Danielle's Experience with Baby Gender Mentor

As I sit here holding this baby girl, I am in awe of her beauty. Her sweet lips and soft skin are to die for and her little coo sounds of contentment make my heart melt. I am so in love with her- as is my entire family. She is a miracle! A liitle girl in a family of all boys for as long as you can see. A little girl who Accu-Gen said would be a boy. A little girl!

 

I am so thankful for this site and all the women here. Without this site I would not have made it through this pregnancy and without Maureen's guidance and support I would not be the mother I am today- a mother content with my beautiful family that I know and love- a mother, who no matter what, never stopped believing in this baby and my love for her. 

 

Sarah Kate is a girl, to all those out there-she is a little girl and a dream come true!

It is about 5:30 in the morning- I've been up for hours! I cleaned the kitchen cabinets and reorganized the Christmas presents under the tree......oh the reality of nesting! Honestly, I just can't sleep.....too excited to get this baby here- this baby girl that I have dreamed about my whole life- this baby girl that I have shed many tears over during this crazy pregnancy- thanks to the Baby Gender Mentor Test filling this precious time with doubt, times of saddness and much worry.  I beg you women out there-please don't take this test and please don't put yourself through the emotional pain that might come with taking this test.  But my ride is almost over with worry and doubt- soon I will know for sure- girl or boy......healthy?  Oh, I pray everything will be fine!  

The local news featured a story on my saga with the Baby Gender Mentor Test and pregnancystore.com last week.  They went to my regular OB visit with me and sat with my physician and the ultrasound tech for an ultrasound. They then came home with me and talked about my journey with this pregnancy and how emotional it has been.

The story aired and it was really good. It felt so great to be getting my story out there to warn others about this test- and what it can to to your heart. I hope many women saw it and think twice about taking this test. I would never wish this on another woman and her precious pregnancy.  The link to the story is:

http://www.wave3.com/Global/story.asp?S=4172535

My OB has called to confirm that my baby will be here via scheduled c-section on December 26th.  I am so excited, and yet so scared. I would never want to wish away precious days, but I can not wait until she is here-in my arms- hopefully wrapped in a pink toile blanket and perfect in every way.  This pregancy has been such a long, emotional journey and so I wait......but I have a birthday next week, Thanksgiving the following week and then the magical countdown to Christmas to fill the weeks ahead....and then the baby comes!

At the last minute, I decided to try and celebrate this baby by having some photos taken.We are trying to get the boys involved and think pink! It was fun and I just can't wait to meet this mircacle!

Well friends, you would think after four ultrasounds and many hours looking between the legs of this baby that I would begin to believe that my baby is a girl.....until today I had not. But this day was good and in my heart I am starting to believe what I, and everyone around me, is seeing with their eyes. This baby really is a girl.....my sweet Sarah Kate!

She showed me her gender in 2d to see the white lines and then in 4D to see for real- there is no Pee-pee!!!! She showed me her precious face and her beautiful smile! She already has hair and I am dying over that! It is one thing for this baby to even be a girl, but to be able to actually take a tiny bow to the hospital for her hair is something that just makes my heart sing!

It is after midnight so I can officially say that today I will get another (and probably the last one) peek at this baby through 4D ultrasound. I can't wait to see her face and see what she looks like again- and of course to get one more look between her little legs! I am still nervous about the possibility of this baby growing a pee-pee since we last looked, but I'll know later this afternoon......

 

On a more difficult note, my heart is breaking for Melissa and what she is going through.  I am so upset-I cried and cried jsut reading the post. I can not imagine the pain and saddness she must be feeling right now.....and it hurts also because I am Melissa- our stories are the same and I know that if Dr. Wang tested my blood that he woud tell me the same thing. I don't ever, in a million years, think that he would come back and say that his test is flawed and that all is well with the baby- that would never happen. Something has to be done.

When I walked through the hall today at my OB practice, I saw my OB as I prepared to satnd on the scale-fun, fun!  Anyway, he said he had viewed Sherry's "list" of possible genetic abnormalities and said "he was fired up" about it! I feel so glad that without even having to tell him what I saw on in-gender that he already knows and understands how that would bother me- he is a class act and I feel so happy to have him at the helm of this pregnancy dilema I have found myself in.  I had my three year old with me and he recorded the baby's heart beat onto different boxes and placed them in two different teddy bears- one for each son so that when you squeese the bear you hear the heart beat of their baby sister- it was so special and so thoughtful.  And I love just being able to hug those bears and hear her sweet heart myself- it makes her seem even more real and I really need to feel that reassurance of her presence.  So today was a good day. And it seems like some of the girls are staring to make some headway with refunds from the lab and that is even more good news from today! 

I can't believe Sherry would post such a list of all the terrible things that could be wrong with my baby. It was like ....well I can't even begin to describe how it felt to read the list. I didn't even finish it-the tears welled up and everything got blurry and it all ran together.  She know my heart is broken and here she is stomping on my already fragile heart.  The one thing that I do know is that no matter what I am going to love this baby with all that I am-if there is anything left of me after Sherry gets done.I already do love this baby and in just 10 weks I will be able to hold her.  If only Sherry could just leave me alone for 10 weeks- is that too much to ask?

The NPR story that aired today was great- it really said so much just by telling of women who have had amnios be different than the Baby Gender Mentor-it screams "please stay away from this test!" And the classic part was that the couple featured called Sherri Bonelli and asked for a refund and she offered then a retest- just give them their money back and try to do what is right for once! They claimed the whole vanishing twin with this poor couple- the loope hole that will get them out of ever refunding any money.  Such a nice company to not only tell you that you lost a baby,but also you are not getting your money back and thank you for paying $275 to mourn a baby-have a great day.  These people are insane and worse than that have no heart for something as tender as a pregnancy and a baby and families who are sad from their experience with this test- and still they have not once said to these women and these families......I'm sorry.

I had my regular tummy check today- all was perfect.  A high heart rate in the 150's- good weight gain- low blood pressure- just moving right along. He told me that we will plan to take the baby the week between Christmas and New Years- so now I have a solid slot on the calendar to look to. I craved this information as everything with this pregnancy has been so up in the air. I can not wait to get this baby here and just hold her (I guess she is a she!) and kiss her sweet face! 

My OB asked if I could come in for another interview for the local media here on Monday.  I will also get to talk to at least one other person in his practice that is going through the same thing as me- maybe we should form a support group!  The In-gender girls have come to mean so much to me and I wish we could all meet face-to-face.  I can't believe that we are all going through this crazy maddness together! 

 

For a brief moment I had a weak moment for Sherry Bonelli- I guess I forgot that she suggested my baby was a genetic freak. She has  done it again...really she is amazing.....

She has contacted an internet site for advise on her situation- an internet site that everyone in the world can see.........what is she thinking?

For A:

She writes:

We feel that there are also ulterior motives behind all these rumors. Many of Acu-Gen's competitors are threatened by their scientific breakthrough. Many of these labs have been trying for decades to do what Acu-Gen has done -- and we think some of these labs and companies are actually making some of these negative postings and spreading these rumors. The allegations being made on these message boards can neither be substantiated nor stand the test of time.

I am a REAL person with REAl feelings and a REAL baby in my tummy.  I am not on this site to start rumors. Crazy, I know, but  I  did not think it would be fun to pay $275 to feel lost, confused, stressed, heartbroken and worried over my baby for months and months.

 

For B:

She writes:

Science Magazine recently printed an article about fetal DNA found in maternal blood and about the Baby Gender Mentor:

 

And I say: PLEASE I urge you to read this article on their web site- it is not even favorable to their test and I can't imagine why they would include it on the site in the first place.

 

For C:

She includes a few favorable quotes like these:

"Hi, Sherry, FYI -- I used the Baby Gender Mentor Test at 51 days and the results were girl and this was confirmed 2 days ago by CVS. I'm thrilled!" -- Kim. S, mom of 3 beautiful sons (who are also very excited about their baby sister!)

"It was so comforting to have a more reliable method of gender knowledge other than just ultrasounds. I was able to buy pink everything with the confidence I was having a girl." -- Michelle M. (Note: Baby Gender Mentor Test stated girl -- Michelle is now the proud mother of a baby girl!)

 

And I say: Of course these women are happy - their BGM test and their ultrasounds matched.  They never had to endure what I have had to endure.  The point is: your lab results may not match your ultrasound and then you arte stuck in limbo- worried and wondering- why take that chance? If my results had been a match I would be raving about the test as well.

 

For D:

The Marketing man who responds to her says:

My thinking here is to be conciliatory without being condescending and to show such confidence in your research and numbers and product claims that here's the raw data for yourself. Spread the word via as many sites as possible and get as many testimonials as possible.

And I say: Yes, please show us the RAW data- show us the studies- show us the peer reviewed journals- let us meet Dr. Wang and tour the beautiful facility that is the lab (PLEASE look at the photo of the lab on the NPR web site from this mornings report! It is a hole in the wall!) And my all means, please invite me to do a testimonial!

 

I am so over this...and I am so mad at myself for giving Sherry Bonelli the benefit of the doubt and thinking for one second that she may have been a victim herself. The sad thing is that she really doesn't care what she has done to me or other women in my situation.

After hearing the story by Nell and seeing the pictures of the lab on the web site- I am in shock! I can't believe the lab looks like that- it is definately not what I had pictured. This whole situration is not what I had pictured or planned!

 

I can't believe Dr. Wang did not want to comment- he wants another year?What happened to the 14 years before and the thousands of accurate tests? Why wait for more now?

 

And Sherry Bonelli.........I can't believe you would say that you "absoulutely" feel good about selling this test when you have not been to the lab or seen the science for your self.  How can that be? Consider that a woman somewhere may have not gotten the results she wanted from the Baby Gender Mentor Test and she aborted the fetus- consider that the test could have been wrong. Think about the women on this site and the tears that have been shed and the stress we have endured during out pregnancies.  Can't you put yourself in our shoes for a moment and feel with your heart how much pain we have experienced? 

And part of me wonders if Sherry is jsut another victim of this whole experience- maybe she got wrapped up in a quick decision to sell this test on her web site and the novelty of being on the Today show- trusting the science and these people she had never met- and now here she is defending this test and maybe she doesn't even know why.

 

There was a new post I saw yesterday from a mother saying thank you to this site for saving her from taking the Baby Gender Mentor Test.  If the words of these women on this web site have educated one woman on the risks of this test not matching her ultrasound- and having her take that into consideration when making the decision to purchase the test........well then .....YHEA!!!!!!!

 

It felt so good to read that post- just knowing that she would never encounter the pain and confusion I have from taking the test. This young women will hopefully just bask in the glow of a beautiful, joyful pregnancy and I am so happy for her and her family. Knowing this helps take away some of the sting of the past months. I only hope more women will see this side of the coin before buying the test.  No, I pray more women will see this side of the coin before buying the test.

When, Nell Boyce, the reporter from NPR contacted me through  a private e-mail in this site, I couldn't believe it- was someone finally going to tell this story to other women in America?

AT first we were going to do the interview via phone, but at the last minute she decided to fly in from Washington and come to my OB's office to talk to him and to come to my home to talk to me.  She was here about three hours and the interview was very nice- Nell was wonderful!  I was so happy that she was able to see me as a mother in my own home who had been on an emotional roller coaster with this whole experience.  I am not trying to pull one over on Accu-Gen or the Baby Gender Mentor to make a quick buck by getting a refund for an incorrect test result.  I am not some womam with too much time on my hands who chose this cause to cry about.  I am a loving mother of two precious little boys who found helself caught in this web of confusion and saddness- and now I am trying to find some peace.