Baby Steps

Peekaboo! Baby hiding his face behind his right hand.

There you are handsome!

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As you know, I went in yesterday for some additional testing to check on baby's condition. My mom went with me since Joe had to work. I will tell you now, that tonight we are celebrating, and we have good news to report. However, that wasn't the case 24 hours ago.

The first thing I did yesterday morning was have an ultrasound. It was then that the doctor noticed some things that concerned him. The baby does have a heart defect. At this point we're not sure to what extent it is. I'll be meeting with a cardiologist in about a month to learn more. Also, there are a couple of things, including a cyst on the brain and a pinkie finger that crosses over the ring finger on the left hand, that in and of themselves, might not be a big deal, but the doctor said that they are, along with the baby's severe omphalocele (hole in the abdomen), a definite flag for Trisomy 18, which is a chromosome disorder that would be fatal for our baby. Typically babies with Trisomy 18 live only a matter of hours after birth. This is certainly not the news I was expecting or hoping for. He talked to me about our options, but I knew that as hard as it would be, I would carry and we would love this baby as long as the Lord allowed us to.

After that came a bit of blood work and then the amniocentesis. The amniocentesis went very well. I was expecting the worst, and so it really wasn't so painful. It was over pretty quickly actually. The last stop of the morning was to talk with the genetic counselor, who spoke to us about chromosome disorders and how to prepare for them.

Needless to say, the news from that morning was devastating. I was so sad to think of losing our son. They told us that preliminary results from the amniocentesis would be back in 24 hours, which would let us know if the baby did indeed have Trisomy 18. So today was a long day of waiting, and to be honest, preparing for and expecting the worst. That's why I am so excited, and a bit in shock, as I can report that the test results came back negative for Trisomy 18. So while we wait to find out more on baby's condition and prepare for some challenges ahead of us, we are celebrating tonight. I will have a doctor's appointment Monday morning with my main doctor, and then some meetings with specialists, cardiologists, pediatric surgeons, etc., coming up in the next month or so. But one "Baby Step" at a time...

We praise God for His hand in this. We know there isn't always a happily ever after in life, and so we cling to His promise to be near us through all of life's circumstances. He loves our son far more than we can ever imagine, so we're trying to trust His plan for him. We also want to thank the many, many people who are praying for us. I am blown away by the support we've received so far. I truly believe God hears each prayer said on our son's behalf, so thank you again for that.