Notes from the Waiting Room

Of course the visit with Bridget had more important issues then me having a minor Tony Soprano moment. I was actually involved in some of the serious discussion. One serious issue is the 12-14 week scan called the Nuchal Translucency scan. This is the scan they do to see if the little monster has any serious genetic defects, primarily Downs Syndrome. The way they check is by seeing if the little monster (who has it's back to us apparently) has an enlarged bubble on the back of it's neck. Now all little monsters at this age have one but if it's enlarged it means you have a "chance" that the baby might be developing Downs Syndrome or something else (it may not be either, all they can give you after the scan is a possibility). If there is a high possibility then we can elect to have an amniosomethingarather where they draw a sample of amniotic fluid from Sicily's lair.

The problem is, having taken these tests and presented with, say, a 93% chance of having a D.S. child, what do we do? It's a serious question with very real consequences. Now I worked with D.S. people as a part time job, while I was studying, and I have a fair idea of the level of commitment entailed in caring for someone who is D.S. I also have a certain understanding of what life is like for someone who is D.S.

Neither Sicily or I have a family history of Down Syndrome so our chances are very slim, but this is a "what if?" we can't ignore... at least until the tests come back.

In saying that, we did have one test come back good and well, which was Sicily's blood pressure. This is something that will happen with each visit, Bridget takes Sicily's blood pressure. Once again, such things are uncommon but if Sicily was to have a high blood pressure it could affect the little monster in myriad ways (can I just say here and now that "little monster" is a term of endearment and serves better than using "IT", tho we will get to a discussion of names in due course) including a lack of oxygen for the developing monster.

I asked Bridget about the causes and she stated studies havn't really figured it out but it may have some connection to the Placenta. Apparently it doesn't matter how healthy Sicily is. Also, it can often be related through the paternal side and she asked me if any of my family had high blood pressure during pregnancy. I said I didn't know but that my Mum would know and if there was she would have told me (being a midwife and knowing these things -- we don't and if we did you would have told me right Mum?).

So Sicily got her armed pumped up and everything while we discussed this. Bridget checked her pressure and said "Well done, your blood pressure's excellent."
Sicily sat there with a big smile and said how she felt she had achieved something and I placed my hand on her knee, from where I perched, and said "congratulations" in a husbandly way and we all laughed.

We've decided to have the Nuchal Translucency and I need to make an appointment in the next two weeks to find out what our chances are. I asked Bridget about the scans' affects and she enforced Sunita's statement about unproven affects, tho she seemed to think the issue is really if you are having scans every two weeks or so, rather than every six to 12 weeks. So my... ahem... hysteria in my earlier post wasn't so necessary, yet I still think that example stands as a testament in the argument between us having a home birth and a hospital birth. I'll let you'll guess what my preference is. Meanwhile, the activity of waiting continues. BTW, Sicily's waiting room looks like it's finally getting those extensions put in. But where will everything go?