At my Maternal & Fetal medicine appointment, we had to schedule an appointment to see a genetic counselor. We had that appointment yesterday. I was thinking this was gonna be like a counselor helping us deal with & prepare for what could be, but it was more like genetic QUESTIONING. All she really did was ask us questions about our family background & if chromosomal abnormalities ran in either of our families. I guess she did ask us a little bit about what we would do if the baby DOES have 'problems' & if we would be able to get through it. But for the most part, it was just family background stuff for the both of us.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Belly (:
23 week belly pictures!
It's realllly starting to get big now (:
But it's still kinda hard to tell from the front.
And hey, my jeans still fit! (:
It's realllly starting to get big now (:
But it's still kinda hard to tell from the front.
And hey, my jeans still fit! (:
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Maternal & Fetal Medicine
Today was our first appointment at Maternal & Fetal Medicine with Dr. Gonzalez. I really didn't know what to expect, but all they really needed to do was get a more detailed ultra sound & review the pictures. Although the circumstances of getting the U/S kinda suck, I absolutely love getting to see my sweet little baby! So a tech did the U/S & got the pictures she needed & also got some for us. Baby is still definitely a boy (: When she was done, she took the photo's for Dr. Gonzalez to review. After a while, he came in. I'm not sure if the tech just didn't do a good job, so he couldn't see what he needed to in the pictures, or what... but he ended up doing another U/S & just going off of what he was seeing right there. He found what the other office was talking about on the baby's neck... he said that his neck skin is definitely thicker (Thickened Nuchal Fold), but it's not too terribly thick, like some may be. He also saw the dilated kidneys & darkened bowels. Both of those weren't too bad, either. He said that it's possible that it could be nothing, & maybe they will go back to normal. Luckily, the baby's heart is 100% normal so it made me feel better after hearing that! If by chance he did have a hole or something else wrong with his heart, I would of had to deliver up in Salt Lake, because they have a better NICU team & specialists for that kind of stuff. So that makes me even more happy nothing was wrong with his heart! Obviously, there is no way to tell from just an U/S if Bransyn for sure has a Chromosomal Abnormality. But there are ways. 1, being the alpha-fetoprotein screening, which is a blood test. It measures the levels of AFP (a protein that is normally produced by the fetal liver and is present in the fluid surrounding the fetus and crosses the placenta into the mothers blood. Abnormal levels of AFP may signal one of the following:
open neural tubal defects (such as spina bifida)
down syndrome
other chromosomal abnormalities
defects in the abdominal wall of the fetus
twins
a miscalculated due date
For that, they will just take my blood. I will definitely be doing that one. Sometimes the results aren't accurate, but I guess it's worth a try! The second way, is 100% accurate. It is an amniocentesis. That is where the dr sticks a long needle into the uterus, to collect a sample of amniotic fluid, under ultra sound guidance. The fluid is then sent to a lab for analysis. This procedure has some risks, though. It can cause miscarriage, although risk of that is only 1%. It can cause injury to the baby or mother, infection & preterm labor. I told the doctor that I wasn't sure if I want to get that one done or not yet, but I the second he told me the risk of miscarriage, I had my mind made up. There is no way I can get that done. Yes, the risk is very low... but what if I happened to be that 1%? And what if nothing is wrong with my son, but I get it & I end up losing him over it. I just can't do it. Losing my baby is not worth it to me. The only thing that's gonna suck, is that since I have chosen not to get this, we won't know anything for sure until birth. Even if the AFP results come back clean. Which I was supposed to get that test done today, but I couldn't. I dunno if it's cause I'm just worried about the results will be, or if I'm just so stressed & what not, but I wasn't able to get my blood drawn today. I have to go back to get it drawn. So, hopefully after I do that we can get the results back fast & see what they say!
Here are the pictures of our little nugget from today (:
open neural tubal defects (such as spina bifida)
down syndrome
other chromosomal abnormalities
defects in the abdominal wall of the fetus
twins
a miscalculated due date
For that, they will just take my blood. I will definitely be doing that one. Sometimes the results aren't accurate, but I guess it's worth a try! The second way, is 100% accurate. It is an amniocentesis. That is where the dr sticks a long needle into the uterus, to collect a sample of amniotic fluid, under ultra sound guidance. The fluid is then sent to a lab for analysis. This procedure has some risks, though. It can cause miscarriage, although risk of that is only 1%. It can cause injury to the baby or mother, infection & preterm labor. I told the doctor that I wasn't sure if I want to get that one done or not yet, but I the second he told me the risk of miscarriage, I had my mind made up. There is no way I can get that done. Yes, the risk is very low... but what if I happened to be that 1%? And what if nothing is wrong with my son, but I get it & I end up losing him over it. I just can't do it. Losing my baby is not worth it to me. The only thing that's gonna suck, is that since I have chosen not to get this, we won't know anything for sure until birth. Even if the AFP results come back clean. Which I was supposed to get that test done today, but I couldn't. I dunno if it's cause I'm just worried about the results will be, or if I'm just so stressed & what not, but I wasn't able to get my blood drawn today. I have to go back to get it drawn. So, hopefully after I do that we can get the results back fast & see what they say!
Here are the pictures of our little nugget from today (:
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
