Thank you so much for your comments and e-mails! We do appreciate your prayers for Baby Vivien! Amity is already working on learning her name. She will lift up my shirt and stick her finger in my belly button (I don't encourage this but she tries to do it anyway) and say "Hi Baby Vivien!" We are pretty sure she thinks that my navel is called "Baby Vivien" and still has no clue that she is going to be a big sister. She didn't seem to mind posing in this cute shirt though!
I talked with the Maternal Fetal Medicine clinic today and am scheduled on Monday for Genetic Counseling at 2:00 and the level II sonogram at 3:00. I also have a routine appointment with my doctor at 3:45. From the information that we have at this point, Dennis and I think that we don't want to have the amnioscentesis procedure if it is recommended. While the amnio can diagnose Down syndrome with 99% accuracy, the sonogram cannot. From what I have read (just a little...I haven't been obsessing!), some people have had the level II sonogram and while the doctor didn't find any markers for Ds, the baby was still born with Down Syndrome. Others had markers indicated in the sonogram but the amnio showed that Down syndrome was not present. We have decided that we are fine waiting until she is born to know for sure. We will be thrilled to meet her either way! Please pray that we would make the best decision for Vivien's health and that we would be a light and encouragement to the doctor and counselor that we meet with on Monday.
Just an FYI: Two blogs by families with young ones with Down syndrome that I have found the most informative and encouraging are Blessings and Glory and Our Unexpected Journey.
As for the "big sister", she is continuing to talk up a storm these days. One of her favorite phrases is "thank you" and I promise that I hear her say it no less than 100 times a day! When she is playing, she loves to bring "gifts" to me while I am cooking or cleaning and says "thank you" as she hands them to me. Here is an example (not her best...but you can get the idea!):
Hi guys! Please know that we are praying for baby Vivian and your entire family, along with the doctors who are working with you. God's will be done! We love you and miss you!
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