Update

Thank you to everyone for your thoughts, prayers and concerns. Here's the scoop for those I haven't filled in.

On Tuesday November 18th I went in for an ultrasound to measure the length of my cervix. Although everyone suspected that my water broke early with the last pregnancy because of the trisomy, we wanted to make sure we weren't missing anything. We expected this to be fairly uneventful, have the ultrasound everything would be good and I would go home and call it a day.... not quite how it happened. The ultrasound tech saw something on the screen that didn't make much sense to her so she called the doctor in. He examined further and what was discovered was that the amniotic sac had started to creep through my cervix.... not good!

Within an hour I was admitted to the hospital on bedrest (my drs office is in the hospital so it was a matter of just wheeling me upstairs). At that point I was 21 weeks and 6 days pregnant, way to early to go into labor and have things turn out well. The plan at that point was to keep me on bed rest (although they got me up to weigh me each morning and let me get up to go to the bathroom). We hoped that by resting and working against gravity things might recede back up where they belonged. After a couple of days an ultrasound showed that that hadn't happened.... on to plan B.

Elkhart General (the hospital I was in) is not nearly as well equipped to handle extreme premies as South Bend Memorial Hospital is. Unfortunately they couldn't help much until I was atleast 23 weeks along and even then they have 3 doctors, one of which won't take patients until 24 weeks.

Day by day we prayed and hoped that we could make it another day and gradually we did. Once we made it to 23 weeks the doctors called South Bend but the dr who was on call was the one who wouldn't take patients until 24 so we had to wait. The next day (thanksgiving day) they called and the doctor on call would accept us. An ambulance transfer was arranged for that afternoon.

So here I lay now. In South Bend Memorial Hospital, on STRICT bedrest (yep, using a bedpan) tilted with my feet higher than my head. An ultrasound this morning showed that things are holding pretty steady, it doesn't appear things have gotten worse which is great. I've been given 2 steroid shots in hopes of helping to mature baby's lungs.

Our next milestone comes on Wednesday (dec 3) when we reach 24 weeks. At that point chances of baby surviving outside the womb go up dramatically.

So thanks again to everyone who has been praying for us. Please continue, I know we are hoping and praying with all of our might.

It's a Girl!

We had our extensive ultrasound down at IU this past Friday. Everything looks wonderful... and IT'S A GIRL!! They checked everything, no choroid plexus cysts, her little hands open and close, her feet aren't clubbed and her heart looks good. Based on the measurements they estimate that she's about 9 ounces already... that's 2 ounces more than all my books and emails say is average for this week!

After we got this wonderful news we decided we were comfortable starting our baby registry so we spent the day Saturday at Babies R Us. I think we've got all the big stuff (and some of the little stuff) on there. We've picked out a cute white convertible crib and it looks like it's going to be a lady bug theme.

Here are some photos of the little one. Some of the shots that you can actually see the outline of her eyeballs are a little alien-like :p

Fabulous News

My cell phone rang at about 9:15 this morning and I didn't recognize the number.... I quickly googled the area code and realized it was an Indianapolis number. I don't know why I don't recognize those numbers yet as many times as I've talked to the people down there.....

Anyway, it was Kelly the genetic counselor from IU and she had the results from my quad screen/sequential test.... drum roll please......

ALL FABULOUSLY NORMAL!!!

The risk for Downs remains at 1:10,000
The risk for Trisomy 18 remains at 1:10,000
and the risk for Spina Bifida went from a baseline 1:1,000 to 1:3,500

This is a major milestone for us. It was through the quad screen that we discovered a 1:3 chance for Trisomy 18 last time. We still have the extensive ultrasound to go, but we are feeling really good and extremely happy about being at this point and having such good test results!

Here's photo from this weekend for you, a nice profile of the growing bump :)

16 Week Checkup

This morning was my 16 week checkup and everything went well. The appointment was with Dr. McBride (the doctor that was at the hospital when we delivered in May). I'm wondering if either she was having an "off" day or if I was under enough drugs back in May that I didn't realize this annoying habit she has. She comes off as VERY apologetic with everything. When she tells you things are good it's almost as though she's apologizing that they're good... very ... well, unnerving. Makes you kind of wonder if there's something she's not telling you. Anyway, they drew 3 vials of blood - FUN. One was for a TSH (thyroid) test, it's been looking good but we want to keep an eye on the levels. One was for a CBC (Complete Blood Count), I guess when they drew the blood for that last time they didn't get enough and the last was for the Quad Screen. That's the last part of the sequential genetic testing we're having done. Rather than drive back to Indianapolis just to have blood drawn they worked it out with the lab here and in Indy to draw the blood here and send it to Genzyme (the lab doing the testing). Hopefully that's where it ends up (I get the feeling they don't do it this way often).

Other than that I've gained about 8 pounds so far. The heart beat sounded strong - 145 bpm. Back in 4 weeks for the next appointment and an ultrasound :)

Great News

Well, if you're reading this you probably already know, but for those who don't... WE'RE EXPECTING!! :) The little one is due to arrive around March 25th, 2009. As of tomorrow (Sept. 29, 2008) we'll be 15 weeks along.

We've had some initial screenings done and so far everything looks great. The risk for Downs Syndrome came back at 1:10,000 and the risk for Trisomy 18 (what the baby we lost had) is also 1:10,000. Although we've come to have little faith in odds, those are great!

Here are some photos from the second ultrasound. This was the one we had in Indianapolis when we went for the first trimester screening.