My appointment was scheduled for 8am and I was very uncertain of traffic. Turns out things were a little thick, but moved at the speed limit or above the entire way so we had plenty of time to kill.
I will take being early over late ANY day when it comes to appointments.
We weren't called back to talk to the geneticist until about 8:15 and our discussion with her lasted almost half an hour. She drew out a full family tree with circles and squares for the various genders of our siblings and their children then went through a list of who had pregnancy issues, developmental/cognitive problems, and any known chromosomal issues.
I must say it was really nice to identify the gender of two of my pregnancy losses and she didn't look at me like I had three heads for knowing the gender of my children. They matter, and she understands that (probably from a chromosomal standpoint, but I'll take it!)
There is only one baby in the family that has had known chromosomal issues that we are aware of and that is my husband's only cousin, who passed away at the age of 11 months. We couldn't remember if there was a name to the genetic anomaly Jeremy experienced, but we shared what we did know.
My husband and I agreed to have ALL of the genetic testing run that could be done through bloodwork, including a test is not covered by insurance. Not only will this give us a good look at the chromosomes of our baby, but will also tell us with >90% accuracy the gender of our baby.
So we will know for certain in roughly two weeks whether Dash is the girl I think she is or a big surprise boy.
One of the tests also required a rather interesting combination of blood pressures. I can't remember which test it was. I had cuffs put on both arms and pressure was taken simultaneously on both arms. After, 4 vials of blood were drawn, and then both arms were checked again.
The values were very close to one another on the first set: right around 102/65. After my blood was drawn, my left arm was about 98/62 and my right arm (where the blood was drawn) was 96/56. My diastolic dropped more than the other arm, but I don't know if that is related to the fact that I'd just had blood drawn from that arm or not. The nurse was pleased to see that the values between the two arms were very close.
The ultrasound went well, too! I am 12 weeks + 0 days based on the ultrasound they ran almost 4 weeks ago and that actually matches up with my LMP, too. Dash is measuring 12w+3d, so almost a half a week ahead! This is really fabulous news!
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| Crown to Rump is 5.86cm. And that is a hand with fingers by the face! |
Both my girls measured ahead starting around this point, with the measurements getting progressively larger with my first and staggering off with my second (I suspect there may have been some minor placenta issues with my second).
There were two main objectives for this ultrasound. The first was the check blood flow and the second was to measure nuchal translucency. This is a measurement of the space behind the neck as a first hand way of seeing if the baby is at risk for Down Syndrome and should be 1mm-2mm wide. Although Dash didn't want to cooperate, the tech was able to get three measurements and they all measured 1.7mm, so right within range. This picture, which she just took for us to have, was actually the one that showed the NT space the best.
The only thing "abnormal" that popped up in the ultrasound was that I have resistance in my left uterine artery. During the scan I could see that the pattern of blood flow on the screen was different on one side, but didn't know that had any significance until Dr. H brought it up.
The significance of the resistance can be found here in the last paragraph. Dr. Hamersley confirmed that I'm on baby aspirin and wants me to be diligent about taking it an hour before bedtime. I have been taking about 2 hours prior to falling asleep, so I will adjust that.
Our discussion then turned to lovenox. I mentioned that at my preconception appointment in May she had said that when I hit 12 weeks, we'd likely move to twice daily injections. She double checked my current dose and as the wheels in her head turned, first suggested doing 40mg twice a day, which would still be an increase over my current dose. But then you could see her rethink that and she said, "Tell you what: We're going to have you do a split dose. I want you to take 40mg in the morning and 60mg in the evening."
This is a sort of compromise that I had been mulling over in my head a few days ago, when I learned that my anti-Xa levels had been so amazing earlier this month. I wondered if doing 60mg twice daily would be too much.
With the arterial resistance and having lost my son on the 40mg dose, I feel very comfortable moving to the 40/60 split. I will have my anti-Xa levels checked again on either Saturday or Monday, depending on when I can get in to LabCorp to get the test done. Dr. H wants me on the new dose for 3 days prior to having the test run, so Saturday would be my earliest.
My next appointment is three weeks from today for a growth scan and to review, if needed, the results of the genetic screening. My results will likely be in the mail before then, but if I have questions, I can ask at that appointment.
By the time we walked out, it was 10:15. Long appointment!
As a side note, when I mentioned that I could feel the baby moving the tech asked if I knew why. My response was, "Because this is my 8th pregnancy." She said, "You're smarter than most. It's also because you have a posterior placenta so there isn't anything to muffle the babies movements."
I suspected posterior before, but now I know for sure. Hallelujah!!
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