The baby girl I almost had
Photo: iStockphoto
This story was originally published on chatelaine.com.
?Hi Daddy!? That was the subject line of the email to my husband, Jason; the only explanation needed was the attached picture of my pregnancy ultrasound, 12 triumphant weeks in. There was our baby, looking cute and wise. You could even see a little nose.
?Sweeeeeeeeeeet!? Jason wrote back. ?Printed and fastened to cubicle wall.?
I wrapped I Love My Grandma and I Love My Grandpa books and delivered them to my parents to announce the impending arrival of their first grandchild. We had already confided our news to Jason?s sister, who was also pregnant and would be due within weeks of me. We were on the hunt for a house. I?d had a miscarriage six months before, but this time???this pregnancy???it was going to stick. My sister was crossing her fingers for a nephew, but we wanted a girl. Five weeks later, at 17 weeks, everything changed.
This was six years ago, but lately I?ve found myself thinking about that time a lot. In December, Brazil declared a state of emergency after fears that the Zika virus may be related to a surge in birth defects, chiefly microcephaly???a condition in which babies have smaller-than-average heads and underdeveloped brains. Since then, Zika has spread to roughly two dozen countries, the World Health Organization has declared an international emergency, the Public Health Agency of Canada has issued a travel advisory for pregnant women heading to parts of the Americas, and the gov...
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