We're going to pass...

Today was our ultrasound appointment to see if they were able to identify whether there were any signs of Down Syndrome.  We arrived at Genesys Hospital and filled out the paper work.  When my doctors office tried scheduling this appointment for me when I was in their office last week, everything was booked.  He had the specialist who I would be seeing paged and worked something out to where they could fit me in.  I was ever grateful.  He had to drive from Southfield for my appointment and scheduled an ultrasound tech during her lunch to see me as well. 

The ultrasound tech was so nice.  She had a checklist of things she had to photograph and measure; length of arm and leg bones, measure fluid behind the neck, take picture of finger and toes,  check chambers of the heart and other major organs, etc.  I was on edge for much of the time and it was quite lengthy compared to normal ultrasounds.  It lasted about an hour.  One of her first questions was whether we wanted to know the gender.  We did.  Right way, I mean within literally five seconds...she told us!  As she was going through the process of fulfilling her checklist she would mention what she was working on and I would follow by asking, "is that normal"?  She was kind enough to tell us yes.  In the end, the ultrasound all checked out as normal, but we still needed to meet with the specialist.  We then went to another room where they asked some health questions and they took my blood pressure, weight, etc.  Afterwards, we were taken to what looked like an interrogration room.  The specialist hadn't arrived from Southfield yet so we waited for about half hour.

I kept telling myself not to get my hopes up until meeting with him and I was glad I didn't get overly excited.  I thought that he would say that because everything checked out on the ultrasound, we could put our worries to rest.  That was not the case.  When he arrived he asked many questions about our own health history as well as family health history.  He made a family tree as he was going along.  He discussed what to expect with Down Syndrome as far as life expectancy, what types of surgeries may be required, the severity of mental retardation that may exist, etc.  Pretty much all the scary aspects of it.  He then went on to say that just because our ultrasound showed no signs of Down's doesn't mean our baby doesn't have it. 

The only thing that the ultrasound did as far as numbers was move our chances from 1/54 to 1/81.  This was positive news but still poses a much higher risk in comparison to what is normal for my age.  He said the next step would be to get the Amniocentesis which would tell with much more accuracy but that there is a risk of miscarriage.  He left Clint and I alone to discuss it over amongst ourselves.  At first I was thinking that I wanted it just for the peace of mind aspect, but after talking with Clint, realized it didn't matter what the outcome was and why should we risk the life of our baby just for peace of mind?  It wasn't going to change our minds about whether or not we were going to continue with the pregnancy.  When the specialist came back to ask what our decision was, we simply said "we're going to pass".

So that is where we are at.  No confirmation on whether or not our baby will be born with Down's Syndrome but we are putting it in God's hands. We will find out the day of the birth.  I will continue to do research, learn more, seek resources and support groups just in case, but for now I am happy with our decision.  It is a hard decision with me being the type of planner/control freak that I am but it is what is best for our entire family.  We want to keep our baby safe and not impose any unnecessary risks. 

We would appreciate your continued prayers for a healthy child throughout the rest of our pregnancy.  Thank you in advance.