A miracle is in the works!

THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. for all your loves, support, prayers, hopeful thinking, sending good thoughts, begging, pleading, etc. WE THINK IT HAS PAID OFF!!!!

as you know, we had a "2nd opinion" appt today at the UW (univ of washington). i underwent another "1st trimester screening" just like the one from 2.5 weeks ago. the ultrasound tech was aware that this was a 2nd opinion and was very diligent in her picture taking. (sometimes, a little painful...but well worth it.) it seemed, through my eyes, the NT (nuchal translucency) seemed bigger. but, then again, estella is bigger. i gave her a little time before i asked if she had been able to get an accurate measurement. she said her readings were around 2.7mm!!! (to remind you: the original NT was 3.6mm and the CH was 3.75mm. the edema didnt have a measurement.) i did get pretty excited. all i knew is that it was lower. she reminded me that she had a few more angles to work around. some of them did read out around 3.2mm. BUT IT WAS STILL SMALLER THAN 2.5 WEEKS AGO! she left the room to speak with the radiologist to make sure she had gathered enough info for our needs. i must say, she seemed like it was just important to her to get this right.

we were sent upstairs to speak to the genetic counselor without any more information. it was a long 30 minute wait...of course, sarah (genetic counselor) wanted to ask some questions before getting to the results. (REALLY???!!!) she finally began sharing the U/S results:

3.0mm NT
NO cystic hygroma present
NO edema present

we are still in shock. it's a miracle. of all the possibilities, i had never imagined this outcome. i'd never imagined it would all be gone. (i just prayed for same or smaller.) it's still hard to believe. we couldnt be more thankful...

what does this mean?

well...it's not all roses. a 3.0 is on the highest end of normal and because of the cystic hygroma that WAS there, we still are on the "high likelihood something is wrong with baby." but, instead of thinking of statistics of her passing away in utero, we are discussing percentages of her having genetic/disability/birth defects versus 100% healthy. (she told us we have a 10% chance she will be 100% healthy.) we will have the echo next week to look at the heart. there will be a 16-week look at her to see if any further progress has been made. then, the 20-week U/S will be a biggy. they will look at her anatomy (looking for physical birth defects) and also be able to get a good look at organs.

we know we are not out of the woods for her health. but, we do know that she seems to be getting better. that is what counts. each appt gives us renewed hope in getting to meet our baby girl. one step at a time.

we still need all your good thoughts through the coming week (echo) and months. we hope to keep updating you with good news :)