27w2d: More research

I am torn. I think I made peace with the fact that Parker may be born with Down Syndrome (there is ALWAYS a chance), with or without the nasal bone. I read a lot about it today and having a baby with DS really isn't the end of the world. Boy, it sounds different when I put his name in the same sentence as Down Syndrome. Anyway, I have been reading about the nasal bones and all and have a few more links to share (all are posts at babycenter):

Post 1 - includes a great explanation of sequential screen tests
Post 2 - Absent Nasal Bone, 1:66 chance of DS, baby born with no DS
Post 3 - 1 in 23,000 DS risk adjusted to 1 in 750 due to absent nasal bone
Post 4 - Confused: Since 5% of children without chromosomal abnormalities don't have nasal bone, does the lack of the nasal bone mean 95% chance of the abnormalities happening?
Post 5 - African America, no nasal bone at 12 w, short nasal bone at 18 w, baby born without DS
Post 6 - Confused: Should, and if so by how much, (soft) markers increase your quantitative risk assessment?
Post 7 - Second comment from the top - this woman is amazing! I read her blog (here) and the many babycenter posts she wrote.

I also sent a personal messages to a couple of authors of the posts who had been told about absent nasal bone and had healthy babies at the end. I don't really expect answers any soon as their posts were from 2009 and 2010 but it's good to try. :)

I just realized that I didn't finish my thought started in the first paragraph. What I was trying to say was that I am ok with Parker having an extra chromosome, I just want to make sure that a home birth doesn't present an additional risk for him. As we discussed with DH on the phone yesterday, I would like to get another ultrasound and make sure his heart, lungs, and stomach are still ok. Sure I would like to check on the nasal bone too, but at this point I just need to know that he is ok otherwise.

On a lighter note, I got the Baby Shower invitation (to my own baby shower) last night! It looks very cute, I can't wait.

On another light note, we had a surprise baby shower down in Charlotte, NC when visiting with friends on Memorial Day. One of them got us... a stroller! The one we wanted, off the registry! It arrived last Saturday and I put it together and it is now in our kitchen. I keep imagining our sweet Parker in it! I tried to fold it and put it away for now but I simply can't! I love it so much, because it makes Parker's arrival so much more real! I'm sure DH will want to put it away when he comes back from his conference on Friday night so I may as well enjoy it now. :)