I meant to write about this last night, but I unexpectedly ended up having a pretty full day yesterday. I had my first doctor appointment and it turns out that I am in fact pregnant. Phew! So far, the doctor say everything looks great. I am 9 weeks along, but that is doctor-speak for 7 weeks pregnant. My next appointment is in July 28th, and that's when they will do the Doppler to listed for fetal heart tones. That is the visit I am really looking forward to, beside the full-on ultrasound when we get to find out the sex.
There is one decision I have to make right now, and that is whether to get the test to check for Down Syndrome. I am a little torn on this because at this point, it wouldn't change anything for me as far as the pregnancy is concerned. It would just be a head's up for a tougher than expected road ahead. Taking the test also seems a little callous to me. It may seem trite, but I also just finsished reading The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards not too long ago. [Spoiler Alert!] It starts in the 1960s, and due to foul weather a doctor must birth his own twins while his wife is under sedation. He immediately recognizes one with "mongoloid" characteristics and gives her away without ever telling his wife. Eventually the regret and sorrow destroys him and almost everyone involved, but the little girl grows up to be a beautiful, sweet, and functional woman. So again, what difference would a test make? After some gentle interrogation of the doctor, I finally got it out of her that about 80% of women/couples decide to get the test, mostly for peace of mind. Which I guess makes sense. So I am going to discuss with Baby's Daddy and see what his thoughts are on the subject. I will probably go ahead and do it because the window closes to do it in a couple weeks. I know myself well enough to know that I will probably get some serious Preggo Paranoia in the future and start to freak out about every little thing. So I might have to do it to spare Future Me an anxiety attack or two. Or Dozen. I'll thank me later.
July 3, 2008
First Doctor Appointment
Posted by The Wonk at Thursday, July 03, 2008
Labels: baby tests, Doctor appointment, paranoia
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2 comments:
Hey. Glad to hear everything is coming along well. I took the test for Down Syndrome for both of my pregnancies. With Taylynne, it came out negative but with Taylor my oldest, it came out positive.
I was a 20 year old woman pregnant with my first child coming out of an unstable relationship. Finding out that my baby has a high chance of having DS was devastating. I was depressed for a while. I opted to take the Amniocentesis test that can actually tell you for sure if your baby has DS or not.
I'm not trying to scare you, just merely telling you what I did. I can honestly say that I would always choose to take the test only because I would want to be prepared either way.
Wow, that must have been rough. I didn't know the test could also give wrong answers! Thanks for the input and for sharing!
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