Friday finally came.
Finally.
Our appointment wasn't until 11:30. That is SO late. We both stayed home. I'd like to say we got a lot accomplished, but we just kind of sat there. We pulled in to the hospital parking lot and I realized I forgot my notebook with 2 weeks of questions that I needed answers to. I was so mad. I sat all morning and couldn't remember my trusted notebook. oh well.
I asked Case what he hoped for. I said I prayed for a "12". But then I felt greedy. So, maybe a 13. I wanted a 12 because a diagnosis went from moderate to mild. And, mild had some really good outcomes. But, praying for a 12 was like asking for too much, getting my hopes up too high. Casey said he just wanted the number to be lower.
We went back with our ultrasound tech and a student from WSU sat in the room as well. I really appreciate the honesty of the techs and the doctors. Don't sugar coat it and tell me scientific answers. That's what helps me. I want numbers. I want real answers.
Myers had his head down. Always. And, he doesn't move. Cute stubborn kid, that one. She tried to measure his head for awhile. Gave up, and came back to it later. His left side is enlarged. And, it's always mostly blocked. His right ventricle measured 8.5. Lower. We were so excited. Or, a normal amount of excited. It's hard to judge excitement when you don't really know what's next. His left side measured 18. She told us she didn't think it was a good measurement and needed to go back, but 18 gets stuck in your head really easy. I'm not really sure what an appropriate response is whilst lying supine on a table with jelly on your belly. I wanted to leave. I wanted to be done. I didn't want to bawl like a crazy, but like there were a few tears. ya know? Every time they measure his head, they try to go somewhere else and tell us something really positive. His femur length was good, which is a good sign actually because that can indicate some other abnormalities. They would point out his cute little lips and note that he doesn't have a cleft palette. His heart looks amazing. In fact, they watched that forever because it's just so perfect. He has plenty of fluid around him. The placenta looks good. It's all good. So, why is there this one thing? We went back to his head. She measured again between a 14-15. That was similar to before and with Myers growing, it's okay for the number to have not shrunk. She was going to show our doctor the images and send the doctor in. Our normal doctor (our normal perinatalogist) was out and his partner would be looking over the images today. She asked if her student could practice ultrasound while she was gone. She also gave us a token souvenir of Myers, and his hand in front of his face. Always. It's actually really cute. And, it's really nice of them to do that.
The student scanned for freaking FOREVER. Oh, I was so done. But I didn't want to be rude. Education is important and it's not like we could do anything while waiting anyways. But oh my gosh. It was like an hour by the time both had scanned. She was so nice and kept asking if I was doing okay. Really. I sound like a brat. But she was nice.
The doctor came in, introduced herself and reported that she wanted to scan. She wanted to do her own because she felt like she could do better. She wanted the ventricle measured more towards the back and all of the ones up to this point were in the middle. She showed us where she was measuring on the right ventricle and explained why she felt it was a better representation of what was really going on. Then she went over to the left ventricle where she showed why it was so hard for the techs to get a good measurement because of where he was laying and where she planned to measure. Bless her amazing, wonderful, intelligent soul. She measured him at a 12.2.
12.2
Do you know where that is? That's almost MILD.
MILD.
So, before, Myers was in the moderate category. 1 number away from severe. Now, he's just shy of that mild category. It's like a whole new world over here.
With a mild diagnosis:
- 90% of children develop normally. They achieve milestones on time. They score similar to peers on academic testing.
- He will still have an increased chance of having Down Syndrome. The percentage goes up to about 10%. About half of that percentage of kids actually have it. The only way to tell is to do an amniocentesis. We aren't doing it.
- He might get a low enough measurement while still in utero. It may go down shortly after he's born.
To put it into perspective, I have no sadness or fear of this outcome. With a moderate diagnosis, I was talking about my child having brain surgery right away. They talked about him being still born. It's completely different.
Our second doctor, or the one that day, doesn't want to see us again for 4 weeks. Peace out! I am completely happy not walking back into that office for 4 more weeks. We've got this. Am I still nervous? Absolutely. The fluid filled space could still grow. We could quickly end up back in the moderate or severe category. But most kids, you would never even know. And, I'm so good with that answer.
Myers will be exactly who he and his Heavenly Father have already decided he is supposed to be. And, I'm so good with whatever answer that is. We absolutely love him. We are grateful for such amazing doctors and techs that have measured and watched him. We are so thankful that they will continue to watch him. Mostly, we're happy that he's ours and can't wait to meet him.
We really can't thank all of our family and friends for the millions of prayers.
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