Shared Anxiety

A same-sex couple are just six weeks away from having their first child. Erin is pregnant through donor sperm. The couple has almost a twenty year age difference. They don't feel are typically treated differently. Although Erin is the one that is pregnant, Robin seems to be the one that is having the most anxiety. Dr. Park is thinking that the baby could possibly be a very big baby and a C-section may be the best option for them. Erin wants a vaginal birth, but Robin is worried about the risks of a vaginal birth, "I can live without the baby, but I can't live without Erin." She even has to be hospitalized because her anxiety becomes so bad, but she is released quickly. There are complications of having large babies vaginally and Dr. Park is worried about it. They decide to induce her two weeks before her due date. Now the roles seem to have reversed--Robin is calm and Erin is very nervous. She will be able to deliver vaginally, but Erin is running a fever so it becomes critical to get the baby out as soon as possible. Baby Liam is born! He was 8 lbs. 13 oz. so it was a little more than they were estimating. "It's really like everyone says, he plops out and you do just forget everything--you forget the last 38 weeks," says Erin. "He's our baby and I feel as biologically attached to him as if my genes were part of creating him. He's our son and I'm his mom. It feels like we made him and we did," says Robin.

Waiting and Wondering

Christia (34-years-old) is expecting her second child. Just by feeling her tummy, Dr. Bohn says, "I'm almost one hundred percent sure that baby's breech...even without using technology." Dr. Park calls Christia with some news--they believe the baby has Down's Syndrome. The couple handle the news very well. There is some sadness, but I also think they really rise to the occassion and accept and know they will welcome their new baby regardless. But after further tests, they discovered the baby didn't have it. Dr. Hill tells her that if she starts to experience regular contractions that she needs to come in for the C-section since the baby is breech. However, since Christia had her first by C-section she says she doesn't even know what contractiosn feel like! Once again, though, she will no longer experience the feelings of breech because they have scheduled a C-section date. As usual, the doctors always describe what is going on as they deliver her and even apologize for her "feeling a little tug." Baby Jonathon is born! After his birth, the doctors tie Christia's tubes. Baby Jonathon and Dr. Hill meet for the baby's five week check-up. Eight months later, Christia describes how it is having two kids. "Now I understand why people have a lot of kids because with each new child there's a completely new personality and a new person to get to know." Christia is a lawyer who works from home so often times she's working while taking care of the kids. She sometimes wonders what it's like to have a third child, though. "It's ironic having a tuboligation and then having these feelings that you didn't think you'd have." After the Down's Syndrome scare they feel that when they do see families who face certain challenges they can "silently understand."