Yesterday afternoon after work JJ and I trotted off to the Women’s and Children’s Hospital to visit a friend in the ante-natal ward. She’s been there for four weeks and is now 24 weeks pregnant. She’s confined to her bed so she can hopefully keep this baby. She’s had two pregnancies, that I know of in the past, where she’s lost the baby at about 18-20 weeks.
She’s at the stage now where it would be touch and go if she did have this baby right now but hopefully – fingers and legs crossed – this one stays put for a while.
It made me think last night, especially as my energetic four-year-old was running amok in her room, that I was extremely lucky to have kept my baby, and have a pretty healthy one. I’ve read that one in four babies are miscarried in the early stages. I would think that some of these miscarriages are in the very early stages and many people might not even realise they’ve miscarried.
These statistics make you realise that we are very lucky to have children at all and even though they are a lot of hard work they are a blessing.
I hope my friend gets to experience the joy of her own child. She would make an excellent mum and I’m crossing my fingers and legs for her.
You are SO right Jen. Children are the most beautiful blessings anyone of us could ever hope to have. Any moment of impatience, anger, or frustration that comes along with being a parent is NOTHING compared to the joy and unconditional love a child brings into your life…as you well know. I’ll be hoping for the best for your friend.