Amnio Appointment

Today we went back to the Children's Hospital. I wasn't able to meet with the neonatalogist, as she had an emergency come up. So we are going to reschedule for another time.

They were, however able to do the amniocentesis today. Whitney's fluid level is up a little, and her cord wasn't totally in the way like it was last time we tried. We didn't have the same radiologist doing it (Dr. H) that we did last time, and I was kinda bummed about that, but this Dr. was just fine. Except for the fact that he kept calling Whitney a "fetus"... I wanted to say "Can you see the heartbeat? Yeah, that's mydaughter, not just some 'fetus.' " However, I decided against saying anything hostile, seeing as how he was the one piercing a big fat needle through my belly. :-) He was able to get a clean sample and so now we are just praying that the lab will be able to get us some answers. (Believe it or not, sometimes, even after doing an amnio, the lab is unable to come up with a conclusive diagnosis. With our luck, that would be the case. But we are really praying not!) I'm home for the rest of the day just taking it easy. We won't know the results of our amnio for atleast 8-10 days. I'm not really anxious about that wait, as we aren't really expecting good news anyways. We are just hoping for more knowledge that will aid us and the doctors in caring for Whitney before, during and after her birth.

Several people have asked why we decided to do the amnio, even though we are not going to intervene in this pregnancy, regardless of the diagnosis.  The reason that we chose to do this was mostly for knowledge.  There are certain chromosomal abnormalities that are completely incompatible with life (Trisomy 18 & 13, just to name a couple).  If we know before she is born that she has such a condition, we will be able to just hold her and be with her in the moments after her birth, as opposed to the doctors whisking her away and trying to work on her to keep her alive.  If we don't know what kind of condition she has, the doctors will have a legal obligation to take her away and immediately start treatments.  Of course, if there is any chance she will survive, we want the doctors to do whatever they can.  But we also realize there are just some cases where life is not able to continue after birth.  Also, if we know Whitney does have a condition that will allow her to live but may need specific, specialized medical care, we want to know so that we can get her that care as soon as possible.  Even seconds count when dealing with such a fragile, young life.  So, the results of this test won't change our actions, but hopefully it will help us to prepare our hearts and prepare our medical care team, if necessary.

Thanks for your prayers, all! We appreciate them!