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Antenatal support thread for women who have chosen to terminate VI

1000 replies

Coffeeandchocolate · 06/06/2010 10:08

Time for a new thread, ladies. May it continue to give us comfort, and help us find a special, sunny place in our hearts, where our babies are safely tucked in. May it bring good luck to everyone who posts or justs reads.

And to the old-timers, it?s so lovely to still have you here with us, reaching out.

OP posts:
witlesssarah · 19/09/2010 09:48

peanut and C0ffee* thanks for listening. I know its just a fear but sometimes its gets just too strong. My therapist says I need accept that nothing will take that fear away, even the postmortem because its really a fear inside me, and it will ease in its own time (I just want its own time to be now)

I'm glad to hear that things are easing a bit for you Peanut, it is such a hard journey you are on, but it sounds like you are getting through it really well.

And coffee, how brave you are to be so steady coming up to those scans, I do hope they're all fine, not much longer now.

We did have a good day yesterday, it was glorious sunshine here, DS has taught himself to swim without his float jacket (proud mummy) and we spent the afternoon in the park, the kind of day I hoped for all summer when I spent it worrying about the pregnancy instead.

Roise's funeral is Tues morning, we're having a burial which feels very right to me, and I've been to enough funerals to know that they do me good, even though they are painful so I hope that it will be true for this one as well, even if we are hanging on the thread of the consultation

Hope everyone has a peaceful Sunday and thanks again for the support

AllwaysDoingSomething · 20/09/2010 13:56

Sarah, I will be thinking of Rosie and you all on Tuesday. Such a difficult day to get through and I hope like you say it will do you good and that you give your little girl the service you want it to be.

Peanut, I really hope you get some time to mark Ben's anniversary. Even if it just 5 mins to listen to your fav song.

X

Coffeeandchocolate · 20/09/2010 19:33

Sarah, I'll think of you, your dh and your little girl tomorrow. I hope it will be a peaceful day and you will take comfort from celebrating her little life.

Allways, big hug to you too.

Coffee xxxx

OP posts:
peanuthead · 21/09/2010 10:16

Sarah - thinking of you and your family today. xx

NatzCNL · 22/09/2010 00:09

Sarah, was thinking of you today. No parent should ever have to go through this. All of you on this thread are so strong, even though I know there are times when you feel utter dispair. I hope you are ok xx

I had my first emotional release today. I was watching my to DD's sleeping and remembering their early days, the excitement of meeting a new baby, taking in their facial features remembering their new baby smell. My eldest DD will be 4 at the end of the month, and I was remembering how when she was timy I would wonder what she would look like and sound like when she was older, and something inside me just switched on. Suddenly I was curled up on the floor sobbing.
I tried to imagine what Cara would have looked like, I could imagine how my other DD's would have been with her, how they would have fussed over her and adored her. I finally felt grief for the future we should have had.
I am not angry, I dont feel guilty as I thought I would. I just feel so sad. I feel cheated, and I feel cheated for my children and my DH. And I miss her.

A part of me wishes we had continued the pregnancy so that I could have seen her, and kissed her goodbye, but I know this is selfishness. I never wanted her to suffer, and continuing the pregnancy could have led to her suffering.

We have been told that her cremation will most probably take place on the 7th October - the day after my DH's birthday. It still needs to be confirmed as it is the hospital who is arranging everything. I spoke to the hospital Reverand, who was such a lovely lady, she really put my mind at ease and told me she was available any time should I need to ask her anything. I was worried they had creamated Cara without telling us.

Sorry to let all this out. Especially today on Rosie's funeral.

witlesssarah · 22/09/2010 08:48

Oh Natz I'm glad to hear that you've had some release, its often the joy that releases the sorrow isn't it. When I look at my DS and know the happiness he has, sometime it really heightens the sense of what we have lost with Rosie.

Thank you Coffee, Peanut and Allways for your thoughts for yesterday. It means a lot when people who have their own suffering reach out the way you have.

It was a good day, though we had plenty of tears. It was foggy where we are during the funeral but burnt off to a sunny warm day, and in many ways that mirrored our mood. It was very hard to say goodbye, to cast rose petals into her grave, but having done so, I could feel my spirit lift some. It feels much better having buried her in a nice cemetery where we can go to be with her than having her in the hospital. My family are all a long way away, but they sent flowers and I had a good chat with my mum in the evening.

today a little wobblier, but still better than before, so I hope that the 7th will be good for you too Natz.

Peanut, I really hope you can find some way to mark Ben's anniversary, know that we'll all be thinking of you (and him) as well

Cantdothisagain · 23/09/2010 21:15

Hi Sarah, I am glad that Tuesday brought some peace. It is good to know Rosie is somewhere nicer than hospital. And you got through it.

Good luck with the anniversary, Peanut. And good news about the genetic results. Even if 'random bad luck' isn't a particularly reassuring outcome when you consider trying again, it's definitely better than 'not random bad luck'. I will be thinking of you and Ben this w/e.

Natz, I would take the release when it comes. I don't know how to explain this, but after my first termination I thought I was okay; I felt - okay. Flat, odd, but okay. But when I look back I feel immense sadness for that time and realize the flatness was actually more numbness. We all have to get on with things and accept what life has thrown at us; there's no right or wrong way; it's just muddling through. And for those of us with kids already - well, you don't just muddle through, because you become even more aware of how amazing a gift they are and so the sadness is happy, too, because it allows you to celebrate your existing children even more...

Mish, sorry about your DH's grandad. Wow, Bella's 8 months already...

Anyone heard from Lisbeth?? She's gone quiet. Lisbeth, come out, wherever you are.

Allways and Olivia, hope you are doing okay, as okay as can be.

Me, I am sorry to be here so seldom. I have little time and I don't want to just appear and spout brief platitudes and disappear again. I need to come here to engage properly. Anyway I am happy, tired, and my little miracle is now 5 months old. I say this without wishing to rub salt in any wounds. I promise it took blood and tears for me to have her. Though easier, I accept, than many of you have had. And I really hope that you will all have your miracles soon too.

Coffeeandchocolate · 04/10/2010 09:14

This thread has never been so quiet. I just wanted to reach out to all of you ladies, and just say that even if I haven't posted in here for ages, I am still thinking of you all and wondering how you are all doing. xxxx

OP posts:
linspins · 04/10/2010 09:44

Ditto Coffeeandchoc. Very quiet thread, but I'm hoping anyone would post if they need support.
Some of you are going through such tough times right now, I really feel for you all. Sending some virtual hugs through cyberspace to anyone who needs it. xxxxxx

linspins · 04/10/2010 09:46

Also just to say that all of you and your little angel babies are very much in my mind at the moment. I went to a remembrance service yesterday run by our local SANDS group and it was very moving. We all lit a candle for our babies, and there were poems and songs.
Amy, Daisy, Mummy misses you. xxxxx

AllwaysDoingSomething · 06/10/2010 13:25

I thought I'd post, not sure who is still around? I hope you're all being well supported.

I'm in limbo, so very sad, miss my prgegnancy and my babies more than ever. I keep thinking that I want to be back in the delivery room, holding Rose. I wish time would have stood still and I never had to leave her behind.

witlesssarah · 06/10/2010 14:13

Hi Allways, sorry to hear you're feeling so stuck. Its really poignant the way you've put it, and evokes much of what I feel, that time has rolled on and I have left my Rosie behind.

Coffee, thanks for asking after me on Sunshine's thread, I've been posting everywhere but here - avoiding my own grief? Distracting myself? Generally I am doing much better than I might have hoped/expected. The funeral really helped and I am getting good support from friends, family and therapist in RL. My second period is about to start Sad which does mean that DH and I are really going to have talk soon about whether we are able for trying again. Also still waiting on the consultants appt for teh post mortem results (they are currently looking for my notes) So ups and downs and life moving forward

thinking of all of the rest of you,

Mishtabel · 06/10/2010 14:28

Hi Allways - midnight here and I can't sleep. Just wanting to let you know I'm still around, and I think of you often. I might not post often on this thread, though I am still always reading and wishing the very best for everyone here. It has been so quiet lately, as the others have said. I have almost been going to 'bump' this thread at times, as I know it has been and is an amazing sanctuary for many, and it would be a great shame to see it die off. Sending you a big hug xxx

Hugs and love also to Witlesssarah, Peanut, Natz and everyone xxx

Lovely to hear from you Lins xxx

Mishtabel · 06/10/2010 14:31

X-post with you Sarah - so glad to hear you are okay xx

LisbethSalander · 06/10/2010 22:00

Hi all - I'm still here and just wordlessly lurking as I can't think of anything to say to anyone of any use. I feel like I've curled up into a little ball and I'm avoiding as much of the world as I can and just getting through the normal day to day stuff is tough. Sometimes I think of Adam and want to cry and cry - the other day we were driving back home late at night and it was raining really hard. It was such a bleak night and we were about 2 miles away from where Adam is buried and I just cried at the thought of him being alone and in the cold - I felt as though I'd abandoned him and even though DH said to remember he was under the blanket we left for him I just couldn't bear the idea of it.

My friends (3 of them) who were due around the same time as me have either had their babies (one today) or will do soon. Buying them presents of babies clothes was harder than I thought it was going to be.

People seem to think I should have moved passed this. And I keep having nightmares - one was of Adam's body being dragged away from me and another (the night before DD's 3rd birthday) was that it was Adam's birthday instead and I was just waiting to open his presents and then the realisation hit that he wouldn't be having any birthdays.

I just feel so blank, numb and then low. The geneticist gave us a very reassuring 0.7% chance of recurrence and I thought I might be pregnant this month but I'm not and I'm scared by how much of me was relieved I wasn't (I think more relieved not to have to start what I know will be a really, really scary process should it start).

And everywhere I turn there are reminders of him. DD and I were at a charity shop today and the woman serving us had DS and had a clear scar where she had had obvious heart surgery (Adam had DS and AVSD - a heart defect which would have needed surgery within the first 3 months of his life). I feel like even DH has moved on - his work is stimulating and exciting and promising and he says he rarely thinks about this now. I think about this every day and it's a lonely place to be. I'm sure you all know about that though.

Ah, bleurgh. Sorry. I could go on and on and I thought I was over it and was doing well and had nothing to say any more. Obviously not and sorry for the rant.

I've kept checking every day to see if anyone had said anything. I'm thinking of you all and your babies and I'm sorry for the lack of personals - I hope you're all as well as you can be x

NatzCNL · 07/10/2010 21:55

I really feel for you Lisbeth xxx
It was Cara's cremation today. I thought I had been coping so well. Only one crying episode. Been around my pregnany sister, and my brother's 6 month old baby. Even cheered with joy when my friend gave birth last week to her first much wanted child. But today, 4 weeks of no emotion flooded out. My poor DH had to hold me up at times.
The same chapel as my niece last year. The same tiny white coffin.
I sit and wonder why any of us should ever have to suffer a loss like this. I want to stamp my feet and lash out screaming 'it's not fair'. But there is no-one to be angry at, there's nothing to blame. It's just 'bad luck' as I have been told so many times by so many people. 'It's just one of those things', and my personal favourite 'humans aren't good at reproducing themselves'.
WHY???!
If there is a god, what reason is there in handing this gift to cruelly snatch it away again? Is this a test? For what? Is this a punishment?
I just want to curl up on my bed and cry until I fall asleep. If it wasn't for my two DD asleep in their beds right now, I howl for all to hear. I know I am lucky to have them. I know too well that any child is a gift, and too many never get to experience the joys of parenthood. I mourn the loss of my darling Cara, but I also mourn the loss of the life she could have had with her two big sisters. They would have adored their baby sister. They deserved to have a little sister. Why did we have to lose her.
Im so sorry. Today has been so emotional, I feel as exhausted as I did 4 weeks ago today when we had to let her go. I feel so deflated and tired. The numerous glasses of wine doesn't help, but it helps the tears flow.
Im sorry this is a totally self indulgent post. But today, I just cant think about anyone else. I want my baby back. I dont want to have heard of hypolplastice left heart syndrome, I dont want to have ever worried about what Turners syndrome could have meant. I want to be looking forward to my 20 week scan and having y girls kiss my belly goodnight before bed.
I felt my sisters little boy kick yesterday, and I was so jealous. Happy for her, but jealous that I should have been sitting next to her comparing kicks, bumps, stretch marks, heartburn. I always wanted to be pregnant with her, and for those 15 weeks I was.
My DH told me today that he holds the memory of our first scan as his happy memory of Cara. Just the first 5 minutes, when she waved to us and sucked her thumb, before the dreaded words of 'there is a lot of fluid around your baby's head and neck'. I think that is a nice image. A happy image. One of excitement and hope. I look at her scan picture and smile.
I now have her blessing certificate. The only document with her name on it.
I think I am going to finally fall apart. I dont want to. My girls need me, and I need them. I just miss my Cara so much. :(

Coffeeandchocolate · 08/10/2010 09:47

I have read all your posts and my heart is heavy ? such stupid, cliched words, but it?s true. I feel like there is so much I want to say to you, but words don?t come out easily anymore. You have all described your pain so well, and I hope that although there is nothing anyone can say to a parent who lost their child, writing it all down has helped a little bit.

Allways, are you well supported as well? If I remember correctly you were on a waiting list for counselling, have you started that yet? You are suffering now so much for giving your little Rose peace... But of course this doesn?t take away the awful unfairness of it all, the why and the anger. I always think of what you have been through with a sort of bewilderment; it just seems so much, one thing after another. My heart goes out to you.

Sarah, I am glad that the funeral helped. I found that after burying Silvia?s ashed I had turned a corner. I was still grieving, but knowing that she was resting next to other children and I could go and visit her whenever I wanted to gave me a bit of comfort. I am saying this with much sadness, of course, but it was certainly better than knowing her alone at the hospital.

Lisbeth, shortly after losing Silvia, when writing in here I had this image of our babies being together. I am not a religious person, but this thought brought me comfort. Your little Adam is not alone. All our little ones left something behind, changes in us, changes in how we cope with our other children (that?s what everybody says, I wouldn?t know this yet).

Natz, I had the same questions as you, and the same anger. I can still feel the anger rise every now and then. I think you are coping well. Having a meltdown, crying and shouting is still coping, and it?s healthy. The numbness can?t last forever. What I found very hard was chanelling the love I still have for Silvia. I had this enormous love for her, but she was not here anymore. I found it very comforting to write and to go and light candles at her grave, and to speak about her with my dh, and to read about grief and how people are coping. We also agreed to make donations to children?s charities on every anniversary. But coming to terms with it all is a long process and there are still days when I?m struggling, and the guilt and the what if?s come back and I need a good cry. My life is still defined by my loss, there hasn?t been a single day since February that I haven?t thought about her.

I didn?t want to make this about me, but writing this post has brought back so much for me too. I still need this space, and I need to talk about my baby. I am grateful to be pregnant again, to have this hope in my life now, and I am grateful I got this far without any apparent problem (?yet? says the negative voice inside my head). I already love this baby so much, and thinking I might lose him too is terrifying. But I didn?t forget Silvia, and I still miss her terribly. She was only 2 weeks older than this little one when we lost her.

I hope all of you ladies are coping as best you can. Thinking of you all xxxx

OP posts:
witlesssarah · 08/10/2010 20:00

its always hardest to write about what I'm really thinking of. Amazing and sad how quiet the thread can be and then there is this great outpouring, its the way the grief feels too, comes in waves. Lisbeth and Natz you sound as if you are in particular agony now, be good to yourselves and remember that for those of us who've been through this - your feelings are normal.

After my sanguine post earlier this week I pushed it too hard at work and had a really low day that coincided with finally being given a date for the consultants meeting to go through the post mortem - Monday. I am floored even thinking about it. So loads of tears yesterday.

Today I went to the cemetery to bring Rosie some new flowers on the way to work. Another little girl has been buried beside her, and i had a exactly that sense you describe Coffee, that its nice for her to have another child with her (I don't believe in an afterlife either). I felt a real connection with the other family too and added one of the roses I brought to their grave. It all made me feel better again though I cried a good deal too. I'm grateful we have that place to be and not to have to hold it together everywhere.

Coffe you are so brave to be moving forward with your pregnancy. Perhaps it will feel easier when this LO is older than Sylvia was, though I suppose that will be a mixed milestone too. Hope I haven't blundered here, my thoughts are with you

NatzCNL · 08/10/2010 22:13

I have been lurking for the last few weeks reading everyones posts. Constantly asking the same questions. Why does this happen? How are we all expected to cope and get over it? Then I read the stories of hope, of sucessful pregnancies (and still developing pregnancies), of happiness and realise that we dont get over it, we just cope.
A friend of mine yesterday sent me a poem, and I hope you dont mind me posting this on here, but it helped me a bit:

"I am wearing a pair of shoes.
They are ugly shoes.
Uncomfortable shoes.
I hate my shoes.
Each day I wear them, and each day I wish I had another pair.
Some days my shoes hurt so bad that I do not think I can take another step.
Yet, I continue to wear them.
I get funny looks wearing these shoes.
They are looks of sympathy.
I can tell in other's eyes that they are glad they are my shoes and not
theirs.
They never talk about my shoes.
To learn how awful my shoes are might make them uncomfortable.
To truly understand these shoes you must walk in them.
But, once you put them on, you can never take them off.
I now realize that I am not the only one who wears these shoes.
There are many pairs in this world.
Some women are like me and ache daily as they try to walk in them.
Some have learned how to walk in them so that they don't hurt quite so
much.
Some have worn the shoes so long that days will go by before they think
about how much they hurt.
No woman deserves to wear these shoes.
Yet, because of these shoes I am a stronger woman.
These shoes have given me the strength to face anything.
They have made me who I am.
I will forever walk in the shoes of a woman who has lost a child."

I am sorry I do not post on here much, but I think about you all a lot. Until yesterday I felt like an intruder on this thread as I was 'ok'. I just dont know what to say. I wish none of us had to go through this.

My love and thoughts are with you all x

NatzCNL · 08/10/2010 22:21

Sarah - good luck for Monday, I hope it helps in some way. I will be thinking of you. And as always, my thoughts are with all the ladies on this thread.

Thank you for all your words of comfort and advice.

The Chaplain from the hospital who carried out Cara's service has asked us to contact her for some counselling (she is also a trained counsellor) as I really did fall apart yesterday.

peanuthead · 08/10/2010 22:24

Natz, fantastic poem. Normally they're so cheesy.
Love to all, nothing really to say just getting through the days....
x

Sunshine28 · 09/10/2010 12:23

Hi Ladies - I just wanted to say 'hi' and thank you for your posts on this thread. Although I am really only just looking at the moment and don't have a great deal to say, my thoughts are with all of you. We will be finding out the date for our baby Milo's cremation next week, so no doubt I will be in touch then xx

jeffily · 09/10/2010 14:29

Natz I just had to say how much I loved your poem. I read it twice and now I am in tears! But they are not the tears of grief like they used to be. The line that really got me was 'Yet, because of these shoes I am a stronger woman.
These shoes have given me the strength to face anything.'
I don't post in here, but I have been a reader since I discovered this thread a few months ago. I still feel the pain of my lost daughter, who also had HLHS. I walk in those shoes, but now they are moulded to my feet and whole weeks go by and I hardly know they are there. I have come to a place where I can think of my little girl and feel joy at last. It has taken me years, but you will get there eventually. It is unfair. It is wrong. I used to feel so angry when I saw mothers swearing at their children or smoking when they were pregnant- how is it fair that their children were fine and my so desperately wanted, loved, child was not? Well- it's not fair. It's hugely, enormously unfair.
Thinking of all of you who find yourselves here. Wishing you strength, and useless words as they are, I am three years down the road and I can now think of my Ivy and feel happiness, and love, and joy as well as sadness. It's trite, but time is a great healer.

Coffeeandchocolate · 11/10/2010 09:54

Jeffily, thank you for sharing this with us. I think it is one of the strengths of this thread, we are all at different stages, yet we all wear the shoes (I liked the poem).

Sarah, I hope your appointment today goes well - whatever well means in this situation. It's doubtlessly a very emotional day for you. Let us know how you are when you feel up to it.

Going ahead with this pregnancy is not really bravery, to be honest. On the contrary, I feel so fearful and so anxious. But for us this wasn't a choice really, we want children badly and this is all-consuming, so we just knew we had to try again. I went into it a bit blindly, not fully aware of what a new pregnancy would mean. The thought of losing another baby fills me with dread.

Natz, counselling sounds like a good idea. I was offered a couple of sessions with the bereavement mw at my local hospital and she was very nice, I felt it helped speaking with her. It wasn't "proper" counselling, but it helped that she knew exactly what I had gone through, and we talked about it and how time heals without you ever forgetting.

Sunshine, we are here when you feel ready to talk.

Peanut, thinking of you, and of Allways too, and of everybody else really. xxxx

OP posts:
LisbethSalander · 11/10/2010 13:19

Hi
Sarah - just thought I'd say thinking of you today and hoping your meeting with the consultant brings some peace.
Natz - thanks for your poem - for me it seemed just right. I don't like my shoes but they're starting to wear in and get a bit more comfortable now
hello to you all - hope you're getting to enjoy today's sunshine. I went for a walk in it today and felt as though I was soaking it up.

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