Word on the Street with Stephanie

It has been over two months of tests, uncertainty and passive aggressive "suggestions" but we finally have concrete answers. After more ultrasounds than I can count, it has been determined that our baby has Interrupted Aortic Arch and everything else is fine. There was some concern about part of her skull but that has since been resolved. I am now seeing an OB team at Mt. Sinai Hospital in Toronto and while it is a long way to go for regular check-ups, I know that my baby and I are in great hands. They will continue to do ultrasounds to ensure her left ventricle is growing (even though it is smaller than the right side) and as my pregnancy progresses we will meet the neonatal team who will provide round-the-clock care to our sweet girl until she is transferred to Sick Kids. This is the easy part. The hard part will be after she is born. I have already been told that I will only have time for a couple minutes of skin-to-skin contact with my daughter before she is taken for t...

It took me some time to work up the courage to write this post. Did I really want people knowing all of the struggles we have gone through to date? When I was able to answer yes to that question, I decided to go ahead and write. I find writing cathartic. It is my outlet and allows me to express the feelings I have been too afraid to say out loud. It took us over a year to get pregnant with our second child...14 months to be exact. I was one cycle away from beginning a fertility medication when I realized my period was late and that beautiful double line appeared on the test. I cannot even describe the joy I felt as the tears flowed down my cheeks and I planned how I would tell my husband. It turns out I was much too excited to do anything creative and I ended up blurting it out while we were driving to a family dinner. I did everything I was supposed to do. I continued taking my prenatal vitamins, tried my best to eat a balanced diet (even through the all day sickness) and just genera...