Tuesday, March 16, 2010

The Jumper

Twelve weeks. Everybody breathe a big sigh of relief. Twelve weeks is when you’re out of the quote/unquote “danger zone.” It felt SO awesome to make it to this milestone. 

By this point I was almost back to my normal self when an interesting characteristic began to make itself known. It happened one day when I was putting on my jeans. It was just a little bit extra around my middle. It wasn’t enough to look pregnant. It was juuuust enough to look fat. The kind of fat that someone looks at and says, “Well, come on, she could do something about that. Lay off the oreos and ramen noodles, lady.”
I also started having more and more trouble sleeping. Not because of the constant peeing, but because of the constant anticipation of the peeing. I would wake up over and over again wondering, is this the time I wake up and finally have to give in to the pee I feel building up in my ladder? And if I do, should I try to keep my eyes closed the entire time, or just succumb to the pee and walk into the bathroom, upright, with my eyes open?
We decided upon and met our new OBGYN that week. The practice has both an OB and a midwife, which is very exciting for me. It quiets my I-should-be-in-a-hospital-when-I-give-birth-What-If Monster, but also gives the hippy dippy inside me something to cheer about.
The first thing the midwife recommended was a First Trimester Screen. This is a newer test performed in the first trimester (which isn’t technically over until 13 weeks, 4 days, ladies and gents). It’s checks for Down’s Syndrome, Trisomy-21 and -18. It also looks for other abnormalities, like cardiac disorders. It is becoming more common because it can identify risks months sooner than the old AFP tests conducted in the 2nd trimester. We opted to go for it since our insurance covered it. That, and we got to see another ultrasound!

The good news is all the tests came back normal. The tests didn’t indicate, however, what the future occupation of such an ornery little jumper might be. Any guesses?

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