Beginning of the story...

Our story begins in July 2007 when I started fertility medications and became pregnant with 3 through Intrauterine Insemination. I was called with the good news that I was pregnant but needed to continue having blood tests to make sure that the pregnancy hormone continued to rise and to monitor by blood as I was on high doses of Heparin. 3 days after I was told that I was 5 weeks pregnant I got another call from my Dr's office to tell me that I had lost the baby but my numbers were still rising so if they didn't go down within 2 weeks I would need to take a medication that would make my body abort the growing tissue. I struggled with the loss and decided to take my son (technically my step son) up to my parents cabin in Idaho. My fertility Dr agreed to my going on a trip just as long as I had my blood tests up in Idaho. So we packed and took off and spent a great week going on the quads, playing with family, hot tubbing, kayaking on the river and relaxing. After my first blood test up in Idaho the Dr from the clinic called me with the results. The pregnancy hormone in my body had tripled and it was his feeling that I was still pregnant and that I should insist on an ultrasound before taking the medication. When we returned home my husband and I went into the office and he started writing the script for this medication (I have NO idea what it is called) and I told him I wouldn't take it until I had an ultrasound to confirm that the fetus was unviable. He proceeded with the ultrasound and guess what we saw...a heartbeat! He also saw a second sac with no heartbeat and a sac in my tubes. (and he wondered why my numbers weren't rising like they were supposed to...) He took measurements and according to my IUI date the baby was measuring 3 days behind. We were told that if she fell to 5 or more days behind we would probably loose her so I was monitored close for the next 8 weeks. At around 14 weeks I was released to my OBGYN for normal maternal care.

Everything was looking great in my pregnancy, the baby looked great and sounded great! In November 2007 I went in for my 18 week 2nd trimester survey. My parents came with us to see the baby and find out what it was. We were so excited to see our little baby that up until then we fought to keep. We found out that it was a GIRL and I was ecstatic! Our ultrasound tech was going through and taking all the measurements and then left to get the Dr. We never knew that something was wrong. The day all seems a little fuzzy but here is what I remember. The Dr told us that she had severe ventriculomegaly, her nasal bone was extremely hypoplastic and she had many markers of Downs Syndrome. We met with the genetecist and were given the news that she would probably be brain damaged, would have severe facial malformations and most likely had Downs. We were advised to have an amniocentesis and I needed to do this before 22 weeks but that in itself was risky. According to the genetecist, we would be better to abort than have a baby that would not live. I was angry. I cried and yelled and cursed my Father in Heaven. I was angry with him for punnishing my baby for MY mistakes. Somehow, and I don't know how or even remember how, I made it through the next couple of days.

To make a VERY long story shorter...

I had an amnio at 22 weeks because I thought that I would rather know of any health problems before hand and be prepared. We had already decided that we would have our baby no matter what so abortion was completely out of the question. She came back negative for Trisomy 13, 18 and 21 but the source behind the swelling was still in question. I had ultrasounds every 3 weeks to check the swelling and determine how to treat her. At 25 weeks I had a fetal MRI which determined that she had Aqueductal Stenosis which was causing Hydrocephalus. Her ventricles were over 2 times the size that they should be. We were referred to Neurosurgery for a consult to begin her treatment plan. The swelling continued to be severe and at 29 weeks it was determined that she would be delivered at 32 weeks. At 31 weeks I had my final ultrasound to measure the growth of her brain. The swelling did not go down any but was not increasing at the rate it had been so the Dr's decided to hold off the delivery and do scans every week. Although the swelling did continue they felt that it would be better for my baby to hold off as long as we could. We made it to 35 weeks and 6 days and the decision was made to go ahead with delivery. I had another amnio to check lung development and although they weren't as developed as they wanted, they looked good enough to go ahead with delivery. I was admitted Wednesday, March 19, 2008 at 8pm for induction. Due to fetal distress, failure to dialate and 2 failed epidurals I was finally taken in for a c-section on Friday, March 21 and my beautiful baby girl was born at 12:10pm. Yes, that was nearly 36 hours in full on labor.

I'm pooped for now but will finish my story later. So enjoy the pictures!