Today we went for our first appointment and met with a nurse. She calculated that I was 5 weeks and 1 day pregnant. That puts my due date around October 13th. The doctors office gave us a bag full of goodies. Including a book titled "Your Pregnancy and Birth". There is a stack of papers we need to fill out.
I also received a packet including some consent forms for different screens. Such as Nuchal Translucency (early screening for genetic disorders at 6-7 weeks), Risk Profile Test (Quad screen for genetic disorders at 15-20 weeks), Amniocentesis, and Cystic Fibrosis. You can opt for the exams or opt out. Does anyone have any opinions about these?
Next week they will give me a list of important events. Including the weeks I will come in to see the doctor. I will have a bunch of blood work and urinalysis done. They will also do an ultrasound which should show the baby's heart beat. The heart at this stage is too small to hear, even with amplification, but it can sometimes be seen as a flickering in the chest. The nurse said, the baby will look more like a little pea than anything. However, she said we should be able to see the little sack it is in.
Around 10-12 weeks you can hear the heart beat with a Doppler instrument. At 20 weeks you should hear the heart beat with a stethoscope. Around the same time, they will be able to determine the gender of the baby and it should start moving around.
I have had a terrible respiratory infection. So the nurse gave me a list of medications that I can take sparingly, as needed. I sure hope I can kick this thing. I go back next week and meet with the doctor.
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I have an opinion about the testing. I say it's not worth it. I was tested for Cystic Fibrosis and turns out I'm a carrier. We decided to not have Steve tested, because even if he is a carrier, it wouldn't change anything about the pregnancies. I certainly wouldn't terminate, and that's mostly why they check. I say it's more stress than is needed in an already emotional time. Wish I hadn't bothered. And there you have it :)
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