has issues to deal with before she enters this cruel world. But when you do, you are left to making decisions on how to handle your child’s deformities. There are some people who cannot handle this kind of information and automatically want to terminate their child. I hope this is not a choice for you. If you choose to keep your child, congratulations to you for being strong and for learning how to handle the situation.
So where do you go from here? Well, first you should consider talking to your doctor about getting an amniocentesis if she has not mentioned it to you already. This process is not always fun, but the purpose of the procedure is to draw out amniotic fluid from around the baby and to test it. The test checks for chromosomal abnormalities, like missing or extra chromosomes, or if some are broken off. Geneticists are trained in looking for diseases or syndromes on the chromosomes. The results can be very helpful to everyone involved.
Once you have this information out of the way, it is at this point you can start talking with your doctor about your choices. Some may recommend speaking with a counselor that deals with children with disabilities. For some, this can help to calm your nerves when you have to actual deal with the issue itself. For other mothers, you may want to contact support groups that meet up to talk about their disabled children. If you are like me, you do your own research and comfort yourself through learning.
It is hard to deal with such issues before they are in your hands, but preparation is the key to staying calm. If you already know what to expect when your child arrives, then you will not be as emotional at childbirth. Once your child comes, there will be options for you to choose from. Surgery may be recommended, mostly for the safety of your child’s life, but also for your child’s comfort. Surgery is always scary because it requires putting your child to sleep who is not very old. If surgery is not necessary, then just getting involved as much as you can to help your child will help to get you and your child through life.
The main key to all of this is making sure you remain strong. If you go through all the hard work involved with caring for your disabled child, you will grow even stronger as you see your child progress in her abilities. If you are not strong, neither will be your child. Give her the best of life so everyone can enjoy what they have.
