Friday, May 31, 2013

17w2d tests and good outcomes

I'm feeling really good these days.  I've taken the approach of believing everything is hunky-dory unless I hear otherwise.  It's made this pregnancy a lot of fun, and enjoyable.  No morning sickness has helped also!  I've had the reassuring symptom of very sore breasts the whole way through, and though it's horrid when our small dog steps on them to wake me up in the morning, they've been a great comfort to me that things are progressing as they should.

There are so many other blogs out there with heartwrenching stories and experiences.  When someone has a pregnancy loss, they usually just stop writing, it's so hard to go back to those memories of when there was still hope. When I see those blogs that stop with no explanation, I am so sad for them, thinking that's what happened.  I was just looking at this blog: http://elegyforamy.wordpress.com written by a woman who lost one of her pregnancies at almost 24 weeks.  I can't imagine how hard those later losses are.  But she is now almost full-term with a new pregnancy, thank goodness.  I found her blog today (though I've seen bits of it before) because I googled 17w2d.  It's nice to see how others were doing at the same point in time as I am.

And again, how I am is pretty darn good!  I got results back from the last part of our sequential integrated screening, and my numbers are still quite comforting.  All screened negative, nothing lower that a 1:660 chance of anything it measures for: trisomies 21, 18, and Smith Lemli Opitz Syndrome.  It was also negative for spinabifida and other neural tube defects.  When we weren't sure if those numbers would be so good, my genetics counselor scheduled a tentative amniocentesis for yesterday.  But she called me earlier this week with the good information, and also told me that Kaiser will start covering the Harmony blood test, which is almost as good as a diagnostic test without being invasive and risking miscarriage.  So we decided to drop the amnio and do the blood test instead.  I feel good about the information I have so far, so it's not critical that I did this test, but since it's being offered at a fraction of the price it normally costs (I only had to pay my copay of $20) I figured I would go for it.

I am now waiting eagerly for June 10 to arrive so we can have the anatomy scan.  I really want to find out the gender of our lil' niblet, who apparently is not so little anymore, measuring about 5 inches from butt to head -- legs are still not measured at this point.   But 5 inches!  That's bigger than my Iphone!

I'm not feeling anything discernible in there yet, probably because I'm still so blocked up that I assume every sensation is just gas.  But I've read that most people don't feel the baby's movement until 18-20 weeks, and some feel nothing until 24 weeks.   So there you go.  I do feel the uterus stretching.  It feels like mild cramps.  Nothing to run to the medicine cabinet for, it's just keeping me interested.

On a more mundane note I finally bought some larger bras!  Very exciting for me especially since they were only 6 and 12 dollars at Marshalls.  My stepmom would be proud!  But now I can rotate off of the only one that fit me, and mix it up with 2 others.  Hoorah!

On that boring note, I shall leave.

5 comments:

  1. Hi, I chanced upon your blog while visiting Strirrup Queens. Congrats on your pregnancy and normal test results!

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  3. Just wanted to say - Hi. You are about 2 weeks ahead of me I'm 16 weeks tomorrow. I agree I like seeing how other people are feeling at the same point as I am. Congradulations on your pregnancy, and I'm hoping everything keeps going so smooth for you.

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    1. Hi Ariel and Emily! Thanks for commenting. I hope you're both doing well with your pregnancies! Ariel -- how far along are you?

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  4. Hi sorry I missed your reply. I'm 38 weeks from IVF. You're very lucky to conceive naturally at 43. Looking forward to your updates!

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