I am part of the May 2011 baby club on this website called Babycenter.com. Sometimes the threads that the expectant mothers post are quite amusing, sometimes they are annoying, sometimes they are odd, and honestly, some of the women on there are ignorant and stupid. (Yes, I'm harsh, but it's true.)
The women in my particular birth club (and there are over 6,000) are all due sometime in May. So, we very from being about 19 weeks to 24 weeks, give or take. Most of the women have found out the gender of their little one, some are having twins, some are as big as whales! Some are not even showing yet. (WHAT? Ya, crazy, I know) Some of them are married, some are single, some are in the military, some are in abusive relationships. Some are 16, some are 38.
That saddest thing is that some of them have discovered birth defects in their growing baby, suffered miscarriages recently or are going into preterm labor. Many of the women who have been told their baby has a birth defect (such as trisomy 18) are going to have to go into an induced labor and deliver their baby, only to have them not survive - in essence, their doctor is telling them they must have an abortion because their baby won't survive anyhow. On these types of threads I just keep my opinions to my self and my mouth shut. I've already had one of my responses deleted by a site manager because I said abortion is like murder. I certainly have some VERY strong opinions on abortion and some other issues. I'm quite conservative...
I'm not in their situation so I don't know what they are going through. I know what I would need to do in their circumstances, however. I would still keep the baby as long as I possibly could, until the Lord took him/her away from me - not a doctor. When a baby is diagnosed with Trisomy 18, he or she only has a 50% chance of not being still born. He or she can still go on to live a few months, even years. I couldn't bear to abort my child knowing that he/she has a 50% chance of being in this world with me for even a few days. Is that selfish of me? No, I don't think so. I'm bound by God's law not to take an innocent life. I can tell you this, I NEVER want to experience a still born birth. I know women who have and my heart goes out to them. God could make me one of those women at some point in my life and I'm not gonna lie, if it happens, it would likely be one of the most difficult things I would ever go through.
All that being said. I'm insanely, incredibly, over-joyously grateful that thus far, our baby boy is healthy. He's growing at a perfectly normal rate. His organs are all working properly and he is moving around in my womb just as he is supposed to. I opted out of doing any of those tests to see if he has defects. I don't want to know, I don't need to know. I don't need that sort of worry and heartache in my life right now. Right now, all I need to know is that he's healthy - and he is. If it turns out he has a defect or Downs Syndrome, then I wouldn't want to know that until much later on in my pregnancy or after I give birth. I know that God will sustain me if He gives me a child who is not going to survive past birth or live a long life.
Soooo, I pray for my baby daily and thank God daily for him! I'm 99.9% confident that he is going to be born healthy, to term and perfect. Call me optimistic, but really, I have no reason not to be at this moment.
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