My experience pales in comparison to this one, and to those of so many other mothers of preemies, but the fear and dread that I felt going into labor with twins at 29 weeks, and then delivering at 31 weeks, still brings me to tears ten months later.
All those days spent sitting at the incubators, peering inside, wondering if today is the day that I'll be able to hold my babies. If today is the day they won't flinch when I stroke their sensitive skin. If today is the day they will eat just a few ccs more than yesterday. Watching a baby develop, as they do within the womb, in the outside world is an amazing experience. When the twins were born, their little nipples were barely visible. One of the nurses told us that nipples are one of the last things to visibly develop ... we saw it.
Imagine the fear and dread of the parents of a 21 week-old preemie. "Neonatologists who cared for Amillia say she is the first baby known to survive after a gestation period of fewer than 23 weeks," reads the article.
She was an IVF baby. I'm frightened that I keep hearing stories of IVF babies being sicker, more frequently premature, riskier, etc. I remember when we sat down with the RE, Dr. Pleasant, and he said that many people think IVF babies are less healthy, but that there was no proof. I didn't give it another thought, but now I feel like I am overwhelmed with evidence to the opposite.
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3 comments:
I saw the same headline in my daily newspaper today. I can't wrap my mind around the concept of viability at 21 weeks. What a strong baby girl!
I was really glad to hear about that baby as well. Yes, this particular baby may be a one-in-a-million miracle, and I wouldn't be surprised to hear that she has developmental issues, but it's a first step in learning how to save babies that young.
I think there's some selection bias happening with scary IVF baby stories -- nobody tells th e textbook-pregnancy-after-IVF stories, y'know? Plus, when something goes wrong, I think people note it's an IVF pregnancy because there's an undercurrent of, well, maybe she wasn't supposed to get pregnant for a reason. It's God's will if it happens to a non-IVF baby, but if it's an IVF baby, it's because of messing with nature. (And obviously, infertility is always because the woman isn't good at getting/staying pregnant...)
There's also the IVF -> multiples -> high-risk pregnancy problem, as you know all too well, but that's not a factor in this case, at least.
Its so amazing what medicine can do now. I agree though it seems most of the premature babies are concieved with IVF or maybe its just the ones I hear about.
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