A baby update

So many people have emailed me to ask me how I've been doing...how I'm feeling...if we have news. I haven't gotten back to any of you and I'm sorry! If you've been thinking of us and praying for us-thank you so very much. Knowing how loved we are right now means the world to us. And, the power of prayer seems to be helping and I am doing so much better than I was just a few weeks ago.

I keep this blog not only to share with our friends and family but as a way to document things for myself and for our children. If I keep it around long enough, they may be able to read it someday! It is for that reason that I am going to give a brief summary of what we have done/found out so far and where we stand now.

10 weeks pregnant: I found out that I have one variant of the MTHFR genetic mutation. This means my blood clots more than it should. It's hereditary but have had NO problems because of it in the past. My OB/GYN wants me to see a maternal-fetal medicine (MFM) specialist to deal with this.

12 weeks pregnant: I see the MFM specialist and never once think anything could be wrong with the baby. We get our first ultrasound and find out that the baby's Nuchal Translucency or Nuchal Fold at the back of the neck is measuring large. Normal is 1.5-2.5 and ours is at 6. It could be nothing or it could be a problem. MFM wants me to have sequential screening done with my OB/GYN the following week. I am scheduled for another ultrasound with MFM at 17 weeks. In the meantime he puts me on extra vitamins and other medications to make sure my blood won't clot on me.

13 weeks: go in for my 12 week visit and to have the screening done. Blood is drawn and another ultrasound. Baby looks good and the neck is now measuring at 3.6...still above normal but not what it was. Doctor seems positive and we discuss how I am a great candidate for a VBAC! Yay!!!
I leave feeling so much better.

14 weeks: I get a phone call from my doctor...like from him personally, not one of the nurses. This can't be good. Bloowork came back and it was also too high. I am told we have a 1 in 23 chance the baby will have down syndrome. It's tough to deal with all of this at this point and we decide to share with everyone what is going on. As long as I don't think about it, I'm great and everything feels 'normal'.

17 weeks: we go for second ultarsound and it is very upsetting. Baby is not cooperating and it is hard to see everything they need to see. They find a hole in the baby's heart. This can be normal and if it doesn't correct itself we can fix it after birth with surgery. But, children with Downs have a higher rate of having this so for us we have to take it as another marker. The baby also 'may have' (couldn't get a good shot) a club foot. Again, fixable with surgery but for us...another bad sign. Baby wouldn't open it's hands so they couldn't see how they were developing...Downs hands are different evidently. Baby's neck measurement is still higher than it should be but we are not surprised. Can't get many of the other looks we need to check on things. Heartrate, however is great. MFM doc wants to do an amnio to find out for sure. I don't want to yet. He asks me to have the second round of sequential bloodtests done and I agree. We leave feeling so upset and hurting so much. All I do is cry and pray for my baby's safety. We go back in two weeks to have another look.

19 weeks: Back to MFM for another ultrasound. FINALLY an appointment that is good! Baby is still not cooperating (I swear we are there for an hour doing the ultrasounds!) but we get some better views. Still can't tell what the feet look like but we are fine with that. The neck measurement is EXACTLY where is shoud be for this point in time!!! Can't get a look at the fourth chamber of the heart but they think the hole 'may have' closed but I have to see a pediatric cardiologist for it anyway. Just as a precaution. Hands are OPEN and looking great! Baby definitely has a nasal bone! Find out from my second set of blood work that I am now up to 1 in 27 chance of Downs Syndrome and the chances of other chromosomal problems or neural tube defects are 1 in the 1o's of thousands! MFM doc offers another amnio for our sake and again we decline. We are so happy with all of the good news and feel so much better and positive. We are coping and dealing with this much better now :) Even the doctor admitted that from our first visit to now, he never would have expected things to look like this!

The power of prayer works!

I have to go in and see the MFM doctor every four weeks from now (on top of my regular OB/GYN appointments) on for another ultrasound to watch the baby's growth. I am going to see the pedi. cardiologist next week and praying that all goes well. That's all we have for now!

Again, thank you for thinking of us and for praying for us. Please know that it is working and it is helping us :) Keep up the good work! We are more than halfway there now!