Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Firsts

This week has been marked by a few notable "firsts":

-First stranger touching my pregnant belly. OK, she wasn't a total stranger, but someone who I interact with for a couple of minutes at a time maybe once a month at work. I don't know her name, so she counts as a stranger. I happened to see her yesterday, and she touched my belly and said "oh, you're pregnant!" She was just trying to be nice, and I didn't really mind, but it was a surprise!

-First Braxton-Hicks contractions. At least I think that's what they were. I was sitting in a meeting, when all of a sudden I started feeling what felt like my abdominal muscles twitching. It only happened the one time, though, so far. According to my pregnancy book, this usually starts happening "around your 22nd week of pregnancy." I am 23 weeks tomorrow, so right on target, I guess!

-First in-person meeting with another CHD family. Today I got to hang out a bit with the Campodonicas: Jennifer, Kevin, and their 4-year-old son Zakery, who has hypoplastic RIGHT heart syndrome, which as you can probably surmise, is similar to what our baby has, but involves the other side of the heart. They had come in to UCSF for a doctor's appointment for Zakery, and it was great to hear about their experiences and to meet Zakery, who certainly doesn't look or act like a kid with a serious heart condition! Hearing about and seeing kids like Zakery is a great reminder of what is possible, and that is of great comfort when I have those pesky fleeting thoughts that I cannot possibly handle this. I can, and the Campodonicas have, and we will, too.

2 comments:

  1. The Campodonicas are really nice people! The heart world is small, but you'll find that every family you meet gives you more & more hope because all of the kids truly are miracles!
    You can totally do this, don't doubt yourself...you'll love your baby more than you ever thought possible & that will get you through. Corny as it sounds it is true!

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  2. Jen, I am just reading about this now. I am so sorry that you and Iggy have received such difficult news, but I am so impressed with how you two are handling it. I'm so glad that you have such good people around you, making sure that your baby gets the best possible care. I am thinking about you all.

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