Monday, August 2, 2010

First Midwife Appointment

Boy that was a long appointment, but it was really laid back so that was part of it. A few things I was annoyed with. I was there for my annual in Feb, but they still requested my insurance info and I had to fill out the same 8 pages of information I did last time. I hate paperwork! Then they ask the SAME questions during the medical history review of the appointment.

I am guessing that since it was a first appointment, and they are always known to run long, that they were wanting to move my appointment to an earlier time. I didn't get out of the office until close to 5pm.

During that time she examined my pelvic bones to make sure they were in proper place for birthing, which they were. They also swabbed for STD panel, which I am 100% positive will be clear. They also took about 4 vials of blood, which I am assuming is for a complete blood panel. I'm sure that will return fine, however I'm curious about my iron/hemoglobin level since I can be borderline anemic. Oh, yeah and there was the nice urine test and I did my first dipstick for protein and glucose. They asked me 4 times for consent for HIV, which I passed on because I've had taken a year or so ago and there is no way it would turn up positive. If I hadn't had it done before, then I would have signed. I also got to hear the baby on the Doppler. So easy to find! HB of around 150.

So this leaves one question up for debate. To test or not to test? We had a discussion with the midwife about the quad screen and we are on the fence. My stance is that I'm highly unlikely to go so far as to get an amniocentesis because of the risks and if we get positive markers on the blood test then that is likely where we would head after a level 2 ultrasound. She agreed and said there are often indicators in the blood test that result in false positives. My concern is worrying about a bad result for the rest of the pregnancy. My husband believes it is better to know now in case there is anything that can be done. He doesn't think finding out during birth or shortly after birth is the best time, that it would be traumatizing. We both agree that termination is not likely, and that there is nothing that we could do now to prepare ourselves if our child has down syndrome. I think the biggest concern is neural tube defects. We did not have an NT scan, but the RE did look at the spine and commented that everything appeared fine, but no measurement taken.

DH said it was up to me, but I hope he does realize that I am seriously considering what he is saying. I know we both need to do more research to feel more comfortable. I am thinking about taking it and just dealing with the stress until I hear the result, just so DH knows I take his opinion into consideration. I'm just not sure.

What do you think? Should I or shouldn't I?

2 comments:

  1. It's such a personal choice. For me, I am like your husband, I would rather know. It would never change the way I feel about the baby but instead I can be prepared. Good luck in making your decision!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hubs and I did the NT scan and the bloodwork at 11 weeks. The blood work and scan came back fine, but they said they couldn't give me 100% results unless I did more bloodwork in my 2nd trimester. I'm thinking of not doing the 2nd blood work. For us, nothing could have made us love the baby any less, but we wanted to be prepared either way.

    ReplyDelete