Oh My!

Didn't realize how much I said "Oh my!" until I started writing this.

My doctor appointment was yesterday. I was called back immediately by the same sonogram tech who did my very first sonogram. She performed the sonogram and right away you could see the baby kicking and moving all over the place. I asked her if there was a heartbeat. She said yes, it's moving isn't it? Oh my! I asked about the measurements. I was told, the baby's measuring at 11 weeks 6 days. Oh my! She checked the nuchal fold for the down syndrome screening. She said it looked good, but the genetic counselor would go over the information with me. Oh my! All in all everything looks normal at this stage. Oh my! The tech said she had to plug the measurements into the computer with my blood hormone levels which were taken at the last appointment.

(Next came typical exam stuff....) I had my blood pressure checked - 112/46, and my weight - 159 1/2lbs. I then had to endure the pelvic exam and pap smear and other culture tests. It all went smoothly. Those results should be back in about a week. The only bad news was the specialized blood test which was ordered the second week of September (NATP) was not performed accurately. So, yes Dave and I have to get our blood re-drawn for this test. It will be the second time for me and the third for Dave - for just this test alone!!! bad Lab Corp.....

I then met with the genetic counselor. The standard of care would be to have any woman over the age of 35 (advanced maternal age) to be screened for down syndrome/genetic abnormalities. According to statistics, a woman age 38 had a 1/123 chance of having a baby with down syndrome. My chances before the screening were 1/118 (about average), but after the screening my chances are now 1/257. I am still testing in the "positive - more suspicious" range, but the "normal risk range" numbers would be 1/300 chance and above. So....... my numbers got better which is great, but the discussion led to what should I do next? Amnio?, additional screening at 15-18 weeks? I opted for the additional screening at 15-18 weeks - which is a simple blood test to check hormone levels. Although this test has a lot of false positives (I've heard many women be screened and be told their risks were greater and they had healthy children), I would ask for this test to be done regardless because this was the first major indicator in Jacob's pregnancy - telling me somthing wasn't right (more on that later).

So, once again I left the office with good news. Wished Dave had come because he would have been so happy to see how active the bitty baby growing inside of me is. Dave and I will get our blood re-drawn today for the NATP test. My next doctor appointment is scheduled for October 15th at 2:15pm. Keeping my fingers crossed for continuing good news.

Off to bring Ava to her first pre-school orientation. She's been ready to go since 7am! She'll be 3 tomorrow!!