No, Really, It’s a girl!

So quite a bit has happened since the last post. We went to Aultman to talk to a geneticist and one of the high risk OBGYN’s. The geneticist was very nice and was the first to begin to ease our fears about Downs Syndrome. She seemed to think it was more likely that the baby’s problems were genetically related rather than Downs. We had a much more exhaustive ultra sound done. We found out that she has not one, but two club feet, but that’s no biggie. I had a club foot so I have a pretty good idea what she’s instore for. She also has white spots on her heart, but the doctor said they were just calcium deposits and will go away with time. She also has a two vessel umbilical cord (as opposed to three), but all that really means is she may not be as big as she should be at birth, but she should be fine. We also had an amniocentesis done to rule out the Downs. Last Monday we got the results back from that, and thank goodness they were negative. Also they proved definitively from the test that it is a girl. Carleigh Royce Belloni is the name we have picked out. That same Monday I went to see a geneticist at Akron Children’s because of the very real possibility that both Carleigh and I have Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. That is what caused Ben’s aneurysm and most likely Mom’s too. They are going to send Carleigh’s cells to the same lab in Seattle that showed that is what Ben had. If she tests positive then by default I have it too. The doctors are very reassuring though. While there isn’t really anything you can do to cure it or prevent problems because it is genetic, you can take steps to protect yourself. Just knowing that you have it is a step in the right direction should anything happen. I have to go for a cardiogram on Friday and will more than likely have to do that yearly for the rest of my life just to be sure everything is looking ok. All in all we are both very happy that it is not Downs syndrome and are excited to deal with any challenges that Carleigh may present us with.