>relief

>After all that angst, we ended up NOT doing the amnio! We were prepared to do it, but as the doctor did the (very thorough) genetic ultrasound looking for markers of possible problems and was saying, “Perfect. Perfect. Perfect.” I started wondering if we really needed to do it. I shared my concerns and DW and the doctor agreed. So we did a blood draw and are running the numbers again (will be different since later in pregnancy than last screen). If they come back low, then we’ll do the amnio (but the doctor said he’ll be shocked if they do). All three of us felt like we were looking at a perfectly healthy little BOY in there 🙂 I was surprisingly much more emotional about the whole ordeal than I expected. Anyway, we are feeling much lighter now and like everything is great.

Doctor also redid our first tri number using yesterday’s ultrasound and came back with 1:83 risk of Downs (wow is that ever better than 1:8). He said for the next screen, based only on the u/s, our number was 1:382. Oh, and he also told me that they’ve found that women who’ve done IVF often have a higher HCG reading than other women and that can also throw your numbers off. Did I mention that new high-risk OB man is GAY? Night and day difference between Dr. Homophobe and loving partnered Dr. Gay. Loved him.

Finally, thank you all so much for your support! It has meant so much to me.

>ob appt.

>I got to hear the nugget’s strong heartbeat today at the OB’s office via Doppler. My doctor was being reassuring about the amnio/first tri screening results, which was nice. I’m feeling much less stressed and just hoping for the best. Amnio is Wednesday at 1:30 and then I’m on 48 hours bedrest in a local hotel. I had to book a room since my house is a shambles. I’m actually looking forward to total relaxation in a clean environment.

Send good vibes our way Wednesday! 

>the dreaded wait

>First, thank you all for your support and kindness in re: my last post. I’m going through waves of “it’ll all be fine” and “you’ll be the 1 in that 1:8” craziness. Trying desperately to put it out of my head as I won’t know for a little while. We’re trying to decide whether we want to do the FSH (or is it FISH?) thing where they have some preliminary results (including Downs result) after 48 hours or just wait the 2 weeks for the whole panel to be done. We are going on vacation from 7/20-7/27, the amnio is 7/15, and so the FSH results would arrive the Friday before we leave. If the results are bad, vacation ruined. If they are good, vacation is better than it will be without knowing. I hate that this all fell at the same time. Argh.

Predictably, I’m not sleeping well and that combined with stress and hormones is making me kind of a nutcase. I was almost in tears at work yesterday over nothing. Fortunately I recovered myself before anyone knew (I do not want to be seen as the emotional pregnant lady in the workplace). I really need that week off. And because things aren’t quite crazy enough, our remodel starts today. I guess I’m going to get a hotel room for next Thur-Fri as my OB told me to be on modified bed rest for 48 hours following the amnio and that isn’t going to be possible with the state my house is in right now. Plus they are scraping the ceilings Thur-Fri of next week. How much nuttier can it get, people?

I would also not advise doing the first trimester screening if:

• It won’t matter to you what the results are (i.e. you’ll not terminate no matter the results)
• You are planning on doing an amnio regardless

We had always planned on an amnio because of my age, so we could have avoided all this stress and just gotten definitive results with the amnio. After reading about all the false positives, this test just seems like a bad idea and I’m really bummed out that we did it at all. The only people that this test might be for are those who are unsure whether they want to do an amnio or not and want to use the results as a guide. Just my 2 cents.

It’s strange to feel past the worry of miscarriage (I know I’m pregnant what with the growing belly and gagging all the time) and on to the worry over prenatal screening. I guess it’s a graduation of sorts?

>first trimester screening results

>Okay, I’m trying not to freak out. My OB called with the results of the bloodwork and said that there is a 1 in 8 chance that the baby has Downs Syndrome. I’ve heard from so many people that they got terrible results from this screening and ended up with a perfectly healthy baby, but that 1 in 8 just scared the shit out of me. Is it too much to ask for one thing to just be fine in this process? Now we get to worry for the next month (amnio is 7/15 and results won’t be in until two weeks after that).

On the plus side, the doctor said that the nuchal translucency result was great and that he’s seen lots of people with these odds and worse come through just fine. Still, this is going to be a tough few weeks.

>between appointments update

>I don’t know if I mentioned it, but I passed the glucose test they had me do at 12 weeks. I was worried about it, but it ended up just fine. Still waiting to hear the results from the other tests they ran from all that blood they took.

I took my first belly shot today (14 weeks). I have finally reached the 2nd trimester! Still having some nausea and gagging, but I’m hoping that subsides in the coming days/weeks.

We have our next OB appt. on July 13 and our amnio appt. is July 15. I’m nervous about the amnio, but it will be nice to get it behind us and feel like we can really enjoy the rest of the pregnancy. Anyone else have or will be having an amnio? We were planning on it all along since I’m 39, but the cysts the doctor found at the 1st tri screening sealed the deal. We just want to know.

In other news, we are finishing up packing our kitchen, master bath, and laundry room in preparation for our remodel. I am not looking forward to the house chaos I am about to enter, but have to just focus on the end result.