The first post.....FINALLY!

So I had intended to start writing much earlier in my pregnancy, but things haven't quite gone as planned. Baby Kaden has taken us on a roller coaster ride the last couple months. I was scheduled for an ultrasound on January 6th to make sure that his twin, who had stopped growing in the first trimester, wasn't causing any problems with the rest of the pregnancy. I was referred to a Maternal Fetal doctor at the hospital to get a more thorough ultrasound. We went expecting/hoping this to be our final ultrasound for the pregnancy. Ha!! After what seemed like forever the doctor doing the ultrasound put down the doppler, washed his hands, took many deep, long breaths, and sat down with a concerned look on his face. At this point I think we both knew he had bad news for us. I had noticed he spent lots of time looking at the babys' heart so I was thinking he probably had a heart problem or something like that. The doctor told us that Kaden will be born with a cleft lip and possibly a cleft palate as well. When I first heard the news I almost sighed with relief because I thought he was going to tell us something so much worse. My relief was short lived though when he started to explain how it could be tied to other "lethal" syndromes as he called them.The chances of it being caused by a syndrome are only 10% to begin with and since the doctor didn't find any other abnormalities in the ultrasound he felt confident saying that it was less than a 10% chance.  He offered me an amnio but I declined since it wouldn't change anything and would pose unnecessary risk to the baby. The diagnosis also changed my plans for another home-birth like I had with Madelyn. Because of the possible cleft palate they said the baby could have problems breathing at birth. Thankfully my midwife also works with a local OB who will be able to deliver the baby in the hospital. Since then she has been able to continue doing all my prenatal care in my home. It has at least been a relief not to have to worry about finding a babysitter for my regular prenatal visits. I have also been back to the perinatologist for another ultrasound and will continue having 1 a month to make sure Kaden is growing normally and isn't have any trouble swallowing his amniotic fluid. Thankfully my second visit didn't reveal anything new so we're still hopeful that the cleft will be the extent of his problems. I also  had the chance a couple of weeks ago to meet with Dr. Ruiz, the surgeon that will repair his lip and palate (if needed) after he is born. The lip will be repaired around 12 weeks of age and the palate anywhere for 10-18 months depending on his health and his desire to start talking. Evidently they prefer to wait as long as possible, but if the child is trying to form words at an early age then they will go ahead and do the repair then. Dr. Ruiz was very positive though and said that in his opinion 98% of babies born with clefts have no other problems and that hes about 99% sure that we would have seen something else in the ultrasound if the condition was more severe. He also said that he's 99.9% sure that Kaden will breath just fine at birth and should be able to go home as soon as he learns how to feed from the Haberman bottle. So.....for now I'm at peace. Kaden is growing normally and moves a ton. Besides this little glitch the rest of the pregnancy has been problem free. I can't believe in just over 2 months he will be here with us. The boys are getting excited and keep asking when he's coming out of my belly. I know Madelyn has no idea whats going on, but she has become interested in my ever expanding stomach lately. She likes to pull up my shirt and pat it. I tell her there is a baby in there, but she just looks at me like I'm crazy. I did point out a newborn baby to her in Walmart this past weekend. She got a huge smile on her face and started saying "baby, baby, baby". I have a feeling I'm going to have to watch her very closely when he is born. I can already see her trying to take him for rides in her doll stroller. When she was born the boys took all of about 2 minutes to look at her and didn't pay much attention to her again until she started crawling. I think she is going to be much more interested in her new baby brother though!!