Update on Te2

We had our second ultrasound with Te2 at 19 weeks, on March 29th. I think most parents go into this ultrasound primarily concerned about what sex the baby is going to be. Thinking about the anatomy scan is secondary, or at least it was for us. Unfortunately, this time around, finding out that Te2 is a boy was secondary.

Our ultrasound tech left the room a couple of times during our scan. As health care providers ourselves, you would think this would have clued Charles and I in to the fact that something wasn't right. Needless to say, it didn't. When the radiologist walked back in to the room with the ultrasound tech, I was wondering why this guy was busting in on our appointment. The reason was that he was there to tell us that Te2 has a cleft lip. At this scan, they told us it looked like unilateral and left sided. They could not tell if there was any palate involvement. They assured us that everything else (kidneys, heart, spine, etc) looked great and this was the only thing they were seeing. We were then sent directly over to our OB's office to talk with her. There is a small chance of other genetic abnormalities, so we opted to go ahead and have a blood test done that would test for Trisomy 21, 18, 13 and the presence of Y chromosomal material. We figured if it came back positive this would help us be more prepared, and if it came back negative then this would be one less thing for me to obsess over.  It took a week for the results to come back, and thankfully they were negative. Our OB also referred us to a perinatologist, who is essentially an OB that specializes in high risk pregnancies. The soonest they could get us in was a month out, June 26th. We decided that other than immediate family, our OB and our pediatrician, we would wait to share the news until after this appointment. That way we would have more information and know exactly what we were going to be dealing with.

There were lots of tears for a few days after finding out.  I also went through a bit of a mourning process. I know that Te2 is the perfect baby for us and that God does not make mistakes, but I still had to mourn the idea of the perfect baby that I had been visualizing. It would hit me at the most random times too. Once during swim lessons, Charles was in the pool with Wills and I was thinking that next summer we would both be in the pool because we would have two boys. And then I started crying because I was thinking that people would be staring and judging our little one.

Over the next few weeks I did a lot of research. As an audiology graduate student, I was actually part of a cleft palate team with speech pathologist, ENTs, oral surgeons, dentists and social workers. I think this was good and bad. Good in the sense that I knew how successful these kids turned out to be, and bad because I also knew how hard it could be on them too. The surgeries and recovery periods can be extensive. By far the most helpful things I read during my research were actually the blogs of other moms of children with cleft lip/palate, particularly this one and this one. Getting to read about the process from the parent point of view was so comforting.

We finally had our perinatolgoy appointment yesterday. They confirmed the unilateral cleft lip and said that the palate also appears to be involved. Due to the negative blood test and all other anatomy looking good, they believe it is an isolated finding and there are no other concerns. I will follow up monthly with the perinatologist for ultrasounds to monitor Te2's growth. This will be in addition to my monthly OB appointments. We will also meet with the oral surgeon in a few weeks to map out the plan for Te2 in regards to appointments and surgery timeline.

It is going to be an interesting journey and I know we are going to learn a lot about ourselves. Please keep us in your prayers!

Summer Fun

Wills is a busy boy this summer.

He is taking swim lessons.

He started gymnastics.

He has a pass to the zoo.

He has lots of people that like to come visit him.

He had his first sno cone and popsicle.

And we are only halfway through June!

Te 2

I realize I never announced on the blog that we were expecting Te 2. Whoops! Already neglecting the second child. We had our ultrasound yesterday to find out the gender. I had thought all along that Te 2 was a boy and Charles was saying girl. I just love being right =)

First Haircut!

Now Charles and I have buzzed Wills' hair off a handful of times, but we decided it was time to let a professional take care of it. We headed to the GreatClips by our house because we had a coupon for a $6 haircut. The cost of haircuts for men and boys truly makes me a little sick to my stomach when I think about what I pay for my own :)

The stylist thought Wills would sit by himself, but he had other ideas. He and Charles both got draped up so Wills could sit in Charles' lap. We gave him a sucker to help keep him still. Since he has had maybe two other suckers in his short life, this definitely helped. He also managed to keep it hair free until the end and then he gave it to me to throw away. The stylist even put some gel in his hair, so this was his first experience with hair product too!

It's funny how it hits at random times how quickly he is growing up. Last night during story time I looked at him and realized he looks like a little boy and not a baby anymore. I started tearing up. Charles looked at me like I was a little nuts, but I couldn't help it. It is so bittersweet!

NYC 2013

After taking the train from Philadelphia, we walked from the train station to the apartment we had rented in NYC. We used airbnb to find an apartment to rent so that we could have a little more space. We really wanted Wills to be in his own room so that Charles and I wouldn't have to sit in the dark and be quiet after he went to bed. We ended up renting a 1 bedroom apartment in Midtown Manhattan, very close to Central Park. It was significantly less expensive to do this than to get a hotel in the same area. Wills slept in the bedroom and we slept in the living room.

Charles and I have both been to New York multiple times, so we didn't need to hit the tourist spots. Our plan was to go on a tour of friends instead. First up was the Winkler's. Kelli and I became great friends when we lived in the same dorm our freshman year of college. She and Marc live on Long Island. They drove in on Sunday to have dinner with us and hang out with Wills. Sadly I was a terrible photographer and didn't take any pictures with Wills playing with them. Marc was a big hit with Wills too! We went to eat at BXL Belgian Cafe. They had all you can eat mussels and I think Charles and Marc at 10 lbs between the two of them!

Monday morning Charles went to the grocery store and stocked up on bagels and fruit so that we could just have lazy mornings and not eat every meal out. We then headed to the American Museum of Natural History. Wills had a great time there. I think his favorites were the dinosaurs and the ocean life. 

Me and the manatee. My animal soul mate :)

A great thing about the museum is that you can leave and come back the same day. We actually took a break for lunch at the Shake Shack.

That night we went to see Mike, Debbie, and Olivia. The last time we were in New York was actually for Mike and Debbie's wedding. They had Olivia last August and this was our first chance to meet her. 

On Tuesday we headed to the Children's Museum of Manhattan. Wills had an amazing time!

We then went to Hampton Chutney for lunch. It was so good! We then headed back towards Central Park while Wills took a nap in his stroller. We were headed to meet friends at the park and got there a little early, so we stopped at Starbucks to have a snack. Wills made himself comfortable.  

Then it was time to head to the park meet Crystal and Grey. Crystal and her husband Dave were in medical school with Charles. They had Grey just a couple of weeks before we had Wills. 

Wills and Grey got along so well and played so hard that afternoon. We then met up with Dave and all went to dinner at The Redeye Grill. I had the lobster mac n cheese and it was delicious. 

Wednesday morning we got up to head home. We were supposed to be home by 2:30 and ended up not getting home until after midnight. I am so thankful for the playground in the Chicago airport. I don't know how we would have survived the 8 hours in the airport without it!

First and only cab ride to the airport.

Who needs a seat on the plane?

Airport playground

Other than the delays getting home, it was a wonderful trip!