Pregnant

Sunday, September 24, 2006
O' Baby Current mood: cheerful
Yes it has been awhile since I have blogged about baby news. But I didn't really have much to report. So, I figured I would wait a little bit until I had at least some interesting news.
Doctors apt on the 18th. Everything went great. I had only gained 1 pound so far. I really need to start watching that I am not loosing. Like I have every complained about loosing weight the heck. But not good for baby. I am still eating however I get full after a couple bites. 5 months ago this would have been awesome; maybe I can instill these habits when I am done having the baby. That would be great! So, anyhow back to the baby. I finally really got to hear the heart beat loud and clear this was a great moment. I did hear it before but only for a brief second. This time it was like 100 horses running.
The doctors apt other then that was really uneventful. I opted to have the "quad screen" or multi-marker. This screening test measures blood levels of a substance called alpha-fetoprotein (AFP), plus two or three hormones-humans chronionic gonadortrophin (hCG), and unconjugated estriol (uE3), and sometimes inhibin A. It won't tell you if your baby has a problem, but it will give you an estimate of your risk of having a baby with a neural tube defect and a few other malformations, Down Syndrome (the most common chromosomal abnormality), and trisomy 18 (a relatively rare chromosomal abnormality). (Murray, Hennen & Scott, 2005) The test came back NEGATIVE. This is was a very stressful week I tried to ignore the test but it was hard. Many people my age opt out of the test because the test has a high risk of false positives. When the test produces a positive result they usually like to do an amniocentesis. However if my test came back positive I would not have done the amino because of the risks involved. An ultrasound can usually let the doctor know if many of the conditions are present. I do now have a rested mind.
Baby movement:
Pretty sure I felt the baby move about 1 week ago. But I wasn't sure. This morning I had the same feeling. Almost like a butterfly in my tummy. Near the same spot. It wasn't gas. Pretty cool feeling so I am grinning from ear to ear now. That is all the latest.
I will blog some more this week on changes coming...
Murray, L., Hennen, L. & Scott, J. (2005) The Baby Center: Essential Guide to Pregnancy and Birth. Rodale. Holtzbrinck Publishers. United States. (Also online at www.babycenter.com)