I’m 17 weeks pregnant now. Last week I went to have Step 2 of the Down’s Syndrome Screening Test done, which is blood work. Step 1 was the screening ultrasound where they check the thickness of the back of the baby’s neck to see if it has signs of having Down’s Syndrome. That part came back okay. Well, I got a call yesterday that my blood work came back as higher risk, which they call “positive,” but it doesn’t mean the baby has Down’s. The cutoff ratio for the screening risk is 1: 270. I’m 1: 235, which isn’t too far below the “safe zone,” but it’s still enough for them to call me. I know there is a very high false positive rate for this, which is a reason that many women choose not to get it done in the first place, but just the idea of it floating around in my head is freaking me out. I’m 32, and I found out that actually many women under age 35 have babies with Down’s also (not just women close to age 40). My husband and I decided we’ll get the amniocentesis done to be sure the baby doesn’t have Down’s. So I go next week for that, on August 18th. For those who don’t know, the amniocentesis procedure itself has a risk factor of causing miscarriage- a very low risk factor, but it exists. I think what’s terrifying me the most is what if they do the test, I miscarry, and then I found out that the baby didn’t have Down’s to begin with. That would horrify me. But my husband I both agree that with our circumstances and place in our lives right now, we want to take the risk and have the test done. His uncle, who is in his 50’s, has severe Autism and my husband’s 85 year old grandmother takes care of him. Once she passes away, the uncle will live with my husband’s parents and sister, and frankly, we can’t imagine how that’s going to work out because they have their own issues. It’s something I don’t want to think about. I have no siblings and my husband’s sister is incompetent, so again, I’d be lost if that was our situation. I know there are those with different beliefs, and I respect that, but that’s how I feel.

Statistically, it’s more likely that everything is okay, and the test will come back negative. But as with all things, it’s very scary to think about. I’ve read some blogs online about what other women have gone through with this situation, and majority of them have eased my fears. However, there were 2 I read about where the women went into pre-term labor and lost their babies after the procedure. It’s always that 1 person you hear about that sticks in your head. Of course those could have been natural miscarriages, such as from a weak cervix (which usually happens around the 20-week mark if it’s gonna happen) or some other issue.  I don’t know what the time period is of when you’re in the “safe zone” for miscarriage after the procedure…I’m hoping not more than a few weeks, so once those weeks pass I can relax and not be afraid. Actually, I’ll probably be too worried thinking about the results anyway (which takes 2 WEEKS) to think about that part. I’m putting all of this out there because I want to vent, and then let it go. I don’t want to think about it and just pretend in my head that everything is fine, and picture my little healthy baby in my arms, and seeing how my toddler will react to him or her. Visualize, visualize, visualize the positive. Actually, I think I’ll go find my book, “The Secret,” to help me with that. I always turn to that book when I need a pick me up. Thanks for listening everyone.

My husband and I decided a month ago that we should start trying to have another baby. I don’t know if my reason for wanting another child is one that people will understand, especially because it sounds pretty awful and not lovey-dovey enough, but my feelings are my feelings. Actually the idea of having another baby around freaks me out and fills me with anxiety (especially when I think about my daughter’s Colic when she was an infant), and having a 24-month old running around while a new baby is here just seems disastrous. I want to have another baby now to get it over with. There I said it. Does that sound horrible? I’m an only child and always thought I would be perfectly fine with having just one child. But since the time my dad died 6 months ago, I changed my mind on the issue. It was really hard for me to go through my dad’s death basically alone. I had no siblings to cry with, I had to put up a strong face for my mom, and recently my mom told me she did her will and I’ll have to handle all the paperwork stuff, power of attorney, etc. when she passes away, all while going through the grief. That’s not something I want to even think about, especially trying to figure all that out by myself, without any siblings to help me through it. Plus, currently my daughter has a small family, and once my mom and in-laws pass away, she’ll have nobody. She has no uncles, she has only 1 aunt who still lives at home and is incapable of being a productive member of society, and she will never have any cousins. I don’t want my daughter to be alone once my husband and I pass away. So that’s why I want to have another child.

I’m 32 now and I’d like to have a baby before 35, so I thought we better start trying now because I had pregnancy issues in the past, so it could take awhile. Well, one month later I felt super sick, like I had food poisoning. I couldn’t even stand up without feeling like I would vomit everywhere. I had just gone to a restaurant 2 days earlier for Mother’s Day, so I thought for sure it was food poisoning. But 2 days after feeling that way, it went away on it’s own without vomiting, so I thought something was up. I took a pregnancy test and immediately it was positive. I was ecstatic and couldn’t believe it happened so fast! This was how it was with my first pregnancy- the one that miscarried- I got pregnant within 1 month of trying. After the miscarriage  it took me almost 2 years to get pregnant with my daughter.

Now, because my menstrual cycle is FUBAR (f*ed up beyond all recognition), I knew there would be a problem with dating this pregnancy. Since having my daughter, I’ve only had 4 periods because I breastfed, and they were all wide apart: 35 days apart, 39 days, 40 days, and the last period I had on March 31st was a whopping 49 days from the period before that. They say “normal” is around 28/30 days apart. Not so for me. Well my first prenatal appointment was today, and I explained about my irregular periods and that I didn’t know how they would date it. They used the March 31st date anyway, and said that that would mean I’d be about 8 weeks now (if I had a normal cycle). They then did a vaginal ultrasound, and it showed there was only a gestational sac and yolk sac so far. The doctor (who I love), told me not to worry because it’s probably still too early since my cycle is weird, and that he remembers my history, so he knows I’m scared. This is how my miscarriage happened the first time–they did the ultrasound and only saw a sac, so I had to have lots of bloodwork done over the week and a few ultrasounds, and they determined that I was not progressing so they told me it was a miscarriage and I had to get a D&C (Dilation and Curettage). My stomach is in knots now. I really didn’t think it was possible for this to happen again. A few weeks ago someone in my Mom’s Group told me a story of how her son was almost “aborted” so to speak, because they told her there was only a sac and no heartbeat/baby, and on the day of her D&C surgery, they did one last ultrasound to make sure nothing grew, and sure enough, there was a heartbeat. So her son wouldn’t be here today if they didn’t do that 2nd ultrasound. They dated her wrong. That story gives me hope that it’s probably just too early, and that even if there isn’t a heartbeat next week when I have to go back to the doctor, I’ll just tell them I’m going to wait for everything to play out naturally instead of getting a D&C. Maybe it will make a difference. Two days from now (Thursday) I have to get my bloodwork taken to see if my hormone levels doubled, and I also have to schedule a dating ultrasound at this place that has a good machine. Then I have another appointment with the OBGYN next Thursday. I’m not sure when I’m supposed to schedule the ultrasound for though…I’ll find that out tomorrow. Wish me luck. I’m terrified.