Nine-week update

I had my first OB appointment this week. I’ll have the same obstetrician I had with my other pregnancies, and I really like her. She’s warm but not touchy-feely, and while she’s very kind and empathetic, she doesn’t let me get away with anything. It’s a nice mix!

Frankly, I could have practically phoned this appointment in. I’m only at nine weeks, so it’s too early to hear the baby’s heartbeat with the doppler. There isn’t too much that she could tell me that I don’t remember from my last two pregnancies, either. (I always stumble over the number of pregnancies. This is in fact my fourth pregnancy, since we lost the first one, but I don’t want to keep dragging that into the conversation. Anyway, I digress…)

She listened to my heart and lungs, and took my blood pressure, which always tends to the low side. The only part I didn’t like was the weigh-in, mostly because her scale is a full five pounds heavier than the scale I’ve been using at the gym to monitor my weight weekly. Ugh. I’m more paranoid about my weight this time around than I ever was before.

The one conversation that I meant to have and that I forgot about was the “advanced maternal age” issue. I’m 37, which while not exactly ancient still puts me into the risk category. I’ll be having the Integrated Prenatal Screening (IPS) test that’s available to all pregnant women in Ontario (can I get a hallelujah for socialized medicine? Throughout my entire pregnancy, the only cost I am likely to incur is in the hospital when I give birth, because I will upgrade from a ward to a private room at $100 a night.) IPS consists of an ultrasound at 12 weeks, plus two blood tests, and screens for increased likelihood of Down Syndrome, Trisomy 18 and neural tube defects.

What I can’t quite bring myself to do is an amniocentisis. Because I know my OB fairly well by now, I don’t think she’ll push one on me, despite the ‘advanced maternal age’ issue. When I was pregnant with Tristan, the 18 week ultrasound showed an echogenic cardiac focus, a bright spot of calcification on the heart that was at the time considered to be a ‘soft marker’ for Down Syndrome. We went for genetic counselling, but facing a 1 in 200 chance of Downs, I couldn’t bear the risk of the 1 in 200 chance of miscarriage with an amnio.

Although, it sure would be nice to know whether this baby’s plumbing is of the indoor or outdoor variety – and the amnio can confirm that. Waiting another nine weeks for the ultrasound that shows gender is going to be excruciating!

The one thing I love about my OB’s office is the chart on the wall with the actual-size representation of what your baby looks like right now. I’m thrilled to see that the little munchkin has developed fingers and toes already, and is roughly the size of my thumb. Nine weeks down, 31 to go!

Author: DaniGirl

Canadian. storyteller, photographer, mom to 3. Professional dilettante.

36 thoughts on “Nine-week update”

  1. I never had an amnio, so I have nothing to say about that except good gravy that needle is humongus!
    Do you know what the 12 week ultrasound is looking for? I had them at that time, too, but I thought they were just checking for twins.

  2. I never had an amnio, so I have nothing to say about that except good gravy that needle is humongus!
    Do you know what the 12 week ultrasound is looking for? I had them at that time, too, but I thought they were just checking for twins.

  3. Casey, ya, I’m not particularly afraid of needles, but eek, that one is massive!
    At 12 weeks, they look for something called nuchal fold translucency, or how thick the skin is as the top of the spinal column/back of the neck. Apparently if the skin is of a certain thickness, it’s an indicator of an elevated risk of chromosomal problems (like, I think, Down’s.)
    Dean Dad – ya, I’ll take just about any reason to brag about socialized medicine. It’s not perfect, but it’s better than the alternative!
    Miche, thanks! If it comes up and I need a personal perspective, I just may take you up on that!

  4. Casey, ya, I’m not particularly afraid of needles, but eek, that one is massive!
    At 12 weeks, they look for something called nuchal fold translucency, or how thick the skin is as the top of the spinal column/back of the neck. Apparently if the skin is of a certain thickness, it’s an indicator of an elevated risk of chromosomal problems (like, I think, Down’s.)
    Dean Dad – ya, I’ll take just about any reason to brag about socialized medicine. It’s not perfect, but it’s better than the alternative!
    Miche, thanks! If it comes up and I need a personal perspective, I just may take you up on that!

  5. Yeah, I asked for the private room and was willing to shell out – but there wasn’t one for me. 10 babies born that night, including twins. The inn was full, so I got the barely-curtained cubicle by the bathroom next to a moaner with visitors who never left.
    So. giggly. about updates!

  6. Yeah, I asked for the private room and was willing to shell out – but there wasn’t one for me. 10 babies born that night, including twins. The inn was full, so I got the barely-curtained cubicle by the bathroom next to a moaner with visitors who never left.
    So. giggly. about updates!

  7. Wow, congratulations! I haven’t been by in awhile. I loved that chart too. It was about the only thing I loved about being pregnant, but, oh well. Except the end result, of course. Wishing you a smooth and comfortable pregnancy.

  8. Wow, congratulations! I haven’t been by in awhile. I loved that chart too. It was about the only thing I loved about being pregnant, but, oh well. Except the end result, of course. Wishing you a smooth and comfortable pregnancy.

  9. No amnio experience here, but from what I have heard, I do believe the IPS screening they have now (which they didn’t in 2001) is a great improvement on early detection.
    Just be patient lady on the gender thing, you don’t have to worry about shopping cause you are SO having another boy. And yes, I will laugh AT you.
    xo

  10. No amnio experience here, but from what I have heard, I do believe the IPS screening they have now (which they didn’t in 2001) is a great improvement on early detection.
    Just be patient lady on the gender thing, you don’t have to worry about shopping cause you are SO having another boy. And yes, I will laugh AT you.
    xo

  11. I had the IPS with my last pregnancy as well (didn’t come up the first time around – because I wasn’t old enough? it hadn’t been invented yet? no family doctor? – not sure why). It’s a strange thing, that test – on the one hand, it’s the Potentially-Mess-With-Your-Head-For-No-Good-Reason test, but on the other hand, it’s the Get-To-See-Your-Baby-Now-Instead-Of-Eight-Weeks-From-Now test. The latter reason was persuasive enough for me to overcome my concerns about the former.

  12. I had the IPS with my last pregnancy as well (didn’t come up the first time around – because I wasn’t old enough? it hadn’t been invented yet? no family doctor? – not sure why). It’s a strange thing, that test – on the one hand, it’s the Potentially-Mess-With-Your-Head-For-No-Good-Reason test, but on the other hand, it’s the Get-To-See-Your-Baby-Now-Instead-Of-Eight-Weeks-From-Now test. The latter reason was persuasive enough for me to overcome my concerns about the former.

  13. i did the same thing Dani. I avoid Amnio for fear of M/C. And look what I have now. ONE BUSY BIRGHT BOY. Who we love to death.

  14. i did the same thing Dani. I avoid Amnio for fear of M/C. And look what I have now. ONE BUSY BIRGHT BOY. Who we love to death.

  15. I too did not have the amnio for fear of m/c. I also didn’t do the IPS, I opted to wait for the 18 week u/s and see if all was well. Which it was and we left it at that. Besides, you are so young at heart, you should be able to shave a few years off for that alone :).

  16. I too did not have the amnio for fear of m/c. I also didn’t do the IPS, I opted to wait for the 18 week u/s and see if all was well. Which it was and we left it at that. Besides, you are so young at heart, you should be able to shave a few years off for that alone :).

  17. Hi! Congrats on the new pregnancy. I am currently 27 weeks pregnant with my second. Just wanted to let you know that I just pre-registered at the General and the cost for a private room is $220 a night. Thought you might like to know ๐Ÿ™‚
    Good luck and I look forward to hearing all about this new member of your family!

  18. Hi! Congrats on the new pregnancy. I am currently 27 weeks pregnant with my second. Just wanted to let you know that I just pre-registered at the General and the cost for a private room is $220 a night. Thought you might like to know ๐Ÿ™‚
    Good luck and I look forward to hearing all about this new member of your family!

  19. I was 38 when the Kid was born, and I had amnio. At 35, the risk of genetic defect becomes greater than the risk of miscarriage, fwiw. That was almost 15 years ago, and they didn’t do as much other screening then, so you do have that advantage.
    I SO wish we had socialized medicine here!

  20. I was 38 when the Kid was born, and I had amnio. At 35, the risk of genetic defect becomes greater than the risk of miscarriage, fwiw. That was almost 15 years ago, and they didn’t do as much other screening then, so you do have that advantage.
    I SO wish we had socialized medicine here!

  21. I did that IPS thing with my 2nd child. They really had a hard time understanding that although I was 34, the fetus’ odds should be calculated for a 32 year old as he had been a frozen embryo. They never did get it right.
    I never had results on any tests that warrented an amnio, but I’ve always assumed that I’d go through with it despite the risks because I don’t deal well with uncertainty. But luckily you don’t seem to be a neurotic freak like me.

  22. I did that IPS thing with my 2nd child. They really had a hard time understanding that although I was 34, the fetus’ odds should be calculated for a 32 year old as he had been a frozen embryo. They never did get it right.
    I never had results on any tests that warrented an amnio, but I’ve always assumed that I’d go through with it despite the risks because I don’t deal well with uncertainty. But luckily you don’t seem to be a neurotic freak like me.

  23. Like Miche, I had amnio. Twice actually, with both my girls (I was 36 with #1 and 38 with #2) at the Civic campus. Not nearly as scary as you’d think, and didn’t hurt much either. And I got to see the little squirmies early. I don’t think they had the IPS tests then (#2 will be 4 yrs old next week) and I was afraid a false positive on whatever the test was then would result in an amnio for peace of mind anyway, so I went ahead anyway. The peace of mind knowing that they were chromosomally OK was indescribably comforting.

  24. Like Miche, I had amnio. Twice actually, with both my girls (I was 36 with #1 and 38 with #2) at the Civic campus. Not nearly as scary as you’d think, and didn’t hurt much either. And I got to see the little squirmies early. I don’t think they had the IPS tests then (#2 will be 4 yrs old next week) and I was afraid a false positive on whatever the test was then would result in an amnio for peace of mind anyway, so I went ahead anyway. The peace of mind knowing that they were chromosomally OK was indescribably comforting.

  25. I was 37 when I was pregnant with my son. We did the amnio. He was my first pregnancy that made it past 6 weeks. It was not a big deal. My husband was 46 at the time and while we wouldn’t have aborted if the baby had Downs, we did want to be prepared to deal with it if he did.
    No worries, as it turned out. He’s a very bright and active 7 year old now!

  26. I was 37 when I was pregnant with my son. We did the amnio. He was my first pregnancy that made it past 6 weeks. It was not a big deal. My husband was 46 at the time and while we wouldn’t have aborted if the baby had Downs, we did want to be prepared to deal with it if he did.
    No worries, as it turned out. He’s a very bright and active 7 year old now!

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