19 Weeks...It's a Girl and Boy!

That's right, we're having a girl and a boy! We are so excited about this wonderful news. Tuesday was our ultrasound at UC Davis Hospital in the Radiology dept., and my family and Ryan came to be with me during the full anatomy scan of the babies (which took almost 2 hours!). The doctor measures all the bones in each of the babies, and gives you an idea of their growth rate, etc.

Below are some ultrasound pics we got that day, which are so precious to me. Our little girl had the hickups during the ultrasound, and we could clearly see her little chest moving with each hickup. The doctor said it's very common and normal for babies to have hickups in the womb. I can't feel her having them yet, but I'm sure I will soon enough!

Here is our daughter, which Ryan affectionately calls "Leah"...



Our little son is just as precious and special as our little sweet daughter....if not more so. Ryan affectionately calls him "Luke"...



We were given some unexpected news during our genetic testing appointment at the beginning of the second trimester. They had me come in for the usual ultrasound to take a look at the developing fetuses. The ultrasound tech was very quiet as she viewed each baby. After the ultrasound was over, she said that I would have my results that day. She came back with a Radiologist and Genetic Counselor who explained to me that our son (then referred to as Baby A) had some problems.

They let me call Ryan at work so he could meet me and they could explain it to us together. She explained that the problem was with his head, that it had not formed properly by day 28 of conception. It is a neural tube deficiency known as anencephaly, where the developing fetus has no skull and no forehead. It is a fatal condition, and if the baby survives through the delivery, may only live a day or two. They explained that it was in no way any fault of our own, and that this rare condition occurs in about 1 in 10,000 babies.

Needless to say, I was in shock. It came as such a suprise, nothing could have prepared us for it. The days and weeks that followed were so incredibly hard and unbearable.

We had been through such an emotional roller coaster with our battle with infertility and IVF process already. We had 14 fertilized embryos, but only 2 looked "good". Our outlook was grim because of my age and other factors. After the very long "two week wait" it was confirmed that our IVF cycle was a success! My 6 week ultrasound revealed that we were having twins! That was an added bonus to our recent good news. We felt that we had been given "double the blessings", and were so excited to have twins.

We love our son dearly, and can't wait to one day hold him in our arms, and bond with that special little baby before he soon returns to the home from which he came.

The Lord works in ways that we don't always understand. I have come to learn that the last several years, as we all do in our own ways. I may never know in this life the purpose of my trials and hardships. But the point is to have faith and trust in Him, and rely on the Holy Spirit. I would be very ungreatful if I didn't recognize all the miracles (small and great) that have helped me along the way. It is a true testimony to me that we are loved, and that our families are a special blessing to cherish always.