Bump

This week marks the halfway point of our third pregnancy.  Family planning, for us, has become a lot more than love.  It means not only creating life, but also avoiding certain death.  Blind to the alternative of being done having children, and after months of misgivings and multiple meetings with genetic specialists, there was still no comfort in the remoteness that Batten could strike again.  

Fueled by acceptance of her bleak reality and filled with apprehension for our future, we took a chance.  Our prayers were never for relief from nausea or exhaustion, but only for this small soul to be healthy.  Fortunately, what could have been a nightmare became the sliver of a dream.  We are still facing horrific loss and so it seems strange to be anticipating something so enormously wonderful, but it also feels just right to be answering death with life.
JEB

*Baby boy actually spent part of his twentieth gestational week working.  The kid needs a 1099.