Jeff, in all his organizational glory, arranged for a meeting at work today... the day of the big ultrasound. If the ultrasound tech had come in to get me 10 minutes later he would have missed it. I had an abdominal ultrasound, which was nice for two reasons. First, the obvious lack of invasion by a foreign object and second, it gave me a visable excuse for my expanding waistline. And, to top it off, this fancy office has an ultrasound goo warmer.
The ultrasound tech began by apologizing for the long wait. They had two emergencies this morning... and at the maternal/fetal office, those aren't good. I was just so glad to be the person in the waiting room looking over yet another copy of Parenting Magazine and not the people whose lives were just thrown into a blender this morning. Thankfully, Jeff was able to see the baby for about 10 minutes before he had to go save the world.
The tech tried to get a good reading on the heartbeat first, which was a little hard because the little bugger was squirming around like crazy in there. She was finally able to get enough to tell the rate, which was around 168. The whole point of this visit was to have a NT ( Nuchal translucency) Scan. This is where they measure the space at the back of baby's neck. Babies with chromosomal abnormalities, like Down's, have fluid in this area. They measure this between weeks 11 and 13. The tech was trying to get a measurement of this space, but the little one wasn't in the right position. We tried for 20 minutes to get him/her to move. I rolled over to one side for a few minutes. We checked. I rolled over to the other side. No luck. He/She would move, but not the right way. After a bunch of prodding, she finally gave up. Although we did not get a measurement, the tech did say that everything appeared to her to be normal. Our little peanut is even measuring a few days ahead! (It's funny... looking at the pictures he/she looks big! It's hard to believe the little one is only 2 1/2 inches!)
She said that we could do it again this week, but I declined. I also turned down the series of tests: cystic fibrosis, Quad screen, etc. In my opinion, there is no real point to my having these tests since I would not terminate no matter the results. I don't want to have the stress of waiting for results or getting a false positive, which has happened to some that I've talked to.
After the ultrasound, I met with the actual Maternal/Fetal doctor. Now, the last time I saw these people, they were coming into my hospital room every few weeks to give me the gloom and doom report on the fragility of my situation. With the boys, I went to this specialist one time and then was hospitalized in labor that same week. I remember realizing, lying in the hospital bed probably watching reruns of Dawson's Creek, that I was about to miss my next appointment at their office. So, they came to me. I digress...
The doctor was very nice. He went over all of my losses, my preterm labor, my vast amount of past bloodwork: Antiphospholipids, autoimmune thrombocytopenia, Lupus anticoagulant and anticardiolipin antibodies, and every other antibody or clotting test known to man. Yes, all were normal. My OBGYN had suggested putting me on progesterone injections beginning at 16 weeks in effort to prevent preterm labor, just to be safe. This doctor said that he didn't think that it would be of any help to me. I didn't fit the criteria with this pregnancy (not multiples), which is fine. They are going to keep a very close eye on me. I will be seen every 2-4 weeks, with ultrasounds. I will also be seen by my OBGYN every 4 weeks for a little while until they move me up to every 2. My OBGYN has me on the high risk list, so I will move up to more frequent visits pretty early. So, I should be busy hoppin' from doctor to doctor, which is better than not hoppin' anywhere!
And hey, at least insurance covers this part.
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