Level 2 Update

First and foremost, I want to thank everyone for all the kind words of support. Many of you took the time out to tell me your own story or experience, and it means so much. I can't tell you how much better you all made me feel. Click HERE for my original blog from the NT scan.

Tuesday morning we met with a genetic counselor who just walked us through the results. Long story short, they found two things in the blood related to down syndrome. My HCG was high (which explains why I was so sick this time around) and PAPP-A was low. On average they like to see HCG and PAPP-A around 1.0. My HCG was at 2.43 and my PAPP-A was at .78, which is what put me in the high risk category.  Ultimately, the counselor kept reminding me that I still only have a .5 chance of having a baby with Downs.

After the genetic counseling, they sent us over to do the level 2 ultrasound. Basically, they check for soft markers associated with down's such as sandal gap, thickening in the back of the neck, bright bowl, spots on the heart or sign of a heart defect, extra fluid around the organs etc. Thankfully, they didn't find any of these things. The doctor made it very clear that 50% of babies with down syndrome show no soft markers during the level 2, and the only way to know for sure would be an amnio. However, he thought with the original NT results, the presence of a nasal bone, and the level 2 results that he didn't think it was necessary. Which was good because Brandon and I had already decided that we did not want to have one done.

We also found out that I still have placenta previa, yuck! BUT... also found out that we have a sweet baby girl on the way! All in all, I am feeling much better about everything.  I'm such a worrier by nature, but for some reason I have remained very calm about the whole thing. Now I'm off to enjoy the rest of my pregnancy, but I'll leave you with this sweet bit of baby goodness below: