Down Syndrome Awareness - The beginning (A little bit of information on why we were referred to the genetic Dr to begin with; I got a little ahead of myself when I shared Part 1, LOL) After trying for several years to conceive Brent and I had decided to take a break. Fast forward to July 2, 2010 when my mom convinced me to take a test and my dreams of becoming a Momma became reality as I saw two pink lines instead of the one that I had seen so many times before. We were all so ecstatic and when the typical morning sickness started it all became very real. Little did I know at the time that my morning sickness was going to become quite drastic and I was in for a very long pregnancy with lots of life lessons along the way. Even through all the sickness and weight loss we thanked God for this little one growing in my belly and prayed she or he would be healthy. At our 10 week Ultrasound I remember being so excited that we were going to get to see this little peanut and hear the heartbeat. When I first saw that precious baby my life felt complete... I can remember the Ultrasound taking what seemed like a long time to take the measurements and I told Brent I think something may be wrong. We were sent over to visit with my Dr. and he advised that there seemed to be a lot of swelling on the back of the babys neck and head (so I immediately thought about the nuchal fold being increased and how that can be a marker for Down Syndrome) In just about a week we were at a specialty Hospital for a more in depth Ultra Sound. They informed us at that time that the baby had a Cystic Hygroma that was significantly large ( swelling on the back of the head and neck) and that a lot of times this can be caused by a Chromosomal condition. They suggested that we have additional testing to determine the cause. After much prayer we decided to go ahead with the testing; I am the type of person that wants to arm myself with as much information as possible and be as prepared for what is to come as possible. We opted to have the CVS Test performed. Chorionic Villa Sampling ( you can google if you are interested) We were also advised that there seemed to be some sort of Heart defect and I would need to have a fetal Echocardiogram done to find out more details but this would need to be done a little later date. I was very ill and couldnt even keep the tiniest bits of water or food down; I was diagnosed with Hyperemesis Gravidarum (really fancy word for puking non stop) I was hospitalized for several days. The days passed and I was released the day before I had my additional testing done. Its a good thing that I know God doesnt give you more than you can handle because by this time I was really leaning on my faith. Honestly I wasnt scared of my child having Down Syndrome I just wanted he or she to be healthy and the hygroma and possible heart defects were scary. We had the test done about 13 weeks and if you go back and read my previous post you can read more about that call from the geneticist. Stay tuned for more of our story and the conversation I had with my OB Dr. and how that moment and conversation motivated me to share our journey and show the positive side of raising a child with DS. Like, share, comment
Posted on: Sat, 04 Oct 2014 02:26:43 +0000