Here's the first story... stay tuned for mothers two and three!
One of our newest nurse volunteer sonographers, Marsha, was here to shadow one of our seasoned volunteer nurse sonographers, Connie. Their first client of the day was a young woman named Lauren*, who was coming in for a repeat ultrasound. On her first visit, Lauren came in alone. She told her advocate that she wasn't ready or able to have another child financially or emotionally. Lauren already had a three-year-old son.
In the words of her advocate, "
She said multiple times that she doesn't want to terminate the pregnancy but she just can't do everything on her own again. She doesn't know how she will be able to handle a new baby, working, and her son. I encouraged her to talk more with the baby's father about the importance of them working together. She got emotional after seeing the positive pregnancy test and I could tell her mind was racing trying to sort through all of the emotions. I was hoping/praying that a connection with the baby would be exactly what she needed to give her the confidence that she has the strength to handle it!"
Lauren remained undecided after the first ultrasound but she did accept the pictures of her baby and the pre-natal vitamins. We encouraged her to make a second appointment for another ultrasound before she made her final decision.
Lauren arrived alone again for her second ultrasound. She told the ultrasound nurses that she had an appointment scheduled for an abortion the next day at Planned Parenthood. She also said she had not been taking her pre-natal vitamins since she did not intend to continue the pregnancy. But, this time during the ultrasound things changed dramatically. When Lauren saw her baby begin to move she smiled. As the baby became more active she started to laugh. Because Marsha, our new sonographer, was training, both nurses were taking their time with the ultrasound. As they continued scanning, Lauren was becoming so engaged they were hesitant to end the ultrasound. After the ultrasound, Lauren told them that she had changed her mind and had decided to continue her pregnancy and have her baby.
As Lauren was leaving we were all rejoicing and praising God, but He had even more in store for us that day. Stay tuned for Shameka's* story.
*name changed to protect confidentiality
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