The hardest update.

I've struggled with how much to share at this point, so forgive me if this post is scattered and somewhat irrational. Oh wait, most of my posts are as such.

At my 24 week appointment on Tuesday, they found 2 soft markers for Down syndrome (echogenic intracardiac focus and a dilated kidney) and a clubfoot, which increases Maverick's odds of having DS. I was alone at the appointment and I'll be honest, very very afraid. They sent an order over for me to see a perinatologist who would do a more in depth ultrasound and discuss with us our options.

Yesterday we met with Dr. Spencer, a perinatologist at St. Mark's hospital in Salt Lake. After a VERY extensive ultrasound with Zach by my side, things felt better. Everything else looked perfectly normal and we got some pretty sweet 4D shots of our baby. Dr. Spencer then told us that with the clubfoot alone, the odds are 1 in 50 that baby has Down syndrome or another chromosomal abnormality.

He gave us three options. 1. Amniocentesis. Very accurate and would give us all the info we needed about Maverick's chromosomes. Also very cheap. The amnio does pose a small risk of ending the pregnancy. 2. Free Cell DNA test called MaterniT21. A very expensive blood test that takes the fetal cells from mom's blood stream and analyzes the chromosomes. Non invasive, poses no risk to the baby and is 98% accurate. Option 3, do nothing and wait till birth. The results of tests won't change anything anyway.

Both Zach and I agreed that we would like to know as much as we could so we could prepare to welcome our baby in the best way possible. We also agreed that knowledge wasn't worth the risk of losing Mav. That left us with option #2, the MaterniT21 blood test. We went ahead and had the blood drawn. The test was sent and it will be 7 to 10 business days for the results.

Now you know the story. It's not the end of the world. Not even close. We don't even know anything for sure yet. I'm adjusting. I love my down syndrome friends. I know they are special and were sent to be in my life for a reason. I know I will love little Maverick with all I have no matter the outcome of a blood test or ultrasound.

I'm still adjusting, and I think that's okay.

To lighten the mood a little I'll share some of my favorites from yesterday's ultrasound.

 Profile. They couldn't get one the day before. I love love love it. 

 It's a little human! Seriously, I'm in love with his little features. He looks so much like Canyon I can't even stand it. 

 This is his clubfoot. It's his right ankle and will need a series of casts to fix it for the first part of his childhood.

I'm grateful for the technology we have today. Even more so the fact that this little bean is even able to grow. Thank you all for being my support. No matter what, this baby was meant to be a part of our family and lives.

See you in 7-10 business days.

22 Weeks

22 weeks. I can't believe how time flies. We've been terrible about taking weekly photos and when we do I hate them. I end up getting a decent mirror selfie, which is definitely not good quality. Alas, it'll have to do.

So, a little update. I feel fantastic. Second trimester energy has finally hit and I've been taking on fun projects again. Most involve sewing things for this little man. I've also been on a cleaning kick, more specifically gutting. Today was the garage, last week I did the craft room. It feels so good to declutter. Weight wise I'm doing well. I've gained just a tad more than I originally wanted to by this point but that's the nature of the beast. I had been staying super active and on track but after one of our awesome hiking excursions I started contracting and dilated a tad. No more exercise for this pregnant lady. Although, in a week or two I'm going to get back into doing some prenatal yoga. Hopefully it'll be just enough to keep me sane but not too much and put me into preterm labor again.

Baby M is finally a little ninja soccer player. When we were going through all the infertility stuff, the one thing I knew I'd miss most if I never got pregnant again was feeling the baby move. I seriously can't stop smiling when I can feel his little wiggling and kicking. Get's me even more excited for him to get here. Also, baby has a name! Yay! We'll wait till we get a little closer to get that all announced, but it starts with M.

So I think I'm going to include some of the fun adventures and pics from the last few weeks. Up until our little scare, we did some pretty awesome hikes.

My sister came out and stayed with us for a few weeks while my parents took a work trip to Japan. We introduced her to our favorite hobby, hiking. This first hike was up American Fork canyon just above Silver Lake flats. It is hands down the most beautiful hike I've done to date.

Start of the hike.

 The hike was about a mile longer than anticipated so Bruce definitely needed a swim once we got up to the lake. 

 The scenery was gorgeous the whole way but the lake was the cherry on top. I could've stayed there for days. 

 Dark clouds started rolling in when we were at the top of the trail. We started heading back down and got caught in a huge lightning storm. It was pretty scary until we reached the tree line. I've never run down a mountain that fast. Not gonna lie, I was pretty sure I was going to get struck by lightning that day. 

 These two were taken in Moab at Corona Arch. Such a fun hike, but boy was it hot. 

After walking around town and eating a yummy dinner, we headed to Arches National park and hiked Delicate Arch. While the air was much cooler (we hiked it at sunset) the  hike was more strenuous than I had expected. The view at the top was way worth the hike. I started contracting about a day and a half after this hike. Bitter sweet I guess.