Orange You Glad?

Week 15

Maternity Leave Anxiety

At this point, I'm trying to find the calm in the storm that is "pregnancy and the working woman."  As far as I can tell, there IS no calm.  It's all rough and scary and unknown.  

Not to mention, I've been fighting with a runny nose for the past month, which I believe is allergies...just a note to you tree lovers out there:  people, you need to plant FEMALE trees, too.  Sure, the male ones are prettier, with their dumb flowers and pollen.  But cut me some slack.  My nose is about to explode.

I visited the woman that handles leaves yesterday, and she acted as if I was inconveniencing her by coming in at all.  I came out of the meeting feeling anxious and uncomfortable and looking for a brick that I could throw through the office window.  Not a good feeling.  (Disclaimer:  If by chance a brick ends up through that window in the following weeks...NOT ME.  Hi police!)

The deal is this...I can take my regular sick days off with full pay, then start digging into the 100 days of extended sick leave I have.  The extended sick leave is partially paid, which means it is my daily rate minus the rate of the sub they have to hire.  However, all of these fabulous days off are solely dependent on how "sick" my doctor believes me to be.  If my doctor doesn't want to sign off on 7 months of "sick" leave, then I am officially screwed.  I must return to work.

There's also the 12 weeks of FMLA leave I can take after the paid and partial pay is up.  Now that is completely unpaid, although you still retain benefits.  They throw a screw into the machinery by making you deliver the payments directly to the office instead of them paying it automatically for you.  

I wrote my doctor as soon as I got home, begging her to forgive me for making her fill out all this paperwork and asking her to consider the possibility I may have a horrible invisible illness after giving birth that would prevent me from doing anything strenuous (aside from eating cookies and watching 30 Rock eight hours a day.)  Unfortunately, I'm having serious doubts about any doctor signing off on that much time off.  Stupid ethics.

I hate this.  The paperwork, the uncertainty...it's making my stomach ache and my head hurt.  

Adding insult to injury, last week my doctor said I was overweight, to which I say...NO DOI.

Week 14

Makin' Lemonade

Week 13 NT Scan Fabulousness

We were at our NT scan and had a fabulous time.  Our technician was a combination of comedian/doctor/awesome person waving a doppler wand around.  Best icky Kaiser visit ever.

The baby was moving, but not cooperating, and we had to administer a few belly shakes and toe-touches to get it going.  It finally rolled over and we saw five lovely fingers opening and closing a tiny translucent fist.  We saw the jaw move and the baby yawn and take in amniotic fluid.  We saw the sections of the brain, which was amazing.  We saw a little nasal bone and a handsome profile.  And we also saw BOY PARTS.  

Yes, it's a boy.  I knew it the minute I saw that pee stick turn positive.  It had to be a boy.  That would explain the horrible gas and lumberjack eating binges.

I took one look at the tiny heart-shaped penis and said to my husband, "Look, honey!  That's all you!'  It was a moment to be remembered.

And then, we were given the results.  It was immediate, and a relief that we wouldn't have to wait days and sweat buckets.  The measurement for the NT scan was 1.33, which was well below worry levels.

The geneticist came in and discussed the  numbers and odds, which are as follows:

A woman my age (39) has 1:107 odds of having a baby with Down Syndrome.  After the first trimester screening, my odds are 1:907, or the odds of a 26 year old.

A woman my age has 1:150 odds of having a baby with Trisomy 18/13.  After the screening, my odds are 1:3961, or the odds of a 20 year old.

We've decided not to do the amnio, for which the odds of miscarrying are 1:300.  

I can't wait to buy things and spend crap loads of money on baby items I can't afford.  And now, on to enjoying this pregnancy at last...or so you would think.  After finding out yesterday that my stupid school district does NOT offer paid maternity leave and that we will be living off our savings until it is sucked bone dry, I am in no short supply of FREAK OUT.

Send donations...quickly and in huge amounts.

Peachy!

A Plum!

Week 12

Second Trimester

We are entering what is known as THE SECOND TRIMESTER, which is supposedly a piece of cake and not unlike a hug from the baby Jesus himself.  I've heard women say they didn't even know they were pregnant because it was so blissful.  This is known as "The Honeymoon Period" of the pregnancy months.  Yay!

Here's how my honeymoon started.  Massive migraine that woke me from a dead sleep.  Exhaustion.  Leaking...I won't even go into it.

The Honeymoon Period is a SHAM.  

However, I'm happy to report my home doppler Hi-Bebe picked up a steady horse gallop this morning...170 beats per minute, and on a half empty bladder to boot!

After a momentary euphoria, I remembered my Nuchal Transparency (NT) Scan is scheduled for next week.  With any luck, we will have good results and no need for an amnio.  However, I'm dreading the results, as I am prone to fatalistic thinking and can't seem to stop myself from imagining the worst.  Ugh.

The NT Scan is basically a combination of a blood test and an ultrasound (transvaginal or abdominal, depending on how cooperative the fetus is.)  It's a prenatal test that is used to assess your baby's risk of having Down Syndrome and other chromosomal abnormalities as well as major congenital heart problems.  

The ultrasound is used to measure the clear (translucent) space in the tissue at the back of the baby's developing neck.  Babies with abnormalities tend to accumulate more fluid at the back of their neck during the first trimester, causing this clear space to be larger than average...generally, anything higher than 2.5 mm is considered a positive result, which is a bad thing.

The NT Scan is done between 11 and 14 weeks of pregnancy.  Along with the blood test, it's known as a first trimester combined screening.  

The test doesn't give you an actual result of YES or NO.  What it does give you are odds.  Basically, you take the odds they give you from the assessment and you make the decision of whether or not you want the amnio to confirm or deny.  As usual, the older you are, the worse your chances get.  I find it all terrifying and completely stressful.

So you can see why I'm addicted to the home doppler.  It takes every ounce of will power to not use it every day.  The beat of the heart makes me calm and serene...like heroin...except totally legal and awesome and intervention free.