Wow! All things considered, we're doing ok!!!

How are we going to get through this???

Ever since mum and I received the news of X Man having HLHS (The X Man - Our Battle With HLHS (Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome)) we believed that we had both been struggling to keep on top of things, especially our emotions. Both of us are prone to breaking down at the drop of the hat, more often than not if we are tired or if there is some sort of trigger to set us off.  Along with this is what seems to be the never ending list of things that we need to organise and/or put in place to prepare for the arrival of our little X Man.  How would we ever be prepared for our road ahead???

How are we going to get through this???

Mum and I always speak to each other and discuss everything.  We have an amazing support group of family and friends and we speak to them and keep everyone up to date with everything that is happening.  This is awesome and both Mum and I are so grateful for this.  However, all of our friends, all of our family, as well as Mum and I, we are all emotionally involved in this journey.  We are all on the same train with the same destination.  Mum and I needed an outlet that was emotionally removed, an independent ear to which we could openly communicate who was removed from the emotion of our journey (as much as is humanly possible). We had discussed this with the midwife at The Mater and we were referred to a counselor.

Being Prepared

On Friday we met with the counselor. Nervous as we were, my intuition told me immediately that our counselor was going to be great and I was put at ease making it easy for me to open up. Speaking with Mum later she also had similar feelings.  Mum and I discussed where we were at physically and emotionally. Our counselor guided us through our time from now until birth and was even able to provide us a brief explanation on what would haven once X Man is born (ie, where he will go, where Mum will go, where I go etc etc). We were very grateful for this information as it gave us a little more clarity.  We went through what we needed to think about and prepare for over the next few months so that when X Man decides it's time to come we are prepared as much as possible,

Guess what??? We are so prepared! Most of what was suggested to us Mum and I had either already taken care of or had already discussed and put in place a plan.  For me this was a shock because I felt that we would never be ready.  This was such a relief!

We're doing ok!!!

We spoke about our emotions. We spoke how sometimes we would break down, sometimes for no reason, sometimes with triggers. I thought maybe I wasn't emotional enough, that maybe I should have been more emotional than I was.

Well, the prognosis is, we are normal and our emotions are perfectly acceptable and to be expected considering the journey we have ahead of us.  The randomness of our emotional moments is nothing strange and can often be impacted by physical and emotional variables (we know this, especially when we are tired).

Redundant? Don't you go anywhere!

As our time was ending with our counselor and we all had come to the conclusion that we are actually doing quite well, our counselor actually said to us that we were making her redundant!  Not a chance in the world! We may be doing pretty well at the moment, but as things get closer and especially when X Man comes along and we are in that critical phase, I am sure that our counselor will become one of our best friends at the hospital whilst we travel our journey with X Man.