Lately, I’ve been looking at my little girl and realizing she isn’t such a little girl anymore. She may be in third grade and almost 9, but it feels like she’s going on 13. She’s smart. She’s trustworthy. She’s kind and loving. She’s funny and just plain remarkable. When I was in third grade, I don’t think I was as driven as she is and I was teacher’s pet!
Between GATE, Girl Scouts, Cheerleading and all the events that go along with those, she’s always got something going on. In the last month, she’s done a “Reader’s Showcase” where she and her friend wrote out and performed in a Skit about Harry Potter, done Daddy Daughter bowling with Girl Scouts, performed on a Ukulele in front of her entire school (with the rest of the third graders) and performed at a high school for her Cheerleading Tiger Jam.
She’s also achieved her goal of reading one million words this school year and completed her Jiji Math Program. Oh, she’s also got her pet rabbit Pepper that she is responsible for.
She is also my EB child as she suffers from EB like I do, but by some miracle her case is very mild and as of right now only affects her hands. It flairs up like mine does when anything causes friction, like playing on the bars at school. She has gloves just in case, but now she seems to be more focused on playing handball then playing on the bars so I feel this is a win-win situation.
She has an amazing set of friends, who excel her in all the right ways. Some of them she has known since Kindergarten and of course she has her best friend and let me tell you, those two are quite the pair. Unfortunately, this year they aren’t in the same class together, but that doesn’t stop them from doing everything they can to spend time together.
She is also an incredible big sister. As much as her brother annoys the heck out of her, she still loves to spend time with him, still loves to play with him. Just last night, when I put her brother in the bath, she came into the room and starting picking up the bath toys and playing with him. I asked if she wanted to sit on the toilet so better play with him and she did. I went to start dinner for her and me (since he had already eaten earlier with my husband, who has since left for work). I hear her holler from the bathroom and ask if she can put her feet in the water. I told her to go ahead, so she did and he splashed her and got her shorts wet. I suggested maybe she should go change into her bathing suit. She didn’t even hesitate. I came back in a little bit later to her sitting in the tub playing with him. It was too adorable.
I know looking at my little girl, that she is so blessed by the people in her life and it shows that it has created this amazing child. I can only imagine how far she will go as she continues down this amazing path called life.
All of this has gotten me thinking about the fact that when I was pregnant with her, we were on top of the world… and then we weren’t. We had some fearful times with her. We weren’t sure everything was going to be okay.
We found out we were pregnant on November 4, 2009. It was 11 days before our first year wedding anniversary. To say we were happy would be an understatement. Our first ultrasound appointment was on December 4, 2009. The midwife we seen said she was looked like a little teddy bear. It couldn’t have been more perfect since I’ve always called my husband my bear. She became our Little Cub. She became my little peanut. Our due date was the 4th of July and we were so excited.
Everything was going smoothly. I barely had any morning sickness. I was eating and losing weight instead of gaining, but the doctors said that it was normal since I was a heavier to begin with. We were anxiously waiting to find out more about our little one. They scheduled her 18 week appointment for February 1st. That’s the big appointment where they check out everything to see how she’s growing. Going in, it was so bad. For this appointment, you have to drink a TON of water and not use the bathroom. By the time they let me in, I was DYING. I had to go to the bathroom so bad. Of course, then they start poking me and pushing on my belly for ultrasound pictures. They finally let me use the bathroom and they continued to take measurements. They told me that they were not 100% certain, but they thought it was probably a girl. We went home with a few photos for our scrapbook.
The next day, I received a phone call from one of the midwives who informed me that they noticed “fluid on the brain”. There was nothing else noticed wrong with the baby and that the risks of it turning into something were very small. There was only a 5% chance the fluid would not drain and only a 1% chance after that, that it could be a sign of a genetic disorder, or something like Down’s syndrome. I was terrified. It was supposed to be perfect. They scheduled a follow up appointment for just over a week later.
On February 9th, I had my next ultrasound done to check the brain again, as well as the other organs to make sure nothing was missed. The doctor, who actually shared my last name, informed us that “it” was now a “she” and that he didn’t have all good news for us.
He said that the baby’s ventricles in her brain (running from front to back, they contain water) were slightly enlarged and explained the risks of that again. They then had us immediately go in and talk to a genetic counselor. She asked us a ton of information about our families and medical history. They wanted to know what race and everything our grandparents were even. After going through all of the background information, she told us the measurements again. Basically, normal healthy baby’s ventricles measure under 1cm, or 10mm. Our baby’s measurement came in at 11mm. Which, honestly, doesn’t sound too bad at this point, but given the fact this little one is still pretty small and the way they were acting, it felt like the most horrible thing in the world. From there, they told us there are three outcomes. It is possible the water can drain and everything will go back to being normal, it can all stay the same and they would continue to monitor it throughout the entire pregnancy, or it can get worse. If it gets worse, she has a chance for brain damage as there will be less room in her head for her brain with the extra water. The counselor informed us that in California, you are able to abort up to 24 weeks, which Raymond and I told her that isn’t even an option for us. Regardless of how our baby turned out we would love and care for her just the same.
They then scheduled me for an amniocentesis for the next day where they tested the fluid around the baby for genetic problems and Down syndrome. They do this is by checking the cells the baby has shed and will be checking her DNA. Basically, it involved a huge needle being stuck into my belly. They watch everything on ultrasound to make sure they don’t accidentally hit the baby and it does have a chance of miscarriage. Those results take 2 to 3 weeks to get back, but they said they would call me as soon as they are back. I also had blood drawn where they will test for infections to see if something was missed and was passed onto the baby. It was just a waiting game at this point.
To be continued…
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