GREAT news!!

Well I have some good news in relation to the testing we did last week. And I thank God for our wonderful results!!!

Before any testing, the risk for having a baby with Down Syndrome for my age group (36 yrs) was 1:216. Which isn't too bad anyway. Well based on my tests (blood work and measurements at the ultrasound) my odds now are 1:4300. HOLY MOLY! That is basically the odds of a 20 year old. So basically me being 36 isn't a factor in this disorder.

They also tested for trisomy 13 and 18 which are much more serious disorders. Once again the normal odds for a 36 yr old are 1:382 but after testing my odds are 1:7600.

Now don't get me wrong, I LOVE this baby and if there was something possibly wrong, it wouldn't have made any difference. We would still LOVE this baby. It is just nice to put my mind at ease that at least being in that "older" group isn't a disadvantage.

The doctor told me that the odds that I have now are the same odds that a 20 year old would have. I told her it was nice to be compared to a 20 year in some way. Haha!

And just in case anyone is still keeping track, yes, I still have morning (all day) sickness. I think it may be getting better or maybe I am just getting used to it. Who knows?? Also for the record,

I am 13 weeks and 1 day today!! WOOHOO!!

12 week ultrasound!!!

Hi!

Well Bill and I had our genetic screening and counseling today. Since I am 35 years old (0r 36 when the baby is due) my doctor requires us to go to this appt and talk about family history etc. Everything in our history doesn't indicate any problems. We did apt for the 1st trimester screen test (although I start 2nd trimester today WOOHOO).

This test is non-avasive and will give us odds (in about a week) of us having a baby with 3 chromosomal problems. There are more than that but this shows the 3 major ones. The odds will come back as 1:300 or some form of that. It won't make a bit of difference to us however we thought if the odds were high, then at least we could educate ourselves more about the difference disorders.

The test consists of an ultrasound and blood work. They look for certain proteins in the blood combined with measurements from the baby. They measure the baby's nec area and the normal range is 1-3mm. As the area gets bigger, that could indicate a problem. Our baby's measured 1mm. So we are in the very NORMAL range on that. So that is a great sign. Now we just wait for the blood work. However the doctor (this is a perinatal doctor, a specialist, not our reg. doc) said that everything looks wonderful.

We got to see our sweet baby today. I saw a sweet face, body, arms and legs. The baby had her (I think it is a girl, however too early to see any boy/girly parts yet) hands up against her mouth at one point. And what was SO wonderful was seeing the heart beat. That was so great!!

Anyway, here is a pic of our sweet baby. I did label the parts since some of you may not have any idea of what you are looking at. HAha!!

Have a great week!

Still feeling bad!

Well I am at 11 weeks today and still feeling yucky. I had a great day Monday and thought maybe I was getting better. No such luck but maybe soon. I figure with the other kids I was better by 12-13 weeks so hopefully by next week!

We got to hear the baby's heartbeat on Friday. It was 174 beats per minute and sounded wonderful. I LOVE that sound.

We are meeting with a genetic counselor next week (due to me being 35) about genetic testing. We have decided to only do the 1st trimester screen (or maybe triple screen, I can't remember). That is non evasive and they will test my blood and also do an ultrasound. So I will get to see my little one in a week from today! :)

The Daily Show!!

http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=184111&title=john-mccains-big-acceptance

First Day of School

Well my babies are officially at school today. They were so excited to start today. I am feeling kinda sad but I sure am getting lots of stuff done today. :)

Nicholas is now in 4th grade. That just seems so big. When did he get so old? He didn't really have a lot of friends in his class yet he was just excited. He said that this will give him a chance to get to know some more people. I am so glad that we have raised such good kids with good self esteem.

Riley is in 2nd grade. He seemed big too this morning. He even told me that he has been up since 4 (I am not really sure about that one) because he is just so excited to go to school. What a sweet little person.

Well I am officially feeling crappy. Morning sickness should just be in the morning but crap if I don't feel bad ALL day long. But that is a good sign, so I am certainly not complaining. We have picked out a paint color (a nice light yellow) for the nursery. I will start painting next week. It is a good distraction from the morning sickness. I will be at 7 weeks tomorrow!!

Have a good day!!

WOOHOO!!

Well it is official, we are having a BABY!!

Our sweet pumpkin is due early April. I will post more soon!!!

Nick and Riley are so excited!

Out of School

Well today is the first day of "no school". We are all (well not Bill cause he is at work) sitting here in our PJ's. What a good start to the day. :)

Well Riley was puking again on Monday pm. For those of you that aren't aware, he has been having random bouts of throwing up. It started in mid March and since then he has missed about 8 days of school. The throwing up starts in the absolute middle of the night (like 2-3am) and last for hours. This has been out of the blue. No fever or any other signs. Then the next day he is just fine. And no one else ever gets sick.

The doctor has run test after test (and the insurance company can certainly say that too) and everything has come back fine. He has an appt with a pediatric GI specialist on Monday at Children's Mercy Hospital. I hope that we can figure out what may be wrong. I swear I didn't sleep very well at all last night cause I was just waiting for the "mommy, I am puking" voice. My sweet baby! But luckily he slept fine last night.

We are going to St. Louis this weekend for our cousin Nikki's graduation party. I am so excited to get away and just hang out! Woohoo!!