We were told that the results of the test would be available in about two weeks – just before Christmas.

For the next two weeks, we thought of nothing else but the amnio results as we tried to get ready for Christmas. It was unbelievably difficult not to be totally distracted, but we were determined to have a good Christmas celebration for our kids.

On December 20, we had just come home from a movie. There was a message on our answering machine. It was the geneticist from Sacramento Maternal Fetal Medicine. She asked us to call her at home.

Jen and I looked at each other. It had been our experience that doctor’s don’t ask you to call them at their home phone number at 9:30 in the evening.

We secluded ourselves in our bedroom and called the doctor back. Our worst fears were about to be realized.

The amniocentesis confirmed the diagnosis that our baby had Trisomy 18. The doctor went over the numbers with us: 80% chance of still birth, 90% chance he would die before first birthday.

We were steered in the direction of terminating the pregnancy. We explained that this was not an option. We were told to call our OB in the morning.

We cried all night long.

The next morning, we called our OB. She told us that our little Jordan was a nonviable fetus and there was no reason to continue pregnancy especially considering the hyperemesis that Jen was experiencing.

We were outraged. Our doctor had called the pregnancy ‘pointless’. She refused to see us in the office until mid January and indicated that follow up appointments were not necessary. She advised us to terminate the pregnancy.

We were devastated and felt alone. We had been abandoned by our doctor.

To add insult to injury, our OB refused to authorize Zofran and told Jen she was no longer eligible for disability.

We decided to go to out follow up appointment because we had some question and thought we could still work with our doctor over the next few months.

On January 10th we had our follow up appointment with our doctor. She still refused medication and, even though Jen was still 5 pounds below her pre-pregnant weight at about 23 weeks pregnancy, she would not allow further disability time.

She expressed her opinion that termination was the wiser choice. She refused to follow Jordan’s progress or check for his health conditions because he was “going to die anyway.”

Jen and I were despondent after this appointment. We were, however, determined to find another doctor. We needed a medical team that shared our beliefs and were willing to give Jordan as much of a chance as possible.

Next -> A New Hope

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