Our Worlds Have Turned Upside Down..
When I first learned I had endometriosis last summer, I thought to myself: "Will I ever be able to get pregnant?" Then, in January, we were so shocked and excited to find out that I was pregnant! We could not wait to tell our family and friends! Everything seemed amazing until we went to our 12 week ultrasound and the doctor's words were: "There's a problem."
No one wants to hear those words. My heart sank and I immediately began to worry. In the corner of my eye I saw Mark take his hat off and put his head down. The next few minutes were really hard to listen to. The baby had swelling behind the head and neck, which could have been a sign of a chromosomal abnormality or that there was a virus. The doctor told us that if it was a virus the baby may not make it, or that if it was an abnormality it could be serious. We were so scared and did not know what to think.
When we went back a week later for another ultrasound the swelling was almost gone. We felt so relieved and thought our prayers had been answered. Then, when we went in for our "routine" 18 week ultrasound things got worse. The doctor found some small "markers" that could have been nothing, or they could be a sign of something wrong. Even though we had said we were not going to get an amniocentesis done because of the risks, we decided to get it because we could not wait the rest of the pregnancy to see if everything was okay. This is where our worlds were turned upside down...
On Monday, May 7 we received a phone call telling us the words that we never wanted to hear. Our sweet child had Trisomy 13. We had only briefly heard of what this disorder was, and the few things that we knew were that most babies do not make it to birth, and if they do most of them do not survive long past it. The world started spinning when I heard those words and I was in total shock. Mark and I both left work early and spent the next few hours crying in each others' arms. After we were able to pick ourselves up off the ground, we began to do some research. I will not list all of the problems that go along with T-13, but here is a web site that will tell you more: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0002625/. The main thing that stuck out to us is that over 90% of babies die within hours or days of birth, and that over 80% do not make it past the first year.
To think that we may have to watch our child die is the hardest thing that we could ever imagine. Of course, the doctors brought us in to discuss our options last Friday, and the main option was having an abortion. Mark and I have spent hours discussing this topic, and had already decided that this is all God's plan and that if He chooses to end our sweet child's life early, then that is His call. We could not go through with an abortion, and have decided to carry this pregnancy to term and pray for a miracle. Trisomy 13 is probably one of the rarest chromosomal disorders that anyone could possibly get, being that it occurs in only 1 in 10,000 newborns. Mark and I have been asking, "why us?" How could God be so cruel to do something like this to us. But then we began to tell ourselves that He chose us for a reason, and that He has a plan for this sweet child's life. Something good will come out of this, we are just not sure how. So, after meeting with our genetic counselor on Friday, we decided to find out the sex (I was already 99% sure it was a girl from the very beginning). Therefore, we were not surprised when they told us we were having a girl. We had already agreed on a name, and decided to name her Adalyn May. This is where our journey begins...
No one wants to hear those words. My heart sank and I immediately began to worry. In the corner of my eye I saw Mark take his hat off and put his head down. The next few minutes were really hard to listen to. The baby had swelling behind the head and neck, which could have been a sign of a chromosomal abnormality or that there was a virus. The doctor told us that if it was a virus the baby may not make it, or that if it was an abnormality it could be serious. We were so scared and did not know what to think.
When we went back a week later for another ultrasound the swelling was almost gone. We felt so relieved and thought our prayers had been answered. Then, when we went in for our "routine" 18 week ultrasound things got worse. The doctor found some small "markers" that could have been nothing, or they could be a sign of something wrong. Even though we had said we were not going to get an amniocentesis done because of the risks, we decided to get it because we could not wait the rest of the pregnancy to see if everything was okay. This is where our worlds were turned upside down...
On Monday, May 7 we received a phone call telling us the words that we never wanted to hear. Our sweet child had Trisomy 13. We had only briefly heard of what this disorder was, and the few things that we knew were that most babies do not make it to birth, and if they do most of them do not survive long past it. The world started spinning when I heard those words and I was in total shock. Mark and I both left work early and spent the next few hours crying in each others' arms. After we were able to pick ourselves up off the ground, we began to do some research. I will not list all of the problems that go along with T-13, but here is a web site that will tell you more: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0002625/. The main thing that stuck out to us is that over 90% of babies die within hours or days of birth, and that over 80% do not make it past the first year.
To think that we may have to watch our child die is the hardest thing that we could ever imagine. Of course, the doctors brought us in to discuss our options last Friday, and the main option was having an abortion. Mark and I have spent hours discussing this topic, and had already decided that this is all God's plan and that if He chooses to end our sweet child's life early, then that is His call. We could not go through with an abortion, and have decided to carry this pregnancy to term and pray for a miracle. Trisomy 13 is probably one of the rarest chromosomal disorders that anyone could possibly get, being that it occurs in only 1 in 10,000 newborns. Mark and I have been asking, "why us?" How could God be so cruel to do something like this to us. But then we began to tell ourselves that He chose us for a reason, and that He has a plan for this sweet child's life. Something good will come out of this, we are just not sure how. So, after meeting with our genetic counselor on Friday, we decided to find out the sex (I was already 99% sure it was a girl from the very beginning). Therefore, we were not surprised when they told us we were having a girl. We had already agreed on a name, and decided to name her Adalyn May. This is where our journey begins...
Interesting blog. It would be great if you can provide more details about it. Thanks you
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What kind of details would you like? I'm not gonna sure what you mean?
DeleteWhat kind of details would you like? I'm not gonna sure what you mean?
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