Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Unborn love

First peek at our new little fella! Just relaxin' in the womb!
   Our little baby is growing and the love I already feel for him is almost overwhelming. We are so excited for his arrival and although his birth is still a few months away, we can't wait to meet our son.
   The pregnancy has been going really well these past few weeks, but we have recently found out about a few potential complications. At our 20 week ultrasound, we were filled with bliss as we got to see our little baby for the first time and found out that we were having another boy. The mood soon changed when a doctor came in to take another long look at the baby. I didn't remember this from my ultrasound with Caleb, so I felt right away that something may not be quite right. The doctor told us that the baby has an echogenic bowel - a soft marker for a variety of chromosomal abnormalities including Down's syndrome, cystic fibrosis and trisomy 18. We were told not to worry but that it was a good idea for me to get maternal screening (blood test) done to find out if the baby is at a heightened risk for any disorders.
 I cried most of the way home, feeling devastated that something might be wrong with my tiny little baby. After some research (my trusty What to Expect When You're Expecting and some google searching) I realized that detection of this soft marker was quite normal and the chances of anything being wrong is very low. In about 99% of all cases, the baby is born without any health problems.
 Earlier this week we went to the IWK for a follow-up fetal assessment. The ultrasound technician and doctor were really wonderful and gave us a very detailed report of what they were seeing. The echogenic bowel marker was still present, and they detected a 2 vessel umbilical cord when there should be 3 vessels. However, the growth, anatomy and everything else looked really good so we felt reassured that everything will very likely be ok. But there is still an elevated risk that something could be wrong with our baby and we will continue to be monitored at the IWK for the duration of the pregnancy.
  We were given a few options for how to proceed. My blood test results came back fine, which gives us even more reassurance, but Alan and I decided to get tested to see if we are carriers for cystic fibrosis. We declined an amniocentesis or any further testing. At this point, we generally feel quite positive about things and the initial shock and fear has worn off a little bit. We know that no matter what, we will love our little baby with all of our hearts. In life there are no guarantees, and whether the baby has any sort of  disorder or abnormality or not, we will feel nothing but love, pride, amazement and joy when our little boy is born and throughout his entire lifetime. For now, I'm just trying to enjoy the rest of this pregnancy and take comfort in every little kick and movement I feel.
 

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