How it all began...

10/25/2008

Dear friends and family,
As many of you may know, we received a shocking blow at the ultrasound on Wednesday when we learned that there are some problems with our 20-week old baby. They saw 3 issues that cause them concern: omphalacele (which is when the intestines are on the outside of baby's body), bilateral club feet, and choroid plexus cysts (which are on the brain). Any one of these problems could be corrected if it was present in isolation, but the fact that they are all happening at the same time is what causes the doctors concern. We were immediately referred to a pediatric geneticist, who we met with on Friday afternoon.

That meeting yesterday went well, but we didn't get good news. There isn't yet a 100% diagnosis, but all the signs are pointing to Trisomy 18. Trisomy 18 is a chromosomal defect which happens completely by accident - it is nothing hereditary, nothing we did, nothing we didn't do. We won't go into the details of Trisomy 18 here, but feel free to google it, where you will get a lot of information.

The geneticist immediately referred us to a specialist who performs high-risk fetal ultrasound. As she says it, he is the "rockstar" of the ultrasound world, located in the Chicago suburb of Oakbrook. She called him while we were in her office and we already have an appointment on Monday at 12:30. At that appointment they will perform a Level 2 ultrasound and amniocentesis. The amnio will allow them to specifically check the chromosomes to confirm or deny Trisomy 18, and the ultrasound will allow them to confirm or deny the initial ultrasound findings, as well as to take a more detailed look at the heart and other organs to confirm any additional abnormalities.

We, of course, are heartbroken and scared, but we are resting in the support of family and friends, and especially in the peace and strength that we know only comes through our Heavenly Father. We praise him for the amazing doctors that we have already seen, for our ability to get into these appointments quickly, and that we have had care for Jackson when we needed it, so we can make it to these meetings together. We ask for prayer: that we would continue to meet with skilled doctors, that our Jackson would be protected and cared for during this time, that our baby won't have to suffer or feel pain, that we would be able to get the rest and sleep that we need, and mostly that it wouldn't be Trisomy 18 and our baby would be healed. If our baby isn't healed, we pray that God might allow us to see how He is using this for His glory in blessing either us or the people around us.

I'm so happy to have gotten some pictures of our sweet baby from Wednesday. I've attached them below so you can see who you're praying for. We are very hopeful that we will find out the sex of the baby on Monday so we can start to call him or her by name!
We love you and thank you supporting us. Feel free to call or email anytime, we love hearing from you.
Love,
Mar and Dan