19 Weeks 4 Days
But who's counting?
As of this writing, my first baby blog post, we just found out the sex of the baby - a girl! Oh God, am I going to be in trouble. What if she ends up like me? I don't want that.
Up to now I've had trouble writing about being pregnant, mostly because we hadn't told many people and partly because we wanted to wait until we were "in the clear". Because of my age, there was some concern about birth defects - spina bifida, Down's, trisomy 18. Most of those fears were alleviated last November with an early first trimester screening. It indicated I was at very low risk for any of those. Slowly we started letting people know.
Yesterday I had an amniocentesis and another ultrasound (this makes 3). The amnio procedure went well but it's certainly not comfortable. The results won't come in for another 10-14 days but I am optimistic that nothing's wrong. It was a cautionary test on my part.
During the amnio I didn't look at the needle but Karl watched the entire procedure with interest. He said it wasn't what he expected...the doctor used something that looked like a hollow metal tube with a needle tip. The needle part was inserted into my abdomen just below my belly button until it pierced the placenta. Then he put the plunger piece in the tube to draw the amniotic fluid. The whole thing took less than 2 minutes. I felt the needle prick and drew a sharp breath. It didn't really hurt but then there was a strange sensation of pressure that I didn't like at all. Again, not exactly painful but I wanted to push it out of my body. At one point my tummy contracted but nothing happened.
Oh the other hand, I find the ultrasounds to be relaxing and kind of fun. I have enjoyed watching the images appear on the screen, it's really amazing. Before my first ultrasound at 11 weeks I was feeling rather ambivalent about the pregnancy, still not sure that I was happy about it. And then I saw this little peanut thing on the screen wiggling around in my belly and a different emotion came over me. There it was, alive and kicking, so tiny. I felt protective, awestruck.
At yesterday's ultrasound the baby was much bigger, of course. The limbs were more defined and I was happy to see all 10 fingers and some well-formed feet. At this facility they had the technology to create some 3D images but I didn't like them. They were very creepy, the baby looked skeletal. Plus the images had a dull, yellowish cast that made them even more surreal. I don't recommend 3D until you're much further along.
Anyways, now that the amnio is done Karl and I feel more comfortable telling people. Suddenly I want to write about it so my next few posts will probably just talk about what it's been like up to this point. I want to have record of this somewhere so I'm also saving these entries in a separate document.
It's been scary and there have been dark moments, especially in the beginning. Now, though things can still be overwhelming, I am happy with a sense of contentment and well-being. Who would've thought all this would happen.
As of this writing, my first baby blog post, we just found out the sex of the baby - a girl! Oh God, am I going to be in trouble. What if she ends up like me? I don't want that.
Up to now I've had trouble writing about being pregnant, mostly because we hadn't told many people and partly because we wanted to wait until we were "in the clear". Because of my age, there was some concern about birth defects - spina bifida, Down's, trisomy 18. Most of those fears were alleviated last November with an early first trimester screening. It indicated I was at very low risk for any of those. Slowly we started letting people know.
Yesterday I had an amniocentesis and another ultrasound (this makes 3). The amnio procedure went well but it's certainly not comfortable. The results won't come in for another 10-14 days but I am optimistic that nothing's wrong. It was a cautionary test on my part.
During the amnio I didn't look at the needle but Karl watched the entire procedure with interest. He said it wasn't what he expected...the doctor used something that looked like a hollow metal tube with a needle tip. The needle part was inserted into my abdomen just below my belly button until it pierced the placenta. Then he put the plunger piece in the tube to draw the amniotic fluid. The whole thing took less than 2 minutes. I felt the needle prick and drew a sharp breath. It didn't really hurt but then there was a strange sensation of pressure that I didn't like at all. Again, not exactly painful but I wanted to push it out of my body. At one point my tummy contracted but nothing happened.
Oh the other hand, I find the ultrasounds to be relaxing and kind of fun. I have enjoyed watching the images appear on the screen, it's really amazing. Before my first ultrasound at 11 weeks I was feeling rather ambivalent about the pregnancy, still not sure that I was happy about it. And then I saw this little peanut thing on the screen wiggling around in my belly and a different emotion came over me. There it was, alive and kicking, so tiny. I felt protective, awestruck.
At yesterday's ultrasound the baby was much bigger, of course. The limbs were more defined and I was happy to see all 10 fingers and some well-formed feet. At this facility they had the technology to create some 3D images but I didn't like them. They were very creepy, the baby looked skeletal. Plus the images had a dull, yellowish cast that made them even more surreal. I don't recommend 3D until you're much further along.
Anyways, now that the amnio is done Karl and I feel more comfortable telling people. Suddenly I want to write about it so my next few posts will probably just talk about what it's been like up to this point. I want to have record of this somewhere so I'm also saving these entries in a separate document.
It's been scary and there have been dark moments, especially in the beginning. Now, though things can still be overwhelming, I am happy with a sense of contentment and well-being. Who would've thought all this would happen.
posted by Lynette at 1/11/2006 01:10:00 PM
2 Comments:
I am so happy for you! I can imagine everything your feeling. Thank you for sharing such a wonderful post about your pregnancy and experiences.
i just wanted to come over here and check out your new blog. wow, a little girl! glad to hear that things are in the clear! =)
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