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Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2006;160:15-16.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

Motherhood and hope: what is the nature of their entwined relationship? When I first learned I was pregnant, I never anticipated how much cause I would have to ponder this question—and how my answer would shape me—after the birth of my daughter.

Fiona was born at 35 weeks following a pregnancy complicated by multiple uncertain and strange findings: polyhydramnios, a single umbilical artery, a possible atrial septal defect, and a stomach bubble seen on some studies but not others—all of these were part of her ultrasound collage. My husband, Peter, and I were told, "It could be something . . . or it could be nothing."

After Fiona’s birth, the diagnosis became clear: CHARGE syndrome (colobomas, heart defects, atresia choanae, retardation of growth and development, genitourinary abnormalities, and ear abnormalities). On just her third day of life, we were told that she had colobomas and would be blind. I remember coming home from the . . . [Full Text of this Article]

AUTHOR INFORMATION

Megan A. Moreno, MD, MSEd