At my April 27 appointment I had some blood drawn in order to test the baby for Downs Sydrome and for the alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) test, which tests the baby for Spina Bifida. The doctor told me that they would only call me if anything came back abnormal with the tests and she said I would hear by Friday. So, on Thursday Jason and I were eating lunch together when my phone rang. We saw it was a local (Fayetteville) number and we decided not to answer it because who do we really know that calls us from Fayetteville. After I let it go to voicemail, I remembered about the tests and I started feeling really sick to my stomach. We listened to the voicemail and sure enough, it was the doctor's office. I called back and spoke with the nurse and she said that my AFP test had come back abnormal and that our baby had a 1 out of 235 chance of having Spina Bifida. They said that they wanted us to come in right away for an Ultrasound and to speak with the doctor. Luckily, they had an 8:00 a.m. appointment available for the next morning (Friday), although it would not be with my doctor.
I had a horrible night trying to sleep. I was anxious and scared about the test, but I think I was more nervous to have our ultrasound early and at the prospect of possibly finding out the sex of the baby. I had begun to rest easy about the test as my sister-in-law had had similar test results a year prior and everything was perfectly fine with her daughter. In addition, I had spoken with my Mom and her friend (a former nurse at Riley Children's Hospital), who had much experience working with Spina Bifida. She had let me know that the AFP test often has false positives and to not worry. Plus, my three years working for the March of Dimes had taught me that taking Folic Acid before getting pregnant would almost eliminate any chances of your child having a neural tube defect, which Spina Bifida is. I had been on 100% of my daily Folic Acid for years and 200% for the three months prior to becoming pregnant.
Friday morning we set off for our appointment in the rain. We had our ultrasound first and it was amazing. The jelly they put on my belly was NOT cold, as I so often read about, but all warmed up for me :) The room was very tranquil and they had a large, flat-screened television on which Jason and I could see the baby. Right away, I could tell what everything was on the screen...another relief! The ultrasound tech took lots of measurements of the baby, so as to determine that I was as far along in my pregnancy as we thought (if I wasn't, that could change the results of the test). I was EXACTLY as far along as I had originally calculated, although the hospital was off by a day ;) After we saw the baby move around and model its arm and leg for us, the tech asked us if we wanted to know the sex. We said "yes" and she said, "it's a girl!". We were so excited. Although, after leaving the room, I was almost saddened over the fact that all images of my baby boy, were now erased. It was almost odd to now know and to have lost the wonder. But, we're excited!!!
Next, we met with Dr. Hix. He told us that from what he could see from the ultrasound pictures, the baby's spine looked fine. However, he was not happy with the pictures the tech got and he said that he wanted us to come back in on Monday for another ultrasound. He also said that before we did anything crazy, like possibly have an amniocentesis (which Jason and I had already decided against), we need to redo the blood test I had done on Monday. He said that there had to be 7-10 days between the tests which was another reason we needed to come back on Monday. That makes three visits in one week!! Finally, he better explained the statistics to us. He let us know that my results were just barely abnormal and that was why we had a 1 out of 235 chance. The further away from normal people test, the worse odds they have. 1 out of 275 is normal, so we are barely over the line. He also said that he was 99% sure that my test was a false positive and that we should try to rest easy. It's still difficult to think about, but I just know that our little girl will be okay. Our next appointment will take place this Monday at 2:30 and the good news about going back again, is that we get to see her again :-)
Please pray for us and I'll send updates again soon. Below are our first pictures of our baby girl.
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