I had my
ultrasound with Baya, and everything appeared to be good. I got a call from my doctor that night, who
said that it looked good, but there was one concern. Baya had a calcium deposit on her heart. By itself, that means absolutely
nothing. It is not a heart concern at
all, but rather it is a single “marker.”
We could have another ultrasound done to see if there were any other
markers. One marker means nothing, but
if there are multiple markers, it COULD mean Down’s Syndrome. Even if there was another marker found in
another ultrasound, we still wouldn’t know for certain without getting an amnio
done, which has an uncomfortably high risk of miscarriage, which we weren’t
willing to take. We didn’t do any more
ultrasounds, but spent the next 4 months worrying about the possibilities. After the chaos of delivery had subsided, and
we were left alone as a family of 3, it finally hit me that we had a healthy
baby. I cried.
At 11 weeks
along with Myles, I went in to hear the heartbeat. A week later, I would have my final race of
the season, but we were seeing extended family on both sides after that appointment,
and we thought about sharing our news with everyone in person. The doctor couldn’t find the heartbeat at the
appointment. “It could just be too
early.” But it could also be that I was miscarrying. We suffered through the next two weeks until
we heard the heartbeat loud and clear at 13 weeks along.
For this
baby, I don’t even know how to start.
Let’s just say that there was serious debate about not going to Cozumel
for the World Championships. Not because
I would be racing during second trimester at 16 weeks, but because Mexico has
reported cases of the Zika virus. A
general statement that the CDC released was that they advised pregnant women
not to travel to areas with known Zika cases, as there is a link with Zika to
microcephaly, where the development of the baby is affected. I’ve expressed what Worlds has meant to me,
and thinking about giving that up, and ending on the disappointing note that
was Nationals was devastating. There was
loss of sleep and lots of crying; a lot of self-torture and questioning of
selfishness and loss of personal identity, choice, and freedom that comes with
being a mom. Along with hours of
research about the virus, prevention, risks, and places of outbreak, I also
called my doctor’s office. This wasn’t
some vacation that would just make me lose out on a lot of money. This was the World Championships that I
planned as my finale.
The
reported cases in Mexico were broken down by the different states, and the
state of Quintana Roo (which Cozumel is a part of), was on the low end for
total cases since the beginning of the year.
Our thought was that Cozumel itself was most likely even lower than the
rest of the state as well, since it is surrounded by open water, which also means
wind. The further inland you go, the
more bugs you tend to get. There is also
a lot unknown about the virus. If I got
the virus, would it automatically affect the baby? They didn’t know. The affects could also range from extremely
mild to very severe. Certainly the
entire country of Brazil hadn’t just stopped having babies either. Not every mosquito, or even all of a
particular type, would be infected either.
We did a lot of research on the level of risk associated with traveling
to Cozumel.
My doctor
said they just advise taking preventative measures while I was there. I was super diligent in putting on bug spray
repetitively throughout the day and evening.
Nevertheless, I still had about a handful of bug bites by time the trip
was over. Neither Andy nor I had any
symptoms upon return, but a fairly high percentage of people never have
symptoms. Since we didn’t have symptoms,
but I was pregnant, I could get tested after being back for a few weeks. The test took more than a week to come in
with results. The same day I was tested,
I had my ultrasound. I constantly looked
at the head – did it look normal in size?
Was my baby developing properly?
This ultrasound didn’t have the same excitement as the others, and
instead had a lot more fear and apprehension with it. The baby measured in the normal range. Nothing would feel okay though until we
finally got the test results back.
Eventually the call came. My test was negative. I was safe.
You don’t always realize you’ve been holding your breath until you
finally let it out. With every kick and
movement, and even every bit of nausea from heartburn, there is a thankful cry
to God. We’re going to be ok.
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