Baby Update

It's still a girl!

I had blood work done the week before I had my last ultrasound. The day after the ultrasound, I got a call from the nurse who said my test came back with an increased chance that the baby could have downsyndrome. Because we didn't have this information the day before, they weren't looking for certain indicators during the ultrasound. So I scheduled another ultrasound, but this one was the Women's and Children's Center. The doctors were amazingly friendly.

So long story short, here is the breakdown...

The original test indicated that I had a 1/252 chance that my baby would have downs...that is almost 4/10 of 1%. Or .003968. Everything in the ultrasound looked perfect. Measuring perfect. No defects. The main concerns are the heart and the kidneys. Again, everything was perfect. (She is my child afterall.... ha!) Anyway, based on the ultrasound, that reduces the risk by another 1/2% so that now decreases the chances to less than 2/10 of 1% or .001984.

Apparently the blood tests are quite finicky (using the words of the nurse) and many factors could turn it to a positive test...the age of the mother...a miscalculated due date...and many others. In talking with friends, many of them or people they know also had false positives.

The amazing thing in all of this is that I was never worried. Of course it is a relief to know that chances of my daughter having downs is very small, but the thought of being blessed with such a special spirit would have been a different type of special blessing. I'm also grateful for the thoughts and prayers that went out to Kuso and I as we waited out the week to get some answers.

On a side note...I'm pretty sure Leila is going to be a dancer like her daddy. Her legs were moving around and kicking like crazy. It was pretty funny. And I finally broke down and quit being so self reliant and let my mom come with me. Kuso was out of state working and couldn't make it back for the appointment. She was worried about me going by myself in case there was hard news. So I gave in and had her come with me. I'm glad I did. It was fun to have someone there and it was good to see her be put at ease by being able to talk with the doctors. Now Grandma Neener got her first look at Baby Leila...they will be spending a LOT of time together in the future.

A second side note. My cousin Ashley is due the same time I am. They found out that they are having a girl too. This will be 5 girls as great grandbaby's for my grandpa Dick. No boys. Grandpa Dick had only girls himself. Over the Easter holiday he said "Doesn't this family know how to make boys?" If the ring test holds true, my next child will be a boy...just be patient.