June 02, 2005
Amnio
16 weeks
The prize for suffering through an amnio is a long slow look at your baby. (S)he's big enough to look like a person now, which is a big deal compared to before
8 weeks
Amniocentesis is a small ordeal. You can get the good facts here, but this is my personal experience which won't be like yours. everyone expereinces it differently, I hear.
Arrived at 9 for "genetic counseling" which was not what I expected... first there was another couple. I kinda wanted it more private, even though nothing she said was private. I guess I prefer to be private in my fears.
The woman in charge explained the procedure, how it works and showed us pictures of chromosomes and what good pairs looked like and where the bad trios can occur. Nature abhors a menage a toi. It was interesting to know some of the science, but perhaps not very grounded in what we were really wondering about-- will my baby have a problem and how bad is that problem when it happpens? Though she did cover percentages of how likely it is for soemthing to go astray.
For some reason 2% chance sounds so less worrisome to me than 1 in 50 chance. But they tell you 1 in 50. what's scary is what happens as you grow older... at 49 1 in 3 is your odds. They also don't cover much about what the abnormalities mean... I know now one creates down syndrome, two others are really scary and result in a baby that doesn't live past one, and the fourth is an abnormality in the sex chromosome that results in nothing more than potential infertility. I wonder about that because my best friend in high school's sister who used to be his brother had that abnormality, so I can't help but wonder if that chromosome does more than deal with reproduction. But they say it doesn't affect intelligence or healthy, and if you were abnormal sexually, well the bay area is a fine place to live.
Then the other couple who we had our orientation with was sent off to wait forty minutes and we went into the proceedure room. First came the long ultrasound. For some reason Philippe got kind freaked out during it, unlike the first one which made him really happy. He said later the room disturbed him.
I thought it was fun-- even though the technician was not very helpful, he kinda flew over my belly with the tool, sometimes poking me with it to get the baby to roll over; he'd call out this or that-- kidney, heart, femur. I liked spotting things, a little arm punching out or the long spine which was always the easiest to spot. Unfortunately my little guy was too small and we didn't get to find out the sex. But on the up side, we'll get to come back in three weeks for another ultrasound. I cannot get enough ultrasounds. They are amazing.
But then the fun is over. The doctor comes in, and the swipes the ultrasound across my belly (don't ever touch you belly while it's covered with that stuff. ew.). She agrees that the baby is too small to really check progress properly, but there are nice sacks of fluid to do an amnio in, so forward we go. I'm told to lay back and not watch-- i need to not tense. at one point as she marks the spot to go in, my frisky baby moves in the way, and she has to pick a new spot. She goes in fast, and motherfucker it hurts. I was so mellow, I was breathing gently yoga style, and keeping calm until that needle hit.
Then is it pierced me it hurt and hurt and hurt as she removed the liquid... a lot of liquid. So much for a small prick. I know compared to what's coming that's nothing but still... I freaked out and she very sternly told me not to move and to breath... I tried to do deep breathing but she said not that deep so I did the yoga breathing I practice when I'm doing hard positions-- it's shorter and in the throat. That worked, calming me somewhat and holding me still. Philippe was huddled over my hand. then it hurt when she removed the needle. She tried to show me another ultrasound to cheer me up, but I was crying and couldn't really see at all.
The tears just poured down my cheeks. My crying has been like that lately, often and waterworks. I had a small rest on the table then, and we left. My stomach hurt for about three hours after. I rested in bed that day, watching videos, and tried to stay as quiet as possible yesterday. So far no bad signs. They told me to watch for severe cramping, heavy fluids and bleeding. so far it's been very small cramps, and no fluids and things seem normal. it's not even bruised. Now I just have to wait the long wait while the cells grow and they sound the chromosomes. I hope beyond hope that everything is perfectly normal.
Posted by christina at 05:47 PM