It turned out that there would be more to this Battle Call…affectionately known as The Bean. And she was born perfectly petite.

My mom says I shouldn’t be surprised. Like the apple that doesn’t fall from the tree, she’s kept us on our toes from the get-go. Some might call it spirited. We affectionately call it fierceness.

But, the journey of being thrown for loops with this squirt began long before she entered the world outside the womb.

Even though we only had a lengthy list of boy names, when we found out we were pregnant with a baby girl, we were stoked. Harper would be her name.

Despite our firstborn baby having hearing loss and all the challenges, the idea of having another child, who probably would be born hearing, had us on cloud-9. Mind you, I never studied statistics. 1:4 seemed like good odds to me. I guess I chose to gloss right over it.

Whatever we were dealt, I told (convinced) myself, we would deal with. We decided to wait until her birth and go from there.

Then.

Three days before our first-born’s cochlear implant surgery, while four months pregnant with the Bean, we got the call. The routine quad screening results came back; it suggested a high probability of Down Syndrome. Naively, we hadn’t even researched what our baby was being tested was for.

It was routine, after all.

We decided not to wait to find out conclusively. We wanted to know. Then, we could prepare for what it.

There was a silver lining. Now, opting for an amniocentesis, we could also do the genetic testing to check for the syndrome that was the cause for the hearing loss in our son.

Easy-peasy, we thought.

We figured we would have peace of mind that this baby would be born with hearing.

I don’t even remember the procedure. I suspect I was too overwhelmed to comprehend it all.

<Sigh> Our unborn child did not have Down Syndrome.

The genetic testing for the other would take longer.

Weeks passed and we were consumed with our son’s post-surgical complications. Nausea. Literally bringing home a human weeble-wobble. Next, came an infection, followed by hospitalization. Lab coats. IVs. Hell.

Too distracted even to think twice…”did she or didn’t she have hearing loss?”

Then the call came while driving, returning from auditory-verbal therapy with my newly implanted toddler an hour from home.

The rest of the conversation is a blur.

An overwhelming feeling of grief washed over me. From the inside-out. How. Could. This. Be. Happening? AGAIN.

I knew what it meant. I couldn’t play dumb. The doctor’s visits, surgeries, infant hearing aids. The worry.

All.of.it.

I wasn’t the poster child for hearing loss just because of how well versed I had in IT all. We were all living in the fog and now… we would have to experience it all over. Again.

I immediately began a process of grieving. The loss of the life I had imagined for her. For us.

Big stuff. Sure. But the small…

I felt grief about not being given a chance at mainstream motherhood. The normal way. The motherhood experienced like most people I knew.

And then Labor Day came. The little Bean was born. Entering the world with complete gusto. And, we rolled up our sleeves and charged on. Ass down, chin up.

With retrospect, I was able to be grateful for having that screening which led us to the testing. We got to know before any action other than digesting the diagnosis needed to take place.

I was able to let go of the things I had imagined, or wished, or longed for.

And accept.

She was designed perfectly, imperfect in a petite little package. 

She was our Bean and I wouldn’t change a thing.

You can read more about Bean in my new book!