Cornual Pregnancy:  The Final Chapter

For Chapter One, click HERE.

For Chapter Two, click HERE.

the four of us in 2010

Some Background Info

In simple terms, a cornual pregnancy is NOT an ectopic pregnancy (outside of the uterus) but an interstitial pregnancy where the embryo implants in the upper corner of the uterus. Basically, the embryo implants in an area of the uterus where there is no room for it to grow.  It gets stuck in the wrong place.  One in fifty women with an interstitial pregnancy will die. Women with interstitial pregnancies have a death rate seven times higher than women with ectopic pregnancies.  When people say that their doctors recommended that they abort their babies but they decided not to listen to their doctors and now they have healthy children, I say, “Good for you!  Here’s your medal!”  You aren’t better than me because of your decision.  I would have DIED if I didn’t listen to the doctors.  

My first question was why they couldn’t just go in there and somehow move the baby and implant it in the right part of the uterus.  No.  Impossible.

That Day

Like I said in my previous post, the doctors and nurses were spot-on when it came to the medical side of the procedure, but no one paid any attention to the emotional aspect. However, God was very aware of me that day.  He sent me two signs that I will never forget. They were both kind of silly, but I love when God works that way.  He knows exactly what to do.

The first little gift was that the doctor reminded me of one of my favorite high school history teachers, Mr. Tube.  (Not his real name!)  Mr. Tube was never actually my teacher, but he was a great mentor to me and for whatever reason, the fact that the doctor had the same mannerisms as Mr. Tube brought me great comfort.

The second gift was amazing.  As soon as the procedure was finished and I was alone in the room for a second, I glanced out the window and it began snowing.  The dull lighting outside in the middle of the day and the calm of the steady softly falling snow immediately took my mind and soul to those days of my childhood when we would be sent home from school early before the big storm hit. It was so peaceful and comforting.  We were set to fly out that same night, but the snow storm shut down the airport. Little did we know that while we were at the airport before they closed it, a plane skidded off the runway. We stayed in a great hotel across from the airport and had room service.

What Can’t Be Said

There are some things about the procedure and the months after that I feel are important to explain but I just don’t know how.  So here is a synopsis.

1. The doctor performed the procedure while looking at the baby on a video screen.  Fill in the blanks…
2. The baby was never removed.  My body was supposed to reabsorb it.
3. I had to keep having ultrasounds after the procedure to make sure there weren’t any         complications. I had to specifically ask the doctor to turn the screen so that I didn’t have to see what he was seeing.  (Read number two and fill in the blank.)
4. I was SO SICK.  I had terrible morning sickness and it only became worse.  We had to live with my parents for a couple of months.
5. My body never reabsorbed the “tissue.”  I’m not even going there with what happened.

What Can Be Said

• Don’t judge me.  Don’t ask me why I wrote this after twenty-two years and why I still don’t have the courage to write some of what happened.  Some people have told me I love my babies too much. Maybe that is because it took a lot to get them here to earth.  I appreciate them because I had to work hard to get them.
• Don’t judge me because I “only had two” kids.  The point is that I HAD TWO KIDS!  It’s a miracle that I was able to have any at all.
• I am pro-life but I am also pro-choice.  How can I not be?  Personally, I have been on both sides of the aisle.  I have come so far since that day in 7th grade when I thought that women used the “my life was in danger” argument as an excuse.
• Every November, I think that we would have had a son and I think about how old he would be.
• I made the best of it.  It didn’t define me.  I endured and I moved on.  I try to do that with any challenge that comes my way.
• By sharing my story, I hope I could help someone in whatever way they needed to be helped.

on a college tour in 2007. so many things about this picture came true!

For Chapter One, click HERE.

For Chapter Two, click HERE.

Please leave a comment or email me if you have any questions.  🙂