Friday, January 8, 2010

The 2nd trimester begins!

I've graduated from my RE. Yay! I am happy about this step, partly because the RE that I recently inherited was a moron. I am so glad to be returning to my obgyn who we like and who knows us.

As soon as my ob received my paperwork and learned that I was pregnant, he called to congratulate us and let us know he is optimistic. We've completed our first trimester screening with the perinatologist, who has the rolls-royce of ultrasound machines. We got to see our wee one wiggling around on a large flat screen tv screen- very cool. The nuchal fold looks fine, thankfully. Due to my history and age, they also had us meet with their genetic counselor.

The first trimester screening results point to us having to do an amnio. I was very much hoping this would not be the case, but we are mulling over the recommendation- which is also what my obgyn suggests. This is mainly because of my history of a 2nd trimester loss and largely because I am now 35 and have therefore reached "advanced maternal age". Ugh! Seriously, it's like crossing that cut-off age changes everything.

Of course no one likes the idea of a long needle being inserted into their pregnant belly. I am not that concerned about the discomfort or possible pain. What I worry about is the small risk associated with the procedure. The risk, however, is indeed small... 1/400, or .25%. I actually have a significantly higher risk of their being something wrong with the baby... 1/120.

In order to gain more information, I will likely move forward with the testing. I hope and pray that everything goes smoothly with this pregnancy. If for some reason there is information we should know, we would prefer to find out. I may feel this way due to the nature of the loss our son.. I went in for a normal visit and found out at 21 weeks he had died. It was like being hit by a truck. In addition, the cause was never determined. As a result, I can't help but worry somewhat that whatever it was could happen again.

I am happy have reached the second trimester. I'm also hoping that soon I will be able to breathe a little easier.

6 comments:

  1. I'm pleased too that you are out of the first trimester. My wife relaxed -a tiny bit- once she was out of the first trimester (I appreciate that no trimester is anxiety free after baby loss.)

    I hope that you get the information you need and that this pregnancy is straight forward.

    I will be thinking of you.

    Take care (and sending lots of virtual support).

    Emma's Daddy

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  2. Yay! Congrats on making it this far! Good luck with the decisions you need to make. Sending happy thoughts your way!

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  3. Hi Cece, thanks for visiting my blog, and huge congratulations on making it to the second trimester!! It's totally understandable that you are nervous, and I'm in agreement about the testing. I would rather know than not know when it comes to things like that. I'm sending all good thoughts your way for the second trimester to fly by with no complications so that you can move on to swollen ankles and itchy belly!! :)

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  4. CeCe, wonderful news that you've made it to the second tri! I know you won't be relaxing any time soon (um, never, right?) but hopefully you can begin to breath just the tiniest bit easier. I know what you mean regarding 35...if we're ever blessed with another pregnancy, I'll be in that dreaded "Advanced Maternal Age" category myself, given that I'm now 34. UGH. As for the4 amnio, I just had one last week and as far as the procedure itself goes, it was pretty benign. Just don't look at the needle. I didn't want to see the needle, so I just held my husband's hand and looked at him the whole time, and it's honestly MUCH less painful that getting an IV inserted because the needle is so tiny. I felt barely a pinch, mostly just a bit of pressure when they were extracting the amniotic fluid. I was nervous too though, and I was much further along--so I can imagine my anxiety had the procedure been recommended earlier in the pregnancy. I'm sure they'll monitor you for a while afterwards to ensure that everything is okay. They listened to our baby's heartbeat for 3 hours after mine to ensure that the he was fine and that I wasn't having major contractions! I'll be thinking about you and checking back next week to find out how you're doing.

    Best,
    Brenna

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  5. Congratulations on getting to the second trimester! I know you are anxious and that is normal. But remind yourself that Today you are Pregnant! Cherish the life inside of you!!

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  6. I hope so too CeCe. It must be such an anxious time and such a difficult decision to take. I'm glad you've decided on a way forward. Thinking of you xx

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