We started off seeing some more pictures of Caroline again, this time with a new ultrasound technician, who captured her precious and wonderful heartbeat on a small "heart" recorder for us to save.
Then a different doctor (Dr. O'Shaughnessy) came in to do the amnio. While they were able to get in, they were surprised when the fluid that came out had a dark red blood in it, as they were expecting it to be relatively clear. The trauma of the first amnio caused Jessica's blood to be mixed with the amniotic fluid. Because of this, they switched up the order of testing, and drew some of Jessica's blood, so they could tell whether the amnio sample was Caroline's or Jessica's. Had Caroline been a boy, it would have been easy to tell - if there was a Y chromosome, it's not Jessica's DNA. It will take 3-4 weeks from the amnio for the labs to tell whether they have a sample that can be used - a sample that is Caroline's cells and not Jessica's. From that point, then they can start the test for Meckel Gruber, which takes an additional 3-4 weeks.We continued on to meet with Katie (the genetic counselor), to discuss the tests, including the possibilities of some other conditions. If they confirm that Caroline has Meckel-Gruber, then we'll test both of us to see if we are recessive carriers. Katie also provided a few books for us, and some children's books that were donated by some parents who had recently been in a similar situation, but we haven't decided when to use them yet.
The visit to St. Ann's MFM wrapped up with a consultation with Dr. O'Shaughnessy. We took an in-depth look at the ultrasound images from last week and this one, showing the size of Caroline's kidneys and abdomen (we later found out the kidneys are 14 times normal size) as well as seeing the images of the brain-matter that is not in its right place. Here, we could clearly see what they were seeing - an abdomen swollen and larger than the head, and something that wasn't right on the back of her head.Tuesday night was an uplifting experience. Although Tom had a work meeting, Jessica was able to attend a mass at St Michael's that had been donated by Tom's Knights of Columbus Council. The attendance was overwhelming, and even a few of Jessica's non-Catholic friends came to support her and Caroline. Jessica's Mom, Anne, also drove down from Youngstown to be there, and stay for a day to help out around the house. We were surrounded by love in all directions.
We also initiated contact with the Prenatal hospice team (based out of Nationwide Children's Hospital) and we reached out to Back in His Arms, an organization that helps families with stillbirth and infant loss situations. We also spoke with the therapist that our friend had recommended and set an appointment for Tuesday the 22nd to begin conversations on how to process this information and also how to best tell the children.
The weekend approached with some heavy predictions for a snow storm, and we hunkered down with a warm fire in the fireplace, and some great bolognese sauce for dinner, all while praying for a miracle for our sweet baby girl.
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