The past month has been an emotional roller coaster for us. We had our 18 week ultrasound appointment in Dec (when they look for all of the organs in the baby and check the heart). James was moving around, he was still a boy (because we ask this every time haha) and his heart beat was wonderful. Everything looked good except for a Choroid Plexus Cyst was found on the right side of his brain and a lower right outflow valve wasn't visible. Of course we were worried; however, were very optimistic because we know of other's who had a cyst on their babies brain and they go away. Our doctor told us those are very common now a days and they said 90% of the time disappear. We were more concerned with the outflow valve, we did our research and our doctor reassured us at 18 weeks its most likely a little early to see that valve, 20 weeks is best.
So we waited a week and went back to the doctor, he checked out James and said everything looked good but wanted us to see a high risk doctor the following week just to double check everything so we "all felt confident". So the following week, we went to see Dr. Fisher (a high risk doctor) and were amazed by their machines. The ultrasound machine was so clear and precise. We saw our little boy (yes still a boy) moving around and showing his stuff. The nurse wouldn't tell us anything, but we saw the outflow valve and got very excited that everything was perfect again!
The doctor came in and looked again, not saying much. He then told us that the Cyst was gone (yay!) however, James had a slight heart defect. An artery off the main aortic arch was built on the left side instead of the right side. He said he will be fine, no surgery needed, etc worse case he will just have some trouble swallowing; but many people are built this way and don't even know it. He then proceeded to tell us, he has to tell us this because it is something they see in babies with down syndrome (at this point my heart dropped). The next several minutes were very blurring for me, I just wanted my baby to be ok, to be healthy and live a healthy life. With Haleigh, every ultrasound appointment we left smiling, everyone was perfect. I didn't know how to feel or what to say. The doctor told us we had three options: 1-Don't do anything and wait to see when the baby is born 2- Have an amniocentesis 3- Do a blood test (this is fairly new) where they look at his chromosomes in my blood and check for an extra chromosome.
Steven and I decided on option 3, the blood test. However, the results do not come in until 7 - 10 business days. And we took this test on a Friday afternoon. At this point, it is Jan. 4th and our first appointment in Dec (the organ ultrasound) was the 21st...we were exhausted and just wanted to know what was going on with our little guy.
Needless to say, the next 10 days were the longest ever. Steven and I relied heavily on God and our faith, I think I prayed 23 out of 24 hours a day. We leaned on our friends and family to pray and to be there for us. We knew no matter what, James would be perfect, he would be our little man and we would love him and give him the world!
This past Monday, while I was teaching, I got the call from our Genetic Counselor. James was ok, he was GREAT, he was healthy and did not have any extra chromosomes. This is the first time I can honestly say I felt God was with us, I knew he was there and had answered our prayers, our baby James was healthy! The emotional roller coaster we went through for almost a month would have been so much worse without such a supportive, optimistic husband, our family and friends, our church and God. We are so thankful and feel more blessed than ever.
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| Mr. James |
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| His Feet |
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| His left foot |
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| Still a BOY |
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| Hey Bud! |
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| Our angel |
