Thursday’s Appointments – Inquiring minds want to know

I can’t believe it. Remember when I mentioned that I have found I am MUCH more forgetful now that I am pregnant. Case in point, I FORGOT to actually write this post. I mean, I composed it in my mind, but FORGOT to actually write it. So, so sad. Thanks to Katrina for the reminder. I would have remembered eventually, probably, but now you are getting it sooner rather than waiting for me to come to my senses.

Me First
My appointment was bright and early, but not so early that I didn’t get a nice windy hike in with the dogs. The actual u/s was quite uneventful. The dr. only looked at what he couldn’t see last time. The heart. Everything looked good and no soft signs for downs at all. I also got my Quad Screen results back. It measures AFP (Alfa Feta Protein) HCG, E2, and Inhibin B. It is like the Triple Screen, but including Inhibin B in the measurement is supposed to make the test more accurate. It came back NEGATIVE. Wahoo. My risk of a downs child was 1:98 based on age alone. It moved to 1:870 with the test and was equal to a woman 27.9 years old. My risk of open spine bofida is about 1:12000. The total risk for open neural tube defect is about 1:6000. Since the Quad Screen came back negative and Dr. D didn’t see any signs of downs during the u/s, I declined the amnio. The gender you ask? Good question and one we will all continue to wonder about. My little baby seems to be difficult from the get go (is this a sign of what is to come?) and once again was positioned in such a way so that we couldn’t tell. Yes, I even specifically asked and Dr. D went back to check and …nothing. As they say, it doesn’t matter if it is a boy or a girl, as long as its healthy. Yet, inquiring minds want to know. I will probably beg my OB for a quick u/s check at my next appointment (with an email warning/request in advance).

The only annoying thing about the whole appointment was that the nurse forgot to put in my video tape and record the session. Rather than apologizing she said, oh well, it was just the heart and that was that. I miss Dr. N. When the nurse forgot to do that for one of my u/s’s with him, he redid the whole thing for me so I could have it on tape. No such luck this time.

I have been thinking about names. I guess that means I am getting more confident that this might actually work. Current top picks are Audrey Elizabeth for a girl and Jacob (Jake) for a boy.

Lucky
Lucky’s appointment seemed to go well. I was told before each treatment they will check her white blood cell count and if it is too low, they will not do a treatment. They said hers was really good, the same as last week before treatment. They also said that her lymph nodes were no longer swollen. So, she got another injection treatment yesterday and they added 3 weeks of steroids to the regime; 7 days on a 1 ½ pills, 7 days on 1 pill, 7 days on ½ a pill. The pills are supposed to make her really hungry and thirty and have to pee a lot so I am supposed to give them in the morning. The injection is supposed to make her a bit lethargic. I think lethargic is winning out for now. She has been kind of knocked out all day. But, then again, so has Shadow and it is much warmer today than it has been so it could be that instead. Mostly, she has responded very well to the treatment so far and I would not know that she is sick if the vet didn’t tell me so. I am really happy about this. Doing this would be so much harder if she was looking or acting like she was in pain or suffering.

All in all. Things are going well here. A few more weeks and the baby will be viable. I can’t believe that I have entered my 5th month of pregnancy. This may actually have a good outcome. Yeah!