Sunday, May 13, 2007

Miscarriage: Am I a Mother?

You may ask, "Am I a mother?"

It may - or may not - have been a planned pregnancy. You may - or may not - have been in love with your baby's father. It may have been your first - or your eighth pregnancy. You may already have a child or children. Or you may have suffered a previous or more losses.

You may have been happily - or unhappily - married - or single. You may have been very young - or approaching menopause. You may have been looking excitedly towards giving birth, loving and caring for this child. Or terrified at the prospect.

You may have begun to lose your baby before you even knew you were pregnant. The confirmation of your pregnancy may have been quickly followed by cramping and bleeding. You may have had a few weeks to ponder your pregnancy. You may have felt your baby kick, heard your baby's heartbeat, seen your baby on ultrasound.

It may have happened suddenly, over within a few hours. You may have bled for several days before your baby was lost. You may have spent weeks on bed rest, with cramping and staining. You may have experienced months of trouble with an unstable pregnancy.

Maybe you had an etopic pregnancy. Or a blighted ovum. Maybe you had an incompetent cervix. Or placenta previa. Your uterus may be an unusual shape. Or your hormonal system imbalanced. You may have a problem with your chromosomes. Or in the father's sperm. You may not even know the reason why,

BUT...

You conceived a child.
You carried a child within your body.
You birthed a child, in blood and pain.
If your child survived long enough in your womb, you may have even held your child.
You may have watched your child die.


YOU ARE A MOTHER!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

This was very touching for me. I was only five weeks pregnant, I had known I was pregnant for five days when I miscarried. I miscarried three days before mothers day. I can't even tell my mom happy mothers day, because I feel so empty.