Halfway There!

Today marks 20 weeks...the halfway point! I had a midwife appointment at 9am with Becky. It was a pretty uneventful appointment...weight, BP check, and doppler check. Only gained 4 lbs so far...not bad, but I am definitely still carrying some extra baby weight leftover from Braeden to begin with! BP was fine. Ashlyn's little heart was beating away at 150 beats per minute. We discussed the results of the ultrasounds....sounds like the midwives will be letting Dr. M deal with the health of Ashlyn, while they will continue to monitor my health.

After my appointment, Braeden and I went to the lab so I could have my blood drawn. Dr. M gave me a req to have my blood tested for CMV (cytomegalovirus), and I finally got around to getting tested. If this virus is present, it is possible I could have passed the infection on to Ashlyn causing the abnormality with her brain. There is an experimental medication available if that is the case. While the treatment is not a cure, it is thought to be beneficial in providing the best outcomes. It is very expensive, and insurance rarely covers it....but most likely I do not have the infection so it won't be an issue. The needle was the easy part...waiting for the results is the hard part. I want answers....but it just seems like all I can do is wait wait wait.....

Drumroll please....

We have a name.....Ashlyn Grace Kelly!

According to a baby name book, the Irish meaning of Ashlyn is "vision" or "dream." I just think it is a very pretty name....and Chris and I actually agreed on it!

And now for the not-so-good news....

We had our ultrasound today to follow up after our devastating scan a couple weeks ago. The baby was not so shy this time around so as I previously posted....IT'S A GIRL!! I haven't had much of a chance to get overly excited worrying about everything...but YAY!!

So basically, the lateral and third ventricles in the brain are still dilated....not much more than last time though so that is reassuring. Dr. M was able to get a better look at the whole brain and found that the cerebellum and spine looked completely normal ruling out conditions like Dandy Walker or Spinia Bifida. He concluded that most likely the ventriculomegaly is being caused by aqueductal stenosis (never have a googled a word so much in just a matter of hours...). Aqueductal stenosis is one of the most common causes of hydrocephalus (excess fluid in brain). It is basically a blockage of the aqueduct of Sylvius, which is a small channel connecting the 3rd and 4th ventricles (refer to my Dec. 30th post for more info on the boring anatomy stuff). At this point, the brain is not measuring much bigger than expected (21 weeks...we are 19 weeks) so that is good news....but Dr. M did not really feel that we will be able to avoid hydrocephalus. Another reassuring point...so far there are no other obvious abnormalites that might indicate a chromosomal abnormality. Phew....

As far as the outcomes for Ashlyn, we really have no more information other than the diagnosis of aqueductal stenosis. Dr. M recommends to continue getting ultrasounds every 3-4 weeks. No amnio will be done at this point per our request. Right now, it is not clear if Ashlyn will have any neurological impairment and if she will need a surgically placed shunt. Only time will tell....

So for now....we wait.

Good news first....It's a......

GIRL!!!