NT Scan Results

Last Thursday they called me with less than appealing NT Scan results. The nasal bone was clearly present and the fluid measured a perfect 1.3 but when she called she told me that my blood work for my age should show a risk of
1 in 315 and mine was...
1 in 91.....tears...

Now I understand that its just a 1% chance the baby might have Down Syndrome and the test is there to show if you might be at an increased risk but after everything we have been through - SERIOUSLY????

We then had a decision to make....

1) say Thank You and move on
2) go to a genetic counselor...

We chose to go see a genetic counselor with the likelihood that we would have a CVS done that day BUT with the option to back out of course. The genetic counselor they use was not available but on vacation so they asked if I could go Friday to Tufts Medical in Boston. Of course we made ourselves available....

10:45 we found ourselves at Tufts in the waiting room...some there for their regular check-ups and some there for the same reason as me and some crying at the possibilities. We wait 45 minutes to be seen which of course makes it so much worse!!!

She was so super nice and caring but I thought genetic counseling would be more than it was...I thought we would talk about the CVS and Amnio (which we did) and then she would go over our results and why/how they came back elevated (which she did) and then go over family history, then do another U/S then re-calculate our risk. They didn't do that...she basically just talked to us about the items above and then told us we would have to make a decision right then and there if we would like to have a CVS since I was 13 weeks and 2 days and it cant be done any later. I could opt to go home and wait 2 more weeks for an amnio.

Risk of miscarriage for a CVS is 1 in 100 and Amnio is 1 in 200....Basically the same % that it is that they baby even has downs...but I had to know...I could not just walk away without doing something.....is it slightly safer for an amnio, yes, but CVS's are safe too...so I decided to do it right there and then.

AS you all know I'm a frady cat....Well, the unknown is worse than the actual procedure...I was FREAKING! Once we saw the baby I wanted to back out. I was thinking she looks fine...but if looking was all it took then they would know she was fine and wouldn't make me do the CVS right? I made the doctor tell me every step she was doing, which she did and you know what - the CVS was the least painful procedure I have had in the 2.5 years I have been struggling to get pregnant!!!

So then comes the wait...it would take about 24 hours for the results so she said she would call Tuesday. OMG, the wait is excruciating! Especially if you have anxiety like I do...What would I do if the baby was sick? This was not how I have thought of our life? Jack is never home cause he works so much - how was I going to care for a child that needs all that special attention? What would the severity be? I had to try and focus on the fact that there was a 99% chance in our favor!

So, I was at my sister's pool yesterday and at 3pm the phone rang and as soon as I saw the number I knew it was her....I was nervous but picked it up right away...

Amy - Hi
Me - Hi
Amy - How are you?
Me - Good, you?
Amy - Good, the baby is fine!
Me - shaking I'm so happy - OK, so what is it?
Amy - Are you sure you want to know...
Me - ABSOLUTELY!! (in my mind I'm thinking, we want a girl, but I know its going to be a boy cause everyone said that's what they thought)
Amy - Its a GIRL!!!!!!!
Me - tears.....

She said she would call in 14 days with the rest of the results but that these basically said the baby is fine, definitely no down syndrome.

My poor sister and niece, I ran out of there like a bat out of hell and jumped in my car. We live on the same street which I should have been driving slow on but I bombed down the street and Jack was fixing the deck and he was watching me like WTF? I was peeling into the driveway!

I got out of the car and said "She called" and he said yeh...and I said "She is fine"! Now, let me tell you - in 10 years of being together I have never seen him react that way - it was like he won the lottery!!! He yelled and his eyes welled up and he hugged me! It was the best moment of our life up until now!

My baby girl Nola....