Ultrasound

We had our ultrasound and I'm very excited to report that the Dr. didn't find ANYTHING wrong!!!!! Huge big breath of relief. He spent about 20 minutes looking at everything very carefully. The brain, heart, umbilical cord, kidneys, and lip/face, all look fine. I've wondered why we had to stress and worry so much, but I've decided I'm just grateful for miracles!!!! Now we just have to wait until December to meet this little guy.

46XY

We finally got the results of the amnio. They came back as 46XY, normal boy!!!! So at least as far as chromosomes go, everything is fine. The reason it took so long is they kept looking and growing the cells because something was supposed to be wrong and nothing was. Thank you so much for all the prayers!!!!! We have the 20 week ultrasound in a couple weeks where they will look for any abnormalities the amnio didn't pick up, but anything they find at this point should be fixable with surgery.

I'm relieved and exited, but I think I'm still mentally in shock. I was waiting to hear WHAT was wrong, I wouldn't let myself even hope that it would come out alright. So, it's all still sinking in. It has been a long 9 weeks, waiting and worrying. I still have to wrap my brain around that fact that it's all going to be okay. I hadn't even been able to pray that the baby would be healthy-- they kids did, they would pray that the baby would live and by healthy-- I just kept praying that we would have the strength and support to get through whatever trial Heavenly Father was sending us.

Wow, it still doesn't feel real. I asked the nurse 4 times when she called if they were really sure. I feel like I'm in one of those snowglobes and everything was shaken up like crazy and it's just starting to settle again.

Thank you again for all the prayers and love.

Still Waiting

I just got off the phone with the nurse, and we won't be getting any results from the amnio until MONDAY!!!! She called the lab and for some reason, they are being super slow. Our results are showing as pending and they wouldn't tell her anything else. My guess is that the guy who has to read them and write the report is on vacation or something. So, I guess I get to practice patience for a while longer-- 4 more days!

I wish I could just go in to the Idaho Genetics Lab and yell at them or something. I've been jumping every time the phone rang since Tuesday!!!

I HATE learning Patience!!!! I read a long time ago about a lady who realized when she prayed for patience, her days were harder and longer and the kids were more challenging, so she stopped praying for it because she didn't want the practice. I don't think patience is a talent I want to develop either-- If only I had a choice!!!!

Amniocentisis

Well, today was the day of the amnio. It went pretty well, the only part that hurt was the numbing shot and that only lasted about 15 seconds. Then they inserted the straw and the needle inside of it to pull out the amniotic fluid. They had a little trouble getting the fluid to come into the needle, a piece of membrane or something seemed to be blocking it, so they had to try several times, but the straw kept them from having to poke additional holes. So the 30 second procedure took about 2 minutes, which feels like forever when you are not supposed to move and breathe shallow. We saw the baby briefly on the ultrasound, but they mainly just used it to keep focused on the pocket of fluid and the needle. The baby did keep kicking over by the needle and trying to get one leg in the way, but that was about all we really saw.

They sent the fluid out to a lab and said the results would be back in 7-10 days, usually closer to the 10 day end, so now we just wait.

I have realized that I would be a lousy bedrest patient. I'm supposed to take it easy for the rest of today, and I already feel like I'm running out of things to do. I finished my book, played a game with T, read a magazine, and just laid here. It's really quiet, Stephen took the kids to the part, and I keep thinking of things I need to do. Luckily Stephen has started telecommuting 2 days a week, so he has the laptop here, so I can sit in bed and type. Maybe I'll get all my curriculum figured out for the coming year.

Thank you for all the prayers and support, I'll post results once we hear something.

What I didn't want to hear

We're expecting another baby, due Dec 3rd. We were very excited. Then, yesterday we met with the Dr. and he did the initial ultrasound-- I'm 9 weeks along. As part of the ultrasound, he did a Nuchal Translucency Screening-- which basically means he looks specifically for fluid at the back of the baby's head, near the neck-- the nuchal folds, as a screening test for Downs and other Trisomys. It was positive-- the baby has fluid there that shouldn't be there, it was obvious enough that I could see it on the ultrasound. So they have recommended I have an amniocentesis test done, which can tell us for sure. (They use a long hollow needle to draw out some of the amniotic fluid that has some of the baby's cells in it and grow the cells to test them.)

Most likely the baby has Trisomy 13, which is what Jason had. Other possibilities are Downs, Trisomy 18, Turners (only one sex chromosome,XO), or congenital heart problems. The screening only has a 5 % false positive rate. And 5% isn't much to hold onto. Especially when you flip it and say there is a 95% chance that there is a chromosomal problem.

Trisomy 13 is similar to Downs (trisomy 21), but more severe and is basically a death sentence. Many times babies with Trisomy 13 die in utero sometime along the way, with Jason I had to lay down for 30 minutes-an hour every day and count kicks to make sure he was still alive. Of those who are born alive, 25% die the first day, and 86% within the first year. The median age is 2.5 days. Jason lived 2 days.

We've skipped the amniocentesis in the past, because we're not willing to have an abortion anyway, and it has a 1 in 300 risk of miscarriage. But the Dr. is strongly recommending it this time so we can be prepared and they will know for sure what they are dealing with. With Jason, we didn't get the conclusive chromosome tests until several days after his birth, but he had so many physical characteristics that showed up on the ultrasound that they were pretty sure just from that.

I'm still basically in shock. I don't want to have to go through all this again. I don't want to have another baby die or suffer. I don't want to have to wait and worry and wonder. I don't want to have faith and trust, but I don't get a choice. The odds of having a baby with Trisomy 13 are less than the odds of having triplets. Triplets is 1 in 8,000; Trisomy 13 is about 1 in 12,000. So right now, it's basically the waiting game-- 7 weeks until an amnio, and then after the amnio it takes about 10 days to get the results.

There is nothing anyone can do right now, but pray. And hope maybe we can be in that 5%.