Heading South - Update

just wanted to let everyone know that we are back in memphis. keep your fingers crossed for family and friends that live on the gulf!

Oh boy!

Got a call from the doctor's office yesterday. My CVS test results are in... first and foremost, the results are normal...whew! What a sigh of relief! Secondly, the test is able to tell the baby's gender. It just so happens that all preliminary indications happened to be correct. Our baby is a BOY. Guy, of course, is ecstatic about the news. Now I just have to stop him from putting up an 8x12 mural of Yankee stadium in the baby's room......

Heading South

Guy and I are heading out of town this weekend to Lafayette, LA for his dad's wedding. We leave there on Sunday AM, plenty of time to get back to Memphis before Gustav makes its way out of the Gulf.

Have a great weekend!

Pushed

Just finished reading "Pushed - The Painful Truth about Childbirth and Modern Maternity Care" by Jennifer Block. What an eye-opener! I guess not having kids or friends nearby who have recently given birth, I was pretty ignorant on the whole process. Now, however, I feel armed with information and have a pretty clear idea of what I do and don't want when it comes time to actually give birth.

If you know me at all, you probably already guessed that I would want a natural childbirth. No pitocin for me, thank you very much! And while I'm not saying I won't end up screaming for an epidural in the end, at least I now know there are different levels of epidurals ;)

Here's a list of some of the other books I am reading:
Your Pregnancy, week by week ~ Curtis & Schuler. Like the title says, a basic guide to what's going on with me and the baby week by week

Magical Beginnings, Encanted Lives ~ Deepak Chopra. If you've read or heard of Chopra, you know he's all about yoga, meditation, ayurveda, self-awareness, etc.

Celebrating Motherhood ~ Gosline, Bossi & Beanland. This is a collection of essays, poetry, and quotes on motherhood.

It's a ...

don't know yet - ha! however, the chinese sex predictor says it's a boy. and you just don't mess with ancient chinese knowledge.... how many people do you know that its been wrong for???

in all seriousness tho, the ultrasound tech gave her opinion yesterday and she agrees. while she can't confirm 100%, she pointed out that the pelvis appears notched, which would indicate a boy. and no, the arrow is not pointing to what you're thinking!! I think that's his (well, could still be a her...) leg.


in any case, the cvs test will tell us for sure. had it done yesterday... now I just need to wait. and wait. and wait for the results. keep your fingers crossed - no nasty side effects.



here is a better overall pic... you can see the cute little nose and mouth. doesn't look quite so "alien" although if you want that, I've got those pics too!!

stay tuned!

Decisions, decisions....

Throughout the pregnancy, I know that Guy and I will need to make lots (hundreds? thousands?) of decisions... what color to paint the room, what to name the baby, pampers or cloth diapers, etc etc etc. However, I was not fully prepared for the weight of this first important decision that has been tossed my way -- do I want genetic screening to test for downs syndrome?

For those of you who did not know, I am OLD to be having a baby. The risks for chromosomal defects go up along with the mother's age. I know lots of people who were my age or older when they became pregnant and they all had healthy babies.

The doctor has offered me choices... sequential screening, which could lead to amniocentesis if the risk is high or chorionic villus sampling (aka CVS, not to be confused with the pharmacy!). On one hand, sequential screening sounds good -- the test involves screening my blood, so there is no risk to the baby. But it is not as effective as amnio or CVS -- only 90% accurate with potential false positive/negative results. And, if the results indicate high risk, well, I'm off to have a needle inserted through my belly anyway for the amnio... CVS, while a bit riskier since it is intrusive, offers more peace of mind. The cells being sampled are from the placenta which have the same chromosomes as the baby. About as accurate as you can get in the testing world. It is also done earlier in the pregnancy, which would give me more time to prepare for the worst.

We haven't made a decision yet which route to take, but I don't have long... the CVS procedure, if we opt to have it done, needs to be done in the next couple of weeks. Part of me says to do it, since it is the most accurate. I guess you'll have to come back and read more to find out which way we decided to go...

10wks, 4 days... its alive!!

Had my first of many OB appointments today... doc couldn't find the baby's heartbeat so he had an ultrasound done. I got to see the baby and hear her heartbeat (ok, so we don't know yet if the baby is a boy or girl, but one can dream, right?)

Thought I would share the pic with you... the first of many, I'm sure :)