Welcome to our blog. I created this blog as a way to share our experiences, battles and joys of this pregnancy and beyond with all of our friends and family. We so appreciate your support and love and interest in our lives and through this blog we will share the fun with you!
So, this week marks the middle point of the journey. 20 weeks down, 20 to go! I cannot believe how fast it is going and yet it seems to drag some days. Up until this point, I have had a pretty uneventful experience with some annoying nausea, a few aches and pains, but generally feel the same as when I wasn't pregnant. Maybe you should ask Chris for the truth, but I feel 100% in control of my hormones and emotions :)
Last week this all changed though and we were hit with a plethora of symptoms and events. First and foremost, I finally felt some movement! I have been waiting for so long to feel him and it is so nice to really feel pregnant now and have a connection to him. I also woke up a few days ago and felt huge. There is no question that the belly looks pregnant now and is starting to get in the way of doing those everyday tasks such as putting shoes on! In addition, I had my first bout with heartburn last night and though I am halfway through the pregnancy, I now begin my days with an oh-so-fun run to the bathroom to empty the contents of my stomach....ah the joys :)
Secondly, we received some pretty tough news. I had some routine blood testing done to check for certain genetic disorders, but of course expected everything to come back normal. A couple weeks ago I received a phone call from my midwife who told me that my blood tests came back showing me to be at a high risk for Trisomy 21, which as some of you may know, is medical terminology for Down's Syndrome. Of course I was shocked and confused and worried all at the same time. After talking with my midwife, she told us that she wanted to refer us to a genetic counselor in Sacramento to get more details about the blood tests.
We had this meeting last Thursday and man oh man was it a looonnnnnggggg day. After a 2 hour car ride to Sacramento we arrived at the hospital and first met with the genetic counselor. I went into the appointment with a good attitude and Chris was even more confident. The genetic counselor ruined that by informing us that based on the levels of my hormones, I was at the same risk level as a 55 year old woman and that the chances of this baby having Down's Syndrome is greater than 1 in 3. WOW! I was not expecting that and it hit me like a ton of bricks. After many tears and nervousness, we made the decision to first have a second level sonogram and then an amniocentesis. The amniocentesis draws some of the fluid from the amniotic sac (yes with a long needle through my abdomon) and analyzes the baby's cells to checks for extra chromosomes. It is the only way to know for sure. It was all a blur and was very scary and hurt a lot! On the way home Chris kept reassuring me that no matter what, everything was going to be fine, but it sure didn't feel like it to me.
I had to lay around for 3 days to reduce the chances of having a miscarriage from the amniocentesis and during that time I did a lot of crying, a lot of soul searching and a lot of research about Down's Syndrome. Though I would obviously prefer for our child to be healthy, I know we can handle whatever we are given and I could not ask for a better partner to go through this with. Chris has had an amazing attitude the whole time and I could not do this without him.
We will find out the results of the amniocentesis in a week or so and then we will know whether or not Cade has Down's Syndrome. Please send some positive thoughts this way! We will keep you posted when we FINALLY hear the news.
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