Saying Goodbye to Baby LaSalle

I apologize for the delay in updating ya'll on Baby LaSalle, but things have been quite a whirlwind the last couple of weeks, which makes it extremely difficult to even know where to begin this sort of awful news. The first of the bad news began when we received a phone call on June 14 from the doctor's office saying that we had received some elevated markers back on our Quad screen results and wanted to schedule an appointment immediately. So the next day we went in to have an ultrasound.


Our last ultrasound video of Baby LaSalle June 15, 2010

The doctor didn't tell us a lot, he did tell us that the test results of the Quad screen came back with high markers for Spina Bifida, a 1 in 4 chance. The doctor said that it was still too early to tell and that he would like us to go to a specialist in St. George in about a week and a half. We ended up getting in to see the specialist on Monday the 21st, thinking in the meantime that this would end up being a false positive like so many other people receive on this test. Unfortunately, our visit with the specialist would put to rest any hope of having a normal pregnancy. After a lengthy but quiet ultrasound session with the assistant and then another with the specialist himself, we were told that there was more than one birth defect and that it was highly recommended that we do an amniocentesis to determine if there were any chromosomal abnormalities present, of which he suspected a Trisomy disorder. We were sent to see the genetic counselor on staff, and were given the understanding that more than likely they expected our baby to have Trisomy 18, a rare and fatal chromosomal abnormality where our baby would have an extra #18 chromosome creating multiple birth defects. We were sent home to wait for results of our amnio, and researched everything we could about Trisomy 18 for the next two days.

Our last ultrasound picture of Baby LaSalle June 21, 2010

On Wednesday of that same week we received the preliminary results of our amnio which said that our baby was not suffering from Trisomy 18, but an even more rare and fatal chromosomal abnormality called Triploidy, where the baby has an extra set of every chromosome. Again, we were hit with devastating news that just seemed to keep getting worse and worse. We did our best to learn what we could about this condition, and while it is in many ways similar to the Trisomy 18 we had become well-versed in in the past few days, it carries even lower odds of survival. It was difficult to find as much information on Triploidy, but here is one site that was quite informative if you're interested in learning more about it:

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/441672/triploidy_syndrome_how_to_cope_with.html?cat=52

Along with this diagnosis came news of several risks to Allison's health as well, these being the risk of cancer, and also the risk of death by hemorrhaging by the 20th week. Allison was 18 weeks at the time. Due to the nature of the pregnancy, the doctors believed Allison may have what is called a partial molar pregnancy... Here is some info on partial molar pregnancies and the risks associated:

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/613125/what_is_molar_partial_molar_pregnancy.html?cat=52

This is where the news continues to get worse, when the doctors recommended that due to the diagnosis of our baby and the possibility of harm for Allison, we should terminate the pregnancy. Although this was the hardest decision we have ever had to make, we felt that due to the possible risks and our doctors' urging we had no choice but to say goodbye to our baby. On June 30, our little baby returned to Heaven where it will always be an angel in our hearts.

We are so devastated at the loss of our little baby that we were so looking forward to meeting in November.... It was so hard to put this into words just so that friends and family can be updated, so please understand it is a difficult time for us, and still difficult to talk about at times. Thank you for all of your support and prayers in this hard time. We love you all.

Jared and Allison

Our most recent ultrasound

This picture is from our most recent ultrasound taken on Thursday!! We were able to get a video of it made so that we could share it with family and friends! The doctor says the baby is forming perfectly, and while we're still not sure of the sex, he's given us an 80% chance that it's a girl!! Go figure.... (Obviously, I would not recommend spending the money on the Intelligender test.) ; ) Nevertheless, we are very excited for a baby girl, and I particularly can't wait to start shopping for all the adorable little girl outfits I've seen in the last few months!! However, I'll just have to wait for my next ultrasound in a month until it is 100% confirmed.

I hope the quality is good, I am new to posting videos online, so we'll see how this goes! There is no audio obviously, but I think it's probably pretty self explanatory since it looks more like a baby than an alien now! You can actually see the baby move, and the heartbeat! Enjoy the video, and as soon as I have another to post, I will!

The Intelligender Test

We are so lucky to be having a baby at this time because of all the new testing available, like 3D ultrasounds, at home fetal dopplers, and more recently, the Intelligender boy or girl test!!  ; )  It's a newer test available that's kind of like a pregnancy test, only it predicts the gender of your baby as early as 10 weeks along...  It claims to be 80-90% accurate, and you can get it at Walgreens.  Obviously, we decided to pick one up, and I took the test this morning-just shy of 11 weeks along.  Of course, this test is not definitive, but thought it would be fun to try it out and see what our results were.  The way I looked at it was even 80% is not terrible odds, however, we won't be painting the nursery blue until we get confirmation from our doctor through an ultrasound....  That's right people, I said blue!!!!  Our result was a very clear BOY!!  So assuming the test is correct, we are expecting a little boy!  Not sure exactly how far along I will be before we find out for sure, but we can't wait for it to be confirmed...

I had to take the test at 4:30 this morning because I could no longer hold my bladder, and the instructions are very clear that you should use the first morning's urine...  Needless to say, for anyone who has been pregnant before, I had already been holding it for several hours.  I woke Jared up, and asked if he wanted to look at the results with me 10 minutes later & was pleasantly surprised that he was able to peel himself out of bed with me to see them.  The test was very easy to read, and as soon as we turned the corner we could see that the results were BOY!!  Jared insists that he knew this all along, but was very pleased to have his prediction at least somewhat confirmed...  He was so happy that he barely went back to sleep, randomly saying, "It's a boy!"  Which he carried over into song lyrics in the shower...  ; )  So, I think its fair to say that Jared is ever so slightly excited at the prospect of a baby boy on the way!  Not to be confused with me not being excited...  I was the one who really didn't care either way, my prayer is that the baby is healthy and happy no matter what the sex.  Jared has been pulling for a boy all along, and I'm happy that he will more than likely be getting his wish!  I just hope and pray I get mine as well!!

Just thought I'd share the results of this fun, new gender test with ya'll!!  After having taken the test, I have read several not so favorable reviews about its accuracy, so don't go buying out the department store boys section...  That's right, I'm talking to you, Mom.  ; )  At least not yet!!  Once it is confirmed, go crazy, I certainly don't want to impede on your Grandma style...  But for now, I guess we can consider it a preliminary result, and we wanted to share it with ya'll.  Our next appointment is May 28th, so I may not have another update until then.  Hope ya'll are excited to add another boy to the mix, because we sure are!!

First Prenatal Visit

We had our first prenatal visit today, and got a clean bill of health for Baby LaSalle!!  We were able to get our very first pictures of the baby, and hear the heartbeat.  Everything looks great as far as the size of the baby, and the heartbeat was strong and at the appropriate rate!  It was at 170 beats per minute.  The due date has remained at November 26, and we can't wait!!!!!  It was the most amazing thing either of us have ever seen when that little baby popped up on the screen!!  We actually got to see the baby move a bit, and saw the little flicker of the heartbeat...  I wish I had gotten a picture of Jared's face when he first saw it.  He hopped right out of his seat, and stood throughout the whole thing!  We are definitely looking forward to our next ultrasound!

I'm so relieved to have confirmation of the baby's health, because I must admit that I had a secret fear of getting to the appointment and seeing that scary face on the ultrasound technician that quickly slips out of the room to grab the doctor so that he can relay the bad news...  I mostly had these irrational fears because I've had absolutely no morning sickness as of yet, but apparently I'm just one of the lucky ones!!  So things are great, and we couldn't be happier!

I will update ya'll again just as soon as I have something new to report, and I'll leave you with Baby LaSalle's first picture!



For those of you who can't see what that little white blob is....  It looks as though the baby is standing on its head.  At this stage of development the head is about half of its total size, so that circle at the bottom is the head, and directly above that you can see the little arms, above that the body, and at the very top are the tiny little legs...  You can also see the umbilical cord sticking out to the left-that little string at the very top.

Welcome to our Blog!

While we are in uncharted territory with the baby on the way, blogging is a new thing for us as well!!  I thought there couldn't be a better time to start blogging than now so that our friends and family that are always so far away could stay up to date on the latest and greatest news on Baby LaSalle!!  Please feel free to pass this link along to any friends or family who would like to follow Baby LaSalle's journey!

As I write this, I am exactly eight weeks pregnant, and anxiously awaiting our first OB/GYN appointment on April 26th!  So far things have been smooth sailing as far as the pregnancy goes...  Not sure if the dreaded morning sickness is right around the corner, or if I'm just one of the lucky ones, but I'm certainly not complaining!!

We jumped the gun a bit on spreading the good news, but we were just so excited to share it with all of our dear friends and family!  We are just dying to hear that tiny little heartbeat, and get a clean bill of health for baby from the doctor...  Please keep us in your prayers for a happy and healthy baby!!

I look forward to sharing all the good news every step of the way with ya'll, and will update you again as soon as I have more news!