The test of life, hormones and DNA!

This past week has been crazy hard for this soon to be mommy of 2. It's not often that I admit my struggles, but this week has really been a test of strength for me.  I feel like the last few weeks have all ran together, and I haven't ever stopped to sit, or sleep, (although we all know that we all have to sleep), it just seems as though my days are running together. For some odd reason, (cough, hormones, cough), last night when I came home, after 8 pm, did some laundry, did the dishes, cleaned up the house, bathed the toddler, showered, and got in bed, it was almost 11 pm. I end up just collapsing out of pure exhaustion, and was left in the bathroom floor, flooded with tears.  Sometimes it feels likes you just have to say, I give up. And that's exactly what I had to do. And not in a bad way!  I have to realize the importance of saying that some things really can wait, and knowing that I do have help this time around and I don't need to feel all of the pressure that I felt the first time with my first pregnancy.

We were also excited to find out the results of our Harmony blood test that we had done as part of our first trimester screenings. I tried calling this morning to check the status of the results, and was told that the genetic specialist was out of the office today. Then, I got a missed call from work although, but I wasn't able to answer, due to my phone being in my desk while we had our regional supervisor at work today.  I didn't recognize the number, so I simply just placed the phone back in my desk.  I decided to take the phone into the bathroom to list to the voice mail, and my heart immediately started pounding at a rate of 279207520523 beats per minute when I heard, "Hi, This is Jeanie calling from _______, I am calling with the test results from the Harmony testing. Please give me a call back at 704....."  WHAT?! But...you...I....thought....she wasn't in the office today?!  So I anxiously called back the number that she left on the voicemail, and got her voicemail at work, stating that she would be out of the office. Okay...now who is playing tricks on me?! I ended up after many attempts at the number going straight to voicemail, I decided to try to call back the number that she called from.  A sweet voice answered, "Hello?" I instantly knew it was her! Please don't sound like a crazy pregnant woman Brandi, PLEASE keep it together.  I told her that I was returning her call, and she had mentioned that she accidentally left the office number as a habit from always being in the office, but she was actually working from home today due to the incoming inclement weather. She proceeded to tell me that all of the actually screenings as far as down syndrome, and any chromosomes disorders were cleared at less than 1% of being at risk for them. She proceeded to ask if I had any other questions. "WAIT! Did the test say what I was having?" She sweetly responded with, "Oh yes....while nothing is 100%....wait, did you want to know you were having?" "YES, MA'AM!" I replied again trying to keep myself together.  She stated again, that while nothing was 100%, the test results came back with the chromosomes, and that it was 99.7% accurate that it was a girl. A GIRL.

A GIRL. A FEMALE. XX CHROMOSOMES!

I still can't wrap my brain around what she said. I anxiously replied, "Okay, thanks bye!" And hung up out of excitement. I ended up sharing the news with family and then posting it on Facebook. It's just amazing how quickly the unknown will turn into something so surreal.  It seemed like just yesterday I was having a "baby" and now it's officially Britton Kinsley!

We are so very excited, pleased, anxious, and every other word you can possibly imagine!  We have another ultrasound on Friday evening to see more pictures of our sweet baby girl. I can't wait to share with everyone. It's going to be a whole new experience going back and seeing what is actually our Britton.

Full of LOVE & EXCITEMENT,
Brandi, Brad, Bentley & Britton <3