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Mike and I are high school sweethearts, we dated for six years before getting married in July 2001. I had always thought of having a large family and I knew that Mike would make a great father. We tried having children shortly after we were married and we were suprised at all the trouble we were having. A year and a half later we underwent fertility treatment, and yet we continued to have no luck. We were desperate for a child and turned to insemination, it was a success. However, after eight short weeks I miscarried. We were devestated at this loss and continued to try for another baby. Two months later we attempted insemination, it again was a success. Kayla Judith was born in November 2003. We were told that that it would be unlikely to have future children without the assistance of fertility. So you can image our shock when in December 2004, we discovered that we were going to have another baby. I worried about miscarriage and crossed my fingers that the baby could make it to 12 weeks. I thought that if the baby could make it into the second trimester that it would be all down hill from there on. On March 18, 2005 we had the routine 25 week ultrasound; we both had expected that we were having another girl and we were correct! The ultrasonographer did not look at us much during the scan. She did not point out the four chamber heart or the kidneys, like she had when I was pregnant with Kayla. This ultrasound seemed different somehow. The doctor met with us afterward and informed us that there were many abnormalities with our baby girl. They only saw two chambers of the heart, rather than four. The kidneys were enlarged and echogenic. The ventricals in her brain were enlarged. She had a bilateral cleft lip, unknown cleft palate. She had extra digits on her hands. She had a protuberance on her head. The list kept going on and on... I asked the doctor to stop, I could not listen to anymore. He stated that according to the images she appeared to have a trisomy. He recommended an amniocentisis to confirm the diagnosis, we had the procedure immediately. We had to wait 12 days for the results to arrive. In the meantime, we searched the Internet around the clock looking for answers. We decided to name her Kalysta Rae, which means the most beautiful in Greek. On March 30, 2005, we met with the doctor to receive the results of the amnio. He sat us down and told us what we had already discovered on our own, Kalysta had Trisomy 13 or Pateau Syndrome. He also informed us that she had a neurological disorder based on the protein in the amniotic fluid. Over the next couple of months we began searching the Internet for information, pictures, stories of survival, and hope. I chose to continue carrying Kalysta, there was no other choice. I love my baby and I wanted to give her every chance at life. I also knew that her chances at life were slim and that her condition was "incompatible with life". We decided to do some of her funeral planning before she was born. We met with a funeral planner and chose her casket and cemetary plot. We bought her a heaven outfit but hoped that we would not have to use it. On May 13, 2005, we traveled to Minneapolis MN, to meet with a genetic counselor and to have a 3D ultrasound and echocardiogram. We discovered that the Trisomy was not a translocation and therefor was not genetic. The chance of havimg another baby with Trisomy 13 would be less than 1%. The 3D ultrasound was amazing and we were able to see great pictures of Kalysta's face. The report was good; her heart has four chambers and appeared to be functioning well, her kidneys were enalrged, but they were not cystic and appeared to be functioning. She does have a bilateral cleft lip but they did not see any protuberance. She has extra digits on her hands, unknown on feet. She does not have any neurological disorder. The brain ventricals are not enlarged, they look normal except for a small area controlling speech. We left hopeful that we would be bringing our baby home. Kalysta was a very active baby in utero; she kicked and turned a lot more than her sister, Kayla, ever had. During frequent ultrasounds she would squirm to get away from the camera. In early July, I started to experience high blood pressure and plus three edema. I was induced on July 20, 2005 at 8:15 am. Kalysta Rae entered the world at 2:29 pm. |
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