October and begun to be a really busy month. On the 3rd, this past Saturday, I ran a leisurely half marathon called Grete's Gallop in Central Park with a friend. She is training for the NYC marathon on November 1st and I decided to join her for some company. Rain and thunder where in the forecast at 90%, but none of that took place! It was just humid. The run was good and I felt awesome throughout. Grete Wiatz is a Norwegian marathoner who holds the record for most NYC marathons won.
Tuesday, the 6th, I had a special ultrasound and blood test done called a Neuchal Translucency (NT) test. This is to test for the possibility of Down's Syndrome. It was the most annoying test I hope I ever have to go through! In order for the ultrasound tech to properly measure the space in the baby's neck, the baby MUST be a certain position (lying on it's back). Usually, the baby's cooperate and are in the position. Little Lee, DID NOT COOPERATE!!!! Try #1: Little Lee was doing a hand stand and kicking his/her legs in the air! The cool part, the u/s tech played around with the machine and the baby, I got to see my cervix (whoopie), she pointed out the placenta, made me cough and shook my belly many times to get the baby to move. Little Lee just wanted to continue the acrobatics. I even got to hear the heartbeat for the fist time! haha. She sent me out in the waiting room and told me to cough and remain standing while she took another patient. People kept looking at me wondering if I was sick. Try #2. Little Lee was somewhat still on his/her head, but was turning back to us too. She brought the doc in to see if the position was acceptable. He of course said no, but it would be perfect to get the measurements via transvaginal. She we waited for the next room to open up to continue. Try #3. The tech wanted to check one more time to see if the baby moved. Little Lee finally cooperated after a little wait. During this wait, I got to see Little Lee's brain....kind of exciting actually, we know it won't be an "airhead" (har har)! The official results won't be available for another week, but by the space in the neck, we have nothing to worry about. After telling Ping about our baby being ever so active, we said, if he is like that outside of the womb, I should just take him for a run. Good idea!
Two appointments have no occurred since I last wrote on this blog. I decided to wait to report, because I wanted to get more clarity and answers from my doctor to ensure an accurate report to you. Let me start off by saying that Ping and I are very happy to be expecting a child in our lives. We rejoice in the fact that God has provided us with a child to care for and raise. We only hope and pray that we will do the best that we can for her. With that said, we received some news at my level II ultrasound. This ultrasound is done at 20 weeks. It looks at the baby's organs, and other anatomy to ensure the baby is normal and healthy. If some of you have read earlier, you will know that at 12 weeks, we chose to do the Neuchal Translucency screening to test for the possibility of Down's Syndrome and Trisomy 18. Our results from that test came back with the result of "screen positive: increased risk of Down's Syndrome." At that time, we chose not to do an amnio because our chance of having a kid with Down's (although increased) was only 5%. At the level II ultrasound, it was revealed that our child had some physical markers for Down's. Her long bones (limbs) measure only in the 2 percentile range for her gestational age. Her Iliac Bone (hip) is widen, also consistent with Down's. The notes of the ultrasound state: High risk Down Syndrome. My doctor today talked with me more about these results. He stated that in his experience, it is safe to say that our little girl does have Down Syndrome. With her proportions (a chubby baby - her abdomen measurment is in the 77 percentile- and short limbs- in the 2 and 5 percentile) she pretty much has Down Syndrome. 
