We tried to escape!!

Just as the blizzard was rolling into Philadelphia on December 19th, John, Malcolm and I attempted to escape it's frozen fury by driving south. Florida's food and family were calling our names for the holidays. Unfortunately, the blizzard was traveling up from the south, so we ended up driving straight through it. The travels were bleak and crazy, but we made it to Florida with little strife :)

Florida was just what we needed. We slept late, visited with family, ATE A LOT, and enjoyed the sunshine. We decompressed, and now we're back in Philly freezing our butts off!

A few pics I wanted to share with you-- I knitted drink cozies for our family's stocking stuffers. They were a hit!


Justin and Alexis came over and sang Chabad, and lit the Menorah with us before we left for Florida. It was such a beautiful experience, and we are so lucky to have these neighbs in our life. They are constant companions, and above all, really cool people.

And finally, I'm able to survive this winter because of my Christmas present from my parents: a long, down puffer coat from Land's End. This baby is my best friend these days. I go NO WHERE without her, and she is amazing!! Here's a pic of what I look like walking down the streets of Philly:


I don't care if it's not sexy! I'm pregnant, cold, and apathetic of the latest fashion trends.

Bring on the puffer! Bring on the warmth!
Hope the holidays were lovely for you and yours,
Jess

The Mother Load

I'm really lucky. My friend Shannon spoiled me by sending a huge box of really cute and cozy maternity clothes, and TWO HUGE boxes of hand-me-downs worn by Ro. I still haven't gone through it all, but my mom's coming in February to help me set up baby boy's closet and nursery. What can I say? This is the score of all scores, and I'm sooooooooooo blessed! Thanks, Shannon!

Best dressed,
Jess

Home

A couple nights ago, my sister said, "It must be so nice being pregnant, and staying home, and crafting all day." Why, yes. Yes, it is nice. It happened accidentally (my boss left for Europe without telling me), and I'm not sure how much longer it will last...but, currently, I am indeed a stay-at-home pregnant lady. And it is fabulous.

With the last couple weeks of stress, I hadn't had the chance to really relish in my lovely days. But, as you can see from the pics of my new "office", I'm back to my old self, and I'm loving it.

You can see my "secretary" lounging on the sofa above.

New baby bootie pattern my friend Kira taught me. And socks for our own little guy.
Feelin' cozy,
Jess

False Positve Quad Screen for Trisomy 18

John and I have been on a roller coaster ride for the past two weeks. I felt the need to blog about this experience for two reasons: A) it's therapeutic for me B) I survived these long days because of this blog I found called Jason and Amber G. I feel like I should repay the blessing their story was to me by putting our story out there. Jason and Amber have no idea how much strength and peace they gave me, and they may never know. But, at least I can be thankful.

My midwife asked me at our last appointment if we wanted to have the Quad Screen which tests for Downs Syndrome. I didn't think twice about getting this screening because it's a simple blood test that several of our other pregnant friends got without any stress. So, I went to the lab, gave a blood sample, and that was that.

Then, Monday night, I was in the grocery store when my midwife called. She told me that the Quad Screen results showed that our baby was at an "increased risk" for Trisomy 18. I had no idea what Trisomy 18 was, but I knew it was something chromosomal. I left my basket full of produce in the store, walked out the front door, got in my car and said to my midwife, "What is Trisomy 18? What is it about my blood that elevates our risk?" She told me that Trisomy 18 babies have an extra copy of the 18th chromosome, and these babies rarely survive to full term. If they do make it past delivery, the babies rarely live longer than a few days. Basically, this is the worst news you can hear about your baby. To make things even worse, my quad screen gave our baby a one in ten chance of having Tri 18 because of the baby's hormone levels. This is the highest chance our lab diagnoses. Even though the quad screen only tells the chances and does not diagnose the abnormality, this was still the worst news I could have ever imagined.

The midwife gave me a phone number to call. We needed to see specialists, and possibly get an amnio. Unfortunately, it was so late in the day, I was unable to get in touch with the specialist. So, I didn't sleep, and called first thing in the morning. Despite all my begging and pleading, the office still could not see us until Wednesday morning. So, I didn't sleep another night. By the time we actually got in to the genetic counselor, I was going on 48 hours without sleep, and I was a wreck. John kept telling me to be strong for our baby, and I was trying so hard, but these horrible thoughts kept creeping into my mind. I literally felt like I was going to throw up every time I even thought of the word Trisomy.

We met with the genetic counselor named Lara. She was super sweet, and she explained everything to us about our hormone levels, and John and I both had full family genetic analysis and blood tests. Lara told us that lots of babies make the same hormone levels that our baby does, and go on to be perfectly healthy. At the same time, our baby's hormone's resemble Trisomy 18 babies, so we would have to have a level II high-definition ultra-sound to look for "hard and soft" markers (behavior and anatomical indicators of Tri 18), and based on the ultra-sound, we could make the decision to have the diagnostic amnio.

We went in for the ultra-sound, and it was so hard to keep from crying because the pictures were really amazing. Seeing our baby for the first time was emotional! The tech performing the ultra-sound was explaining to us what we were looking at, and we were in awe. Then, she asked us if we wanted to know what the baby's sex was. We said YES! And we found out we're having a BABY BOY!!!! I was bawling, and John was glowing. It was awesome. Then, the tech printed the pictures and we waited for the doctor to analyze and come discuss the results with us.

The doctor came in and explained that with Trisomy 18 babies, there are definite indicators that you can't miss on an ultra-sound. I'll never forget what he said next: "Your baby has none of these indicators."

John and I now had a difficult decision to make because the doctor told us that our ultra-sound results significantly decreased our risk. However, in order to be 100% positive, we would have to have an amnio. In the end, John and I decided to get the amnio. We wanted all the information we could have, and the medical team assured us that our risk of miscarriage was about 1 in 500. Also, my placenta and baby were low in my uterus, so the needle did not have to cross through the placenta. The ultra-sound tech watched the baby the whole time so that the needle didn't hit the baby, and the whole process was over and done in about a minute. The hard part was waiting for the results...it takes TWO WEEKS!

Some family and friends have asked if the amnio hurt. I hate needles and I can honestly say NO! It did not hurt at all, it was just weird because you feel the stick of the needle twice. Once through your belly, and then again through your uterine wall. It's the strangest sensation I've ever felt. Afterward, I was tender like a booster shot. But I just rested and took it easy for a couple days.

The next week was easy to get through because we flew to Texas for a wedding and Thanksgiving. I just refused to think about it. When we got back to Philly, though, it was tough. John had a big presentation to get ready for, so he was working a lot. I tried to distract myself with shopping with Alexis, knitting with Kira, and cooking A LOT. But, sometimes even sweet domesticity can't sway the mind.

It was easy to think positive because we had such a perfect ultra-sound. But, you still have a little pang of nagging worry in the back of your mind that grows and grows the closer you get to the phone call from the genetic counselor.

Finally, Lara called today! She said that they lab isn't done growing all 20 of the cells they are testing, but they have tested 17 of the 20....AND THEY'RE NORMAL!! 46 chromosomes! Lara said this is "very reassuring", and I am breathing easy!

All in all, I can't tell people whether or not to get the Quad Screen. All I can say is remember that the false positive rate is very high. I learned a lot through this experience, and I feel that John and I have both gained a huge amount of strength.

I have this image I want to leave you with: A Clay Pot. Remember that a clay pot has to sit in the fiery kiln before it is strong enough to serve it's purpose. I had to be "fired" to be strengthened. And I can tell you this: I'm gonna be one strong momma!

Peace and Strength,
Jess

PS: If you or a loved one are ever going through this, or something similar, and you need to talk: jess_noel14@yahoo.com

I understand how hard it is to talk to your friends and family when you don't really know what is going on, and you don't really want to worry anyone. If talking to a total stranger helps, let me be that helper for you.

Zoo York

I realize that this post may encourage ridicule from my New York-loving friends, and I fully support comments bereaving my opinion. In fact, I will most likely see these comments as evidence supporting my theory.

Background information:
We drove to New York City on Sunday because Alexis and Justin were cool enough to share Cirque du Soleil tickets. This was a last minute day trip, and everyone was super stoked to show off New York to John. He had never been, and he was excited about Central Park, Time Square, and the Statue of Liberty. So, we set off on our mini-journey. We decided to drive because Alexis had a reserved parking spot a couple blocks from Madison Square Garden.

Now, in my younger day, I have been known to have some seriously fun times in NYC. Getting on the plane in Texas and arriving in the Big Apple always made my heart skip a beat or two. There was no place like New York; the shows, the hotels, the food, the drinks, the cabs, the architecture, the art. It was all so amazing to me. But (yes BUT), moving to another big city (Philadelphia) and also visiting several cool big cities over the past few years (Seattle, San Diego, Las Vegas, Miami, Boston, Tokyo, Chicago) has made me change my opinion of NYC.

First of all, where's the grid, people??!! I'm talking about the oh-so-user-friendly street system that makes navigating your way through an unfamiliar city easy. In Philly, we have numbered streets, lettered streets, and "tree streets". That's it! The tree streets run east to west, the numbers run north to south. If you need to find someone or something, all you need are the coordinates. Rocket science. New York is QUITE the opposite. You have numbered streets, and numbered avenues, and oh, what's this!?! NUMBERED Ways!! Hell. And you have lettered avenues, and street names in no particular alphabetical sequence or pattern. How did anyone ever find their destinations before GPS??

So, while attempting to navigate your way through the maze of streets, watch out for the mass of pedestrians that DO NOT FOLLOW cross walk signs. We were shocked at the complete disregard for WALK or DON'T WALK lights. If New Yorkers have some where to be, there is NOTHING that is going to stop them from getting there, including on-coming vehicles.

This section is gross, so if you have a weak stomach, skip it. I'm sure people (especially the homeless) find creative spaces to relieve themselves in Philly, I just have never seen or smelled it, so I like to think that Philadelphians are a tad more discreet. I'm sure you know where this is going... The sidewalk on Broadway was under construction (like all of Manhattan), so were forced to take a creepy detour through a dark tunnel. The entire tunnel was a pool of pee!!!!!! It smelled sooooooooooooooo horrible, and we found ourselves ankle-deep in urine. I'm NOT exaggerating. I almost threw up.

We went to a brew pub for lunch, the guys had a couple beers, Alexis had a beer, and we each had a small appetizer instead of an entree. The tab came: $126!!!! Whoa. That's all I can say. People pay obscene amounts of money to live in this zoo. Not only are the restaurants and bars expensive, but people pay $3600/mnth to share one bedroom apartments. (We asked.)

My final icing on the NYC cake: a guy in a fur-lined hoodie sweatshirt CUT us in line to pick up the car. In my pregnant state, I gruffed, "hey dude, we were here first!" He turned and acknowledged our presence, then handed the guy his ticket, got in his brand new Audi sports car, and sped off without a blink of an eye. I've always assumed money and manners go hand-in-hand...ha! Not so.

All-in-all, the show was amazing, and we had a lot of laughs on our adventure. But, why someone would pay three times what we pay to live in Crazy Town, USA, I will never understand! NYC is fun to visit, but at the end of the day, I want to lay my head down and get some peaceful sleep in a quiet Italian neighborhood next to a park :)

I get it now,
Jess

Christmas Crafting...never too early!

Using my new sewing machine (thanks, Mom) and some patience, I crafted new Christmas stockings for John and I. I bought enough fabric to make matching ones for the baby and future babies that come along, and I think that these stockings will bring about a little bit of tradition to our new family. John grew up with a stocking tradition on Christmas morning. On Christmas Eve, Peggy and Steve let the boys open their presents, but on Christmas morning, they did stockings. The stockings were always jam-packed with treasures, and this tradition has carried through the years and is still strong today. I love Christmas at the Noel house, and I want to bring this tradition into our home. So, without further ado, I give you our homemade stockings that will hopefully last for the next twenty years:


Here's a couple close-ups of the lining. The fabric is so so cute, I have to show it off.

This was pretty much my first sewing project, but there will be more. Oh yes! There will be more.

Ahhh, sweet domesticity!
--Jess

Welcome, November

Our friend, Bryan, from College Station came to visit us this weekend. We took him to Fairmount Park because he used to play disc with John, and John wanted to show him the "oldest course" in the US. I had actually never been out there before, and I'm SO glad I brought the camera along because this was a beautiful walk.
Also, here is a look at my first quilting attempt. I'm making matching Christmas stockings for John, Baby Noel, and I. Since I've never been a big red and green Christmas color fan, I'm quilting with blue and orange (our wedding colors). I'm using my new sewing machine, and having too much fun :)



Stay warm,
Jess

PS: I'm fifteen weeks pregnant.