She's here!!!!!

Hannah Katherine is here!

Her arrival was early (30 weeks) and very eventful. Right now she is doing well and we are so thankful. Details to come...

Ultrasound Results

Tuesday was our appointment with the specialist. I didn't want to get into why we had the appointment until it was over and I knew how things were going to go. When we went to our anatomy ultrasound, they saw multiple choroid plexus cysts in baby girl's brain. When we met with the midwife afterward to discuss, one of the things mentioned was trisomy 18. She said the risk was small, but that was all it took for my mind to start turning and I was devastated. The meeting with the specialist was to have a special ultrasound to look for the cysts and other markers and also to meet with a genetic counselor.

Brian and I went to the appointment on Tuesday and I was really nervous. The ultrasound tech was really nice and she commented on how active our little girl is. She took lots and lots of measurements and pictures and told us at the end that baby girl is measuring 2 lbs 1 oz. I know there are margins of error for these measurements, but it made me feel better because at 26 weeks she is already bigger than Ethan was at 29 weeks. Afterward we met with the genetic counselor and she told us that the cysts were gone. Oh sweet relief! She asked a lot of questions about our family histories and we talked about Ethan and the genetic testing we had done on the placenta. Based on all this information she said that the risk that she has trisomy 18 is well less than 1%.

We left the appointment and decided to go celebrate! We haven't had BBQ in over a year so we went to Dinosaur BBQ (our appointment was in Syracuse). It wasn't Salt Lick by a long shot, but it was still tasty. Definitely a nice end to a stressful day!

Now to make it past 29 weeks and beyond. We have weekly appointments now so hopefully we will be able to watch little girl's growth closely. 

Little one is a...

I realized that I never let everyone know the gender!

We found out at our 21 week anatomy scan that little one is a little girl! She was hilarious moving all around during the scan and showing us how flexible she is.

See her legs all the way up at her head? 

The ultrasound tech even let us see her in 3D for a little bit. I usually find those pictures a little freaky looking (just being honest) but in real time it's very cool. Her cord was in the way so that's the funny looking thing you see on the left of her face. Brian and I laughed because there is no doubt who's nose she has :).

We also found out that we needed to have another ultrasound to check on some things. We have an appointment with the specialist on Tuesday and are looking forward to checking on our little one. Hopefully we will get good news and have more pictures to share!

I'm ready

Or at least I think I am :).

This is a big year for the Longs for a variety of reasons. Brian is working hard to keep up with Post doc work and get ready to apply for teaching positions. There are many late nights of proposal writing and searching for universities that are hiring. As ready as I am to know we will be living in a place for a longer period of time, it's also hard to believe we are finally at this point! The changes for us don't stop with jobs though.

Do you know what all these things have in common?

We had a pantry closet full of these things for several months. And I ate them exclusively :). Because our growing little one was making their mama sick. I have never been so thankful for morning/all day sickness in my life!

We found out at the end of April, right before we left to spend Ethan's birthday in Georgia. Knowing didn't diminish the sadness we felt missing Ethan but I do think it gave us hope. We debated over and over when we would tell others. We aren't naive to the things that can go wrong, but we also wanted to enjoy every moment we do have with this new little one. It has been an interesting juxtaposition of emotions and I don't always handle vulnerability and emotions together well. So, please forgive us for waiting until now to share in our news.

9 weeks

11 weeks

21 weeks

 

Our due date is January 4th, and we are currently 22 weeks. We have met with a MFM specialist, and have a plan for how things will be handled differently this time. Growth scans have started every 3-4 weeks and it has been nice to get the extra peeks. Our appointments will start to get closer together starting at 24 weeks and will continue until little one is born.

So now you know why things have been quiet around here lately. I've actually written a few posts and just kept them in draft since I don't want to forget this time in our lives. You may see them popping up periodically as I backtrack. We are happy for the gift of this little one, and ask you to join us in celebrating the gift of today.

Will you join us in praying that we get to bring this little one home?