Pregnancy Fête
Huntington's Pantoum
Citation Manager Formats
Make Comment
See Comments

Abstract
A mother's excitement about welcoming a new child into the world is tempered by the fear that her Huntington disease genes will be passed on to the baby.
Pregnancy fête: anticipation,
Excitement, planning
Counting the numbers
Ten fingers, ten toes
Excitement, planning
Pink sheets, blue ties?
Ten fingers, ten toes
First movements: rolling, kicking
Pink cheeks, blue eyes?
Watching you grow
First movements: rolling, kicking
Flickering ultrasound pictures
Watching you grow
I cannot wait to hold you
Flickering ultrasound pictures of
your shape
I cannot wait to hold you
As parents, we wonder how we'll be
You're shaped,
your chromosomes from ours
As parents, we wonder how will be
each pair of your genes
your chromosomes from ours
I have Huntington's disease.
Each pair of your genes,
fate sealed: heads or tails?
I have Huntington's disease.
Autosomal dominant, the doctor said.
Fate sealed. I can't make heads or tails of it.
Do you have it or not?
Autosomal dominant, the doctor said.
Will I watch you grow?
Do you have it or not?
I ache to hold you in my arms
Will I watch you grow?
Take your first steps?
I ache to hold you in my arms,
but I fear I'll drop you. As you
take your first steps,
will I be losing mine?
But I fear I'll drop you. As you
gum pureed solids,
will I be losing my
ability to swallow?
Gum pureed solids,
blow spit bubbles and drool
My ability to swallow
this tough pill is lost
Blow spit bubbles and drool
Quite the pair we make
This tough pill is not lost
on me
Quite the pair we make
The reason for your disease is
on me
Alone
The reason for your disease is
The number of repeats
Alone
New moms can feel trapped
The number of repeats
More than 36
New moms can feel trapped
The caged bird sings
More than 36
Will I live to see?
The caged bird sings
and you with me
Will I live to see?
Counting the numbers
and you with me
Pregnancy fate: anticipation.
Footnotes
Submitted and externally peer reviewed. The handling editor was Associate Editor Heidi Moawad, MD.
- Received May 4, 2022.
- Accepted in final form July 11, 2022.
- © 2022 American Academy of Neurology
Letters: Rapid online correspondence
REQUIREMENTS
If you are uploading a letter concerning an article:
You must have updated your disclosures within six months: http://submit.neurology.org
Your co-authors must send a completed Publishing Agreement Form to Neurology Staff (not necessary for the lead/corresponding author as the form below will suffice) before you upload your comment.
If you are responding to a comment that was written about an article you originally authored:
You (and co-authors) do not need to fill out forms or check disclosures as author forms are still valid
and apply to letter.
Submission specifications:
- Submissions must be < 200 words with < 5 references. Reference 1 must be the article on which you are commenting.
- Submissions should not have more than 5 authors. (Exception: original author replies can include all original authors of the article)
- Submit only on articles published within 6 months of issue date.
- Do not be redundant. Read any comments already posted on the article prior to submission.
- Submitted comments are subject to editing and editor review prior to posting.
You May Also be Interested in
Hemiplegic Migraine Associated With PRRT2 Variations A Clinical and Genetic Study
Dr. Robert Shapiro and Dr. Amynah Pradhan
Related Articles
- No related articles found.