World, Meet Tessa!

We welcomed our second daughter early in the morning on June 30th.  Tessa was born a petite little thing, weighing 7 pounds even at birth - a whole 1 lb and 3 ozs less than Sienna (which may have been due to her two vessel cord).  She was born just a few days shy of her due date and had an uncomplicated delivery.

Hi world, meet Tessa!

One of my biggest anxieties/worries during pregnancy was how Sienna would adapt to our new family dynamic.  I worried about her resenting her sister for stealing my attention, or acting out to gain attention.  I also worried about what we would do with her when I went into labor and how she would handle us being gone.  Luckily, my mom came down in time and was here when my water broke on the 29th, so Sienna was already happy to be hanging out with Nannie and not worried about mom/dad leaving for a bit.

We decided to introduce her to Tessa in "neutral territory" aka the hospital.  I never like Sienna going to the hospital as she risks picking up harmful bacteria there, but it seemed like the best plan for a smooth transition and happy home.  We also prepared gifts for each sister to give the other.  Tessa gave Sienna her very own kindle fire (great for treatment time) and Sienna gave Tessa some pacis and a small stuffed animal.  One thing is for sure, Sienna is a sucker for a gift/prize and was easily won over.

Checking out her new "purple ipad"

Unsure about this new baby

A real life baby doll!

We were lucky to only be gone two nights (one for delivery and one for recovery) and were home as a family of four in no time.  Sienna has adjusted well and loves being a big sister!  She enjoys helping whenever possible (fetching diapers, wipes, and blankets) and giving her little sis kisses.  Tessa loves staring at her big sister and {thankfully} is an unbelievably easy-going baby.  We are so in love with our newest addition and so proud of our first born!

Heading home

Joba watching over Tess

Holding "it"

Since the 4th of July was approaching, we got Tess to her first Pediatrician appointment the day after coming home.  Our little munchkin weighed in at 6 pounds 9 ounces and checked out great.  We discussed our options for determining if Tess also has Cystic Fibrosis and decided to wait and see what her newborn screen came back with.  Newborn screens vary from state to state, but most will look at IRT levels (a pancreatic enzyme precursor found in the blood) in a newborn and flag that top percentage for follow of up genotyping (usually top 5% or so).  IRT levels are generally high in those with CF but can also be high for other reasons (such as a traumatic birth).  Those newborns flagged are then genotyped against 30 or so of the most common mutations to determine if they are a carrier/positive for CF.  DF508 is one gene on this panel.  Sienna had been flagged in her screen and then deemed a carrier of DF508.  A sweat test routinely follows those with one or two genes found on this panel to solidify/document diagnosis.  Sienna's sweat test confirmed she had CF and was not just a carrier.  

So our waiting period began...

I just want to sleep!

 

And it was HARD.  I started out thinking there was no way she could also have CF, and then feared she did.  Joe and I both found ourselves licking her...because those with CF, well they taste salty.  Then I convinced myself she did, probably as a defense mechanism, as receiving a diagnosis in this mind frame would have been less of a blow than if I was hopefully optimistic.  We waited a week.  Another week.  We had Sienna's results back shortly after two weeks...why was this taking so long?  We went to Tessa's two week appointment wondering if there would be news.  There wasn't.  But our chunker was up to 8 lbs 2 ozs! We waited another week.  I started to think no news was good news.  Three and a half weeks in, I called the pediatrician to double check...maybe they forgot to call us because it was normal?  Nope, still not back.  The wait was AGONIZING.  All consuming at times.  

And then, on 7/24, we got the call.  Her results were in, and her screen came back NORMAL! What a mixed bag of emotions.  We of course are happy, relieved, and thankful.  But some doubt seemed to hang around.  Some worry that there was a mistake and this was too good to be true.  I wanted to see her results/know if she had been flagged from high IRT.   After a follow up appointment to the Pediatrician, we are relieved to know she wasn't even flagged.  So she may not even be a carrier.  We won't know for certain unless we do genotyping and look for those two mutations.   I've been in touch with our clinic and they still want to complete either a sweat test or genotype to confirm she does not carry one/both of the mutations.  This is routine protocol regardless of NBS results simply because her sibling has CF.  I think once the follow up test is completed and results are back we will feel 100% relieved/out of the waters and not hang on to that small bit of apprehension and doubt. 

This house is crazy!

I'll leave you with some adorable newborn photos from the very talented, Sarah McMillian of McChillin Photography.  Tessa was only five days old when Sarah came over to capture her cuteness.  Enjoy!