So this is how it all went down in the meantime.
December: Nausea. Lemon-Mint-Tea. More of the nausea. Told my parents I was pregnant. Mum freaked. Daddy happy.
January: Baby had a heartbeat at 7 weeks. I had a sinus infection. No real meds, just decongestants. Are decongestants safe during pregnancy? Noone really knows. I did my research and decided to go ahead. I’ve seen sinus infections break through the orbit. No, thanks. I canceled the shrink appointments. There’s no money for that in the family budget. The shrink is a nice guy, but he doesn’t talk back. He just sits and listens. I grow tired of talking all the crap over I already know. I need some insight. Otherwise this whole thing is useless. Besides, now that I’m pregnant, everything seems to be just fine.
February: Despite fearing the contrary (what about missed abortions?), baby’s fine and growing at 12 weeks. No NT scan. Laptop died. COD irreversible. Dad freaked (company laptop). I lost about 1/3 of a fully translated book on children’s psychology. Mum freaked (gonna miss her publishing deadline). I freaked. Redid the translation.
March: We packed. We moved. We scrubbed floors and dusted and unpacked. We settled down. I started going to work again. I didn’t immediately catch some virus (yay immune system!). 16-week appointment was all fine.
18-week fetal morphology: It’s a girl. All is fine. Except the hyperechogenic bowel. And a bit of pyelectasia. Which is physiological. Does it mean something? Probably nothing. What about the NT scan? Didn’t have that. Why not? I’m easily disturbed by medical interventions. I’m 27 years old and reasonably healthy. I wanted to spare myself the stress. Hmph. What about the Triple test? Same reasons. Okay, I want you to get re-checked by Dr. Prenatal-Screening-Majesty. Is there something to worry about? Probably not…
Went home. Googled “hyperechogenic bowel + pyelectasia“. Came up with Down’s Syndrome. The Darling Man currently touring Italy on a business trip. Decided not to bother him.
Next day. Geneticist’s office. Head of department (colleague of mine), screaming: Why didn’t you have that Triple test done? Me, nearly freaking, see above. I had my medical degree in Germany. They only recommend it for women over 35 years of age. Your OB is completely irresponsible and so are you. This test is obligatory for every pregnant woman! It’s not diagnostic. It’s a screening test. With a very high rate of false positives. Go get that double test done! Are you out of your mind? With all the possibilities that modern medicine has to offer? Do you live in a cave? [...]
Had the Double test done. Made an appointment with Dr. Prenatal-Screening-Majesty for the afternoon. Called The DM in Italy: Listen, our baby’s probably having Down Syndrome. I’m gonna have her anyway. You won’t wanna live with us. It’s okay. We’ll manage on our own. I’ll probably have that amnio. DM: Are you out of your mind? I can’t even leave you for a week, without you going completely crazy. You are not going to stick needles into my baby. Crazy woman.
Appointment with Her Majesty: Umh, I don’t see anything disturbing. Maybe there is a small spot of hyperechogenic bowel. Seems insignificant to me. But she has clinodactyly on the small finger of her left hand. Colleague’s ultrasound probably has no Ob/Gyn software. Wait for those results and come back to see me.
Jesus, lady, my baby has a crooked little finger. It’s not as if she had no brain. I’m not going back. Definitely.
The DM comes back from Italy for my birthday. Thinks I’m gone completely nuts.
Baby’s starting to kick me. I can’t get enough of it. Feels great.
April: We pick up those results from the Double test. They told me not to call or come look for them until Thursaday afternoon. They printed those results on Monday morning. Thank you for 3 days in hell.
My personal risk of having a baby with Down’s Syndrome is 1:2853. The DM would like to smack me. Lucky me. I’m pregnant.
No more f*cking tests. Doctors are weird.
Baby’s called Little Lettuce. Don’t ask.
Sinus infection. See above.
May: The DM’s twins (girls, 13) arrive for a sleepover. They have runny noses. Two days later I wake up with another sinus infection. Can’t breathe. Shit. Take leave of absence from hospital. Lie to my mum about having hay fever.
Regular appointment. At 24w4d she’s 26 cm long and weighing 550 g. She’s measuring one week behind. I freak. I start eating proteins like a crazy woman. I get heart-burn. I start sleeping in a semi-upright position. I read up on babies who are behind schedule. The DM thinks I’m going nuts again. I desperately want this baby to be average and fit the statistics. Other babies weigh almost 1000 g at 26 weeks. [WTF?!]
So that’s that for now. Hope to be back. Someone still out there?
