Welcome to the world, Bryo the VIII. Welcome to our little man's Blog, everyone else.
Waoh, where to start! Maybe an introduction of the main characters you will come across in this Blog.
Firstly, our lead male, currently known as Bryo. He is actually the 8th Bryo to hold that name. Bryo is short for "embryo" and is the enduring name to the bundle of cells that have grown into a foetus, an embryo, then our developing babies. This guys is still nicely tucked up in the Womb and is not due to make an appearance for another 6-7 weeks or so.
The lead female, star of the show and the best Mom in the world, is Eimhear. Eimhear is the mother of all these little babies. She is a star. This is her 8th pregnancy (hence Bryo VIII) and she is about to be mother to a third child. A third boy. Yes, I see the empathy and sympathy as the mother of three boys and husband to another juvenile. However, I secretly believes that she is the proudest and happiest Mum to all of us. Anyway, she would not know what to do with a girl at this stage. In case you are wondering, we have also had 5 miscarriages along our own journey.
Next, me, the Dad. My role is pretty limited in the evolution of these babies, being the man who provided the sperm which determined they would all be boys (so far). I am Mark.
Next we have the Boys. Sean, the Big Big Brother, just about to turn 6 in a few short hours. Eimhear and I cannot believe he is turning 6 tomorrow and already one third to being an adult. Those years of our loves have flown by and it has been so special to have Sean in our lives.
And Kai, the Big Brother, soon to be The Middle Child. He is 4 and a bit and we know he is going to be a brilliant Big Brother. And no doubt he will make the role of The Middle Child his own, much like his father did/continues to do. These last 4-odd years with Kai and Sean tearing around together, up to mischief, hanging out together, loving each other and killing each other have been amazing.
And so to the point of this blog.
About 13 weeks ago, at our 20 week scan we were told some potentially bad news about our son. We were told that there were a number of things showing in the scan, which when taken together could mean he may not survive. We were devastated. Then they showed us his face and showed he had a cleft lip. We said, "Is that a cleft?" And they said yes. And they moved on. And we did too. Because from that moment we knew that this could be the least of the challenges Bryo would face. That scan was cold and clinical, the worst combination of poor bedside manner and personality in our consultant. We arranged an amniocentesis, then spent an anxious three weeks or so waiting for the results. A kindly nurse phoned us and told them that the chromosomes in our Baby were fine. She actually told us about our Son. This was the first we knew he was a boy, but taking away our surprise about his sex was not an issue. We were already on a journey and Bryo was on a journey that we think needs to be told. If even for ourselves, just to record what we have been feeling and hopefully to help others along their own similar journeys.
Welcome to that journey.
