Tien and I have learned a lot about the heart and chromosomal abnormalities over the last several months. Way more than we ever wanted to know. After talking to doctor after doctor about Collins, I felt completely under-educated and under prepared. After doing much research, we needed answers regarding how we may grow our family in the future. In May we spoke with a genetics doctor at Children's Mercy who assured us that her condition was rare and likely a "fluke" as the cells divided. Unlikely to happen again. We left feeling fairly confident that Collins would be okay and so would our future children. And then July happened. Our world collapsed in a million pieces. As we began to pick up the pieces we had forgotten that Collins had a doctor appointment at KU med scheduled in mid-August. They called to remind us. Once again we had to relive that day and tell another person, that our beloved daughter was no longer with us. They recommended we speak with their genetics counselor. We agreed. What harm could it do? Maybe they could provide us with more answers. Maybe we could have genetic testing done to make sure that Tien and I both were not carriers of something that could be passed down to our future children. On the day before our appointment, on the one month anniversary of Collins passing, I suffered a miscarriage. We hadn't known we were pregnant. It was a devastating blow to my already fragile emotional state. We decided at that point that we were not going to leave the genetics office without scheduling testing of some kind. In the span of one month we had lost two babies. I could not do it again. As we shared our experiences with the counselor she recommended testing, but she also reassured us and confirmed what Children's Mercy had originally reported. The chromosome duplication was not likely to happen a second time.
We went back a couple of days later to give blood. Everything went smoothly. They needed two vials and were going to actually grow our chromosomes and then map all 20,000 genes. Pretty impressive. The next day I received a phone call. They had drawn blood in two green tubes. They needed one green and one purple. Back we went. This time they had one of each color; however, it was freezing and my veins were not cooperating. 3 nurses, 6 pokes, and several bruises later I had given my two vials of blood. And then I received the second phone call. They had lost our blood. Really?!? The test results take 6-8 weeks. This was just prolonging our knowledge of whether we were genetically compatible to have children biologically. So back I went. I gave two more vials and they made sure that the blood reached its destination. Now it was time to wait. And wait. And wait some more.
The waiting paid off. We received a phone call today from the doctor that said we are GOOD TO GO!!!! We will never be able to replace Collins, nor do we want to. She will always be our first and we will always celebrate her life with us. But we want to give her siblings and experience the joy that only children can bring to a family. And if I have my way, there will be SEVERAL siblings and lots of joy!
We went back a couple of days later to give blood. Everything went smoothly. They needed two vials and were going to actually grow our chromosomes and then map all 20,000 genes. Pretty impressive. The next day I received a phone call. They had drawn blood in two green tubes. They needed one green and one purple. Back we went. This time they had one of each color; however, it was freezing and my veins were not cooperating. 3 nurses, 6 pokes, and several bruises later I had given my two vials of blood. And then I received the second phone call. They had lost our blood. Really?!? The test results take 6-8 weeks. This was just prolonging our knowledge of whether we were genetically compatible to have children biologically. So back I went. I gave two more vials and they made sure that the blood reached its destination. Now it was time to wait. And wait. And wait some more.
The waiting paid off. We received a phone call today from the doctor that said we are GOOD TO GO!!!! We will never be able to replace Collins, nor do we want to. She will always be our first and we will always celebrate her life with us. But we want to give her siblings and experience the joy that only children can bring to a family. And if I have my way, there will be SEVERAL siblings and lots of joy!
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