The Queen's Rambles

This being Old Lady Pregnant is interesting. I spent 2 hours at the doctors’ office today. The majority of it wasn’t even waiting, though there was certainly enough of that to last a lifetime.

First I saw the genetic counselor who explained the tests (nuchal translucency ultrasound and blood tests) and what, exactly, the results would indicate, and what numbers we were looking for. I knew in general what the test was all about but really had no idea how they interpreted the results.

Then it was time for the ultrasound. I guess I was expecting it to be quick since I just thought they were measuring the neck, but it took a full thirty minutes. The tech measured all kinds of things and was very good at explaining everything to me. According to my dating ultrasound I should be at 12 weeks exactly. According to this ultrasound I am at 12w5d. According to my highly scientific charting I should be at 12w3d. They say it is better for a baby to measure bigger than expected than smaller than expected. Erik was 8 lb 13 oz and five days late, so a big baby would not be unexpected.

Part of the reason it took so long was because the baby wouldn’t cooperate. It was rolling all over the place, kicking with its feet, sucking on its hand, and having a fine time swimming all around. Hopes of having a calmer second baby? Dashed.

Then it was time to consult with the doctor. He basically repeated everything the first woman said, then carefully went over each ultrasound capture with me and explained what it all meant. I really, really liked him and wish he was my OB. My insurance would never cover that since he is a high risk pregnancy specialist and I am not truly high risk.

He did tell me that he thought my chances of a successful VBAC were good since Erik’s c-section was due to him being wrapped in the cord. I sort of laughed and told him I would prefer a planned c-section. With Erik I felt like I should want to experience child birth even though I didn’t really want to. With this baby I have no such qualms. I was in labor 45 minutes. It SUCKED. Never, never again.

Lastly, they took five drops of blood from my finger. They do some fancy equation with the mother’s age, history, weight, two blood proteins and the nuchal measurement. Assuming the blood proteins are good, we are on the safer side of things (never any guarantees, of course). They want the nuchal measurement to be under 3.0 mm. The baby’s was 1.9 mmm, so that makes me pretty happy.

I’m really glad we went ahead with this test even though almost everyone I talked to thought I was crazy. I guess I am just a cold hearted bitch, but if the baby had one of the trisomy defects that the test looks for, I would want to know and terminate the pregnancy. I’m not sure what I would do about Downs, but the other two defects are horrible. The baby is not expected to live past a year. In fact, in most cases it only lives a few minutes or days. I can’t go through a pregnancy, give birth and have that as a result. I have heard of women who knowingly do it and I’m not sure where they find the emotional resources to deal with that. I know I couldn’t.

I have the big anatomy scan scheduled for Dec. 1. I can’t wait to find out the sex! Then we can start our knock down, drag out name finding mission. Sorry to say, but we won’t be telling anyone any of our name choices until the baby is born. We learned that the hard way last time.

The day went into a downward spiral from there. When I arrived at the babysitter’s Erik had a total and complete temper tantrum meltdown. You think a toddler temper tantrum is bad? You ain’t seen nothing. I can only assume it gets worse and worse as they get older. I suppose it is good that he likes the sitter, but holy crap. I didn’t think I was going to be able to haul him out to the car without injuring one of us.

We had to rush to the gym for his class, but we made it in time. I did 30 minutes on the elliptical but had to cut my workout short because some lady who ate way too much garlic got on the machine next to me. I tried stick it out, but I really thought I was going to vomit so I had to run away.

On the way home I got pulled over. I had no idea why, so was pretty relieved when he told me the tags were expired. I thought I would just get a warning and be told to get them renewed.

Nope. Got a ticket. Not a bad one–only $60–but it still wasn’t my favorite way to spend a chunk of money. The best part was when he told me he was being nice because some officers would have towed my car and arrested me for driving an unregistered vehicle. I’d really like to meet an officer who would arrest a mom with a kid in the car for being six days over due. We are so diligent about taking care of things like this that I’m not sure how it slipped through the cracks. I came straight home and we paid the fee on the website. They had a little temporary tag I printed out and taped in my back window.

When I got home I found out my dad has been admitted to the hospital. It all started when his scrotum started swelling up. Just what you all wanted to know? Listen to this. As my sister is talking to me, she’s telling me “His balls were as big as a grapefruit!” She turns to her friend in the car “What do you think, Susie?” Susie shouts out “No! They were as big as a cantaloupe!”

Why on God’s green earth would my sister and her friend even be looking? I am so disgusted I may vomit. My sister said everyone was looking because they were just hanging out. Have I ever mentioned that I am so, so very glad to live across the continent?

Apparently he has major swelling everywhere and a valve in his heart isn’t functioning. They are hoping to have him lose at least 50 pounds in fluids in the next five days, then they are taking him to the neighboring town to put a stent in his heart.

My sister was crying pretty hysterically because she thinks he is going to die since grandma was in the hospital just two months ago and never came home. I don’t know if he will die or not. It wouldn’t surprise me. It is easy for me to distance myself from it since I’m not there. He’s had a death wish since he was a kid so I don’t know what to say. Everything in his adult life has flown in the face of medical advice and common sense. You don’t drink 20-30 cans of beer a day if you’re concerned about living a long, healthy life.

In other good news, I’ve been reading the most excellent book I’ve read in a very long time: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows.

I’ve heard of it, of course, but never really had an interest in reading it because I couldn’t figure out what it was about. Basically, it is about a writer in London who strikes up a friendship with a group of people who survived the Nazi occupation of their island during WWII. It was very hard not to cry in the waiting room today! It was also very hard not to laugh out loud. It has a major feel of L. M. Montgomery, only the later years when she allowed a little more darkness into the books. You will cry. You will laugh. You should read this. It’s excellent.

I checked it out of the library, but now I’m thinking I need to own a copy. I was worried because it was a new book so you can’t renew it. I guess I was thinking it would take me forever to read it, but I started it this morning and only have about 30 pages to go. I didn’t even look for my computer when I got home today. I finally had to find it to write an entry, but that’s the extent of my computer time. I’ve been way too obsessed with this book, which is a good thing! Tomorrow I’ll have to make an effort to be a better mother.