Why is this blog called "extra hanDSome"?

During Pregnancy

When I was pregnant with Bradyn everything felt good. I love being pregnant and having that little one move inside of me. We decided not to find out the gender of our baby and decided it would be a great surprise for in the delivery room.

Ultrasound(s)

The first ultrasound

The first ultrasound was great. When I was 11 weeks and 5 days along I had a Transvaginal Ultrasound. Both my son Corbin and my Husband got to be there. I was a normal ultrasound and the baby was healthy.

The second ultrasound

The second ultrasound was at 21 weeks and 3 days. The ultrasound tech was very quiet and Garret was falling asleep, he says the rooms are too quiet and warm lol. At the time I thought that the ultrasound tech was just a quiet person but looking back on it I dont think that was it. Later that day one of the OBGYN's from the OBYN/Midwife group called me. She said on the ultrasound saw the baby had 2 Echogenic Intracardiac Focus (EIF) (calcium spot on the heart), a Nuchal Fold (NF) (extra skin on the back of neck), and extra fluid around the heart; they are all possible markers of Down Syndrome. She also said that we needed to see a Maternal Fetal Medicine and Genetic Councilor.

Maternal Fetal Medicine and Genetic Councilor

On June 12, I went to the Maternal Fetal Medicine and Genetic Councilor. We had seen them twice during my pregnancy with Corbin. The Councilor said, even with the three markers, because of our age and no history of Down Syndrome in our family there was only a 4% (or was it 6%?) chance of our baby having Down Syndrome. We decided to turn down doing an amniocentesis or a Cell-free Fetal DNA Analysis (They take blood from mom where they can find baby's DNA! Really cool!).
They did an ultrasound and found that there was no fluid around the heart. But there was 2 EIFs and the NF was present. They decided that we would do an ultrasound every 5 weeks for monitoring. Bonus! Get to see the baby extra!

Because of denying the tests there was no changes in information until after Bradyn was born.

Birth and Characteristics

After Bradyn's quick entrance, which can be read here: http://extra-handsome.blogspot.com/2014/11/the-early-bird-bradyns-birth-story.html, the pediatrician thought that he had "Down Syndrome characteristics." I did not think so until they pointed out the fold between his eyes and his nose, the extra skin on his neck, and the fold across his palm. We all agreed to have a chromosomal test sent out to determine if he does have Down Syndrome.

The Results!

When Bradyn was a week and a half old I unfortunately was admitted back into the hospital. I had a temperature of 103.6! It turned out that I had Endometritis and I was in the hospital for 4 days (Friday-Monday). The worst part was not being able to have my brand new baby with me, Hospital policy.
Sunday morning Garret, Corbin, and Bradyn came for a visit. Right before they were going to leave one of the pediatricians came into my room. They had the results of Bradyn's chromosomal test!

"So we have the results of the chromosomal test. It looks like Bradyn has an extra copy of chromosome 21. Bradyn has Down Syndrome."

I remember everything just slowing down, almost like slow motion. Corbin was playing quietly with a toy a nurse brought in earlier. Garret was asking about the variations (Trisomy 21, Mosaicism, Translocation). The doctor said "It is the most common type of Down Syndrome, Trisomy 21." 

There were no tears. Just acceptance. Our baby has Down Syndrome. God is holding us in his hands he has a plan.

I just looked at my family.This is the new us!

His extra chromosome makes him "extra hanDSome."