A tale of two deliveries | Commentary | Summerville Journal Scene

Printer friendly version |

E-mail to a friend

A tale of two deliveries

Published Tuesday, October 06, 2009 1:14 PM

By Megan Dungan and Julie Plummer
Summerville Journal Scene ®

Provided

(L-R) Kate and Finley playing at Springview Academy in Summerville.

Editor’s note: Friends and Summerville residents Megan Dungan and Julie Plummer both gave birth to healthy baby girls this summer after experiencing two miscarriages. In honor of this weekend’s A Walk to Remember, they agreed to share their story of loss, hope and triumph.

Over the last several months, both of us have had our prayers answered in the form of two baby girls. We have a lot in common- we moved to the Summerville area two years ago where we met for the first time at Sweetwater Grille and Cafe, our fathers are both dentists, we had the same first job in high school at Subway… and we each went through an incredibly trying experience with having children not long ago.

In December 2007 and in January 2008, we each had a miscarriage – something neither of us thought would ever happen.

The word ‘miscarriage’ remains uncomfortable in our society and we both discovered it’s taboo to talk about in conversation even though it’s the most common type of pregnancy loss, according to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

Studies reveal that anywhere from 10-25 percent of all clinically recognized pregnancies will end in miscarriage. Both healthy, active women in our 20s, we kept thinking we would have no problem at all getting pregnant. After experiencing two miscarriages around the same time, however, we thought there was something wrong with us, didn’t understand why it had happened and wondered if either of us would ever be blessed with a child.

We are here today to tell you that there is hope. After numerous pregnancy tests (just ask our husbands and OB physicians!) and the anticipation of knowing whether or not we were pregnant was too much for us to handle.

But the support from our loved ones, friends and our wonderful doctors, Dr. Ron Givens with Lowcountry Women’s Specialists in Summerville, and Dr. Richard Day with Seasons practice in North Charleston, we were finally able to get past the first trimester and confirm, that yes, we were both pregnant!

On May 1, 2009, Finley Sophia was born and a couple of weeks later, Kate Elizabeth was welcomed into the world. As we were both preparing for our first child, we had many questions and concerns going into the delivery, even though Julie is an employee of Trident Health System. We realized that all of our questions and concerns were unfounded as soon as we checked into the hospital.

Finley was born at Trident Medical Center and Kate was born at Summerville Medical Center. After being admitted, we were both pleasantly surprised at how smooth the delivery process went. The nurses and physicians at both facilities were thorough and provided constant reassurance during our stay. The wonderful bond we had formed with our nurses and physicians will never be forgotten.

We hope that sharing our experience will give that one woman, one family or one individual the faith that they need when wanting to get pregnant and start a family. The phrase “everything happens for a reason” was reiterated to us when experiencing our loss, and we finally know what that means. We look back and know that God had a plan for both of us and, more importantly, for our little girls.

In less than a week, Trident Health System will host “A Walk to Remember” – an event that honors the lives of children who have passed away as a result of miscarriage, stillbirth or early infant death. It will be held Saturday, Oct. 10 from 1 – 4 p.m. in Azalea Park in Summerville, near the reflection pond for a special memorial service.

For more information, call 843-797-FIND (3463).

Comments

Notice about comments:

Journalscene.com ® is pleased to offer readers the enhanced ability to comment on stories. We expect our readers to engage in lively, yet civil discourse. Journalscene.com ® does not edit user submitted statements and we cannot promise that readers will not occasionally find offensive or inaccurate comments posted in the comments area. Responsibility for the statements posted lies with the person submitting the comment, not Journalscene.com ®. If you find a comment that is objectionable, please click "report abuse" and we will review it for possible removal. Please be reminded, however, that in accordance with our Terms of Use and federal law, we are under no obligation to remove any third party comments posted on our website.

Users can now build user-to-user connections, follow friends' recent posts, add an avatar that fits their personality, and more. If you have posted here before you'll need to sign up again, or if you've never posted before, start now by reading our terms and conditions, and then signing up below!

Full terms and conditions can be read here.

Poll Question

For entertainment, I mainly go out in...

Most Viewed
Most Commented

104 East Doty Avenue | Summerville, SC 29483 | 843-873-9424 office | 843-873-9432 fax