Hello Friends!
Today Stevie and I went to a Fetal Diagnostic Center to have a thorough check-up on our new rainbow baby. This is the same specialist we saw last June that diagnosed Kassidy with her defects. I had felt pretty calm up until last night, as we had already found out that this baby doesn’t have anencephaly. My mind began to run wild with different thoughts of what might be found. I awake at 3:30am and couldn’t fall back asleep.
At 8:00am, we were checked in and called back by our ultrasound tech. I wished I remembered her name, she was very kind to us. She told me that she had read my file, about what our last baby was diagnosed with, and hoped that we got good news today. We were walked back to our room and our ultrasound began. We immediately saw that round head again, a perfect little body and arms and legs. Then- I saw the little heart flickering. When the u/s began, our baby was sleeping. The tech was able to easily measure the fluid in the back of the baby’s neck (NT scan). I asked her what exactly the measurement meant. She said that if the area showed to be too thick, that was an indication of an abnormality. She had just finished the sentence and our baby woke up! He/she began kicking like crazy, I made a comment about how it looked like it was dancing. Stevie moved his chair next to the bed so I could hold his hand. I began to relax. I could feel my legs release from the tense hold I had been doing. Our baby seemed to keep bringing his/her right hand up to their mouth. I imagine it’s too early for our baby to suck their thumb, but it looked pretty close to it. The tech pointed out the nasal bone, the leg bones and the umbilical cord. I asked her if she was able to see a four chamber heart this early. Kassidy only had 2 chambers in her heart. She answered, “possibly.” We looked at the heart for a while, which I wasn’t really able to decipher any chambers. The u/s lasted about 45 minutes and by the end I felt like I had a giant nervous question mark hanging over my head. I knew the tech couldn’t discuss anything with us, so I didn’t ask. I learned that Dr. Solomon would be seeing us. I had expected Dr. Blumerick (my regular OBGYN had trained with him) but Dr. Solomon helped out. I didn’t ask why the switch was made in the schedule. We had seen Dr. Solomon when Kassidy was diagnosed. I wondered if she would remember us.
Dr. Solomon came in and continued the ultrasound herself. She hadn’t done this with Kassidy, so I wasn’t sure if this was a good or bad sign. Immediately she hovered over a gray area that seemed to outline part of my uterus. She asked the tech if she had seen that. “No,” she answered. What was this? I panicked a little. Dr. Solomon asked, “have you had any bleeding?” “Yes!” I answered. I recalled spotting at 7 and 8 weeks and being so stressed out about it. She explained to me that I had a subchorionic hemorrhage. I had heard of these before, but didn’t really know what that was. She said it was no concern at all. It was small and the baby was fine. I later googled it (of course) and read about it affecting the placenta. I’m going to take note to ask Dr. Connors about that at my next appointment. It was nice to find out why I was bleeding though.
Dr. Solomon said that it appeared this pregnancy would be the complete opposite of the one with Kassidy – this baby is healthy! The fluid measured behind the next came out to 1.3mm, and anything above 3mm would be worrisome. Our baby was just fine. I did have some blood tests to check for T13, T18 and downs syndrome, but based on what they were able to see today they have no reason or indication for concern. Baby is measuring right on track in all areas- head, belly, heart (yes, even heart looks great!). I was so relieved I cried!!!
We were given printed out pictures and a CD of even more pictures, and were sent to see Corrine, a genetic counselor. We saw Corrine after Kassidy’s diagnosis too. She gave me a lot of answers regarding anencephaly that I was not able to find online or from other anen mothers – and right after Kassidy’s diagnosis, I wasn’t in a sound state of mind to think of these questions. I asked about Kassidy’s crossed fingers, and learned that these are definitely an indication of Trisomy 13 or 18. I asked if T13 or T18 caused anencpehaly (I read this someplace online). She said “absolutely.” She explained that T18 was more common to cause other abnormalities including the omphalocele or an endocardial cushion defect. We also learned that T18 is not genetic, and it typically happens at chance and to couples who DO NOT have family history of these defects. I finally felt like I had answers!!!! I am now certain (in my heart) that Kassidy had Trisomy 18 – which caused anencephaly, an omphalocele and her heart defect. That would make sense because our genetic test last year came back normal. Because T18 is not genetic, we have an over 99% chance that we will have nothing but healthy babies from here on out! I had a huge sigh of relief at this piece of information. Today was a FANTASTIC visit with the specialist. We go back in 6 weeks for the anatomy scan…I’m actually looking forward to it! This is an emotion I don’t have too often.
Oh, and Dr. Solomon looked at ultrasound and said she thinks it is a GIRL. 6 more weeks and we will find out for sure! 
God bless!
-Stevie, Kelsey, Kassidy and “Rainbow” Baby
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