End of Week 9

We had our fist appointment with our midwife, Cathy, this week. At that appointment she gave me a prescription for Diclectin and I have had a good amount of relief since I started taking the medication on Tuesday. I still feel "off" in my stomach, and actually threw up on Friday morning, but I can function much more normally than before. I'm exhausted most of the time but have been able to get back to light house work and getting through the work day is no longer torture :)

At our midwife appointment we discussed Integrated Prenatal Screening. This screening consists of two blood tests and an ultrasound and looks for markers that indicate an increased risk of having a baby with Down's Syndrome, Trisomy 18, or Spina Bifida. We originally thought we would have this screening performed. However, after discussing it with our midwife and reviewing the literature we've decided not to. There are a few reasons for this:

1. Neither of us has a history of these conditions in our family and we are both healthy with no other risk factors.

2. If we got a positive result it wouldn't necessarily mean that our baby had any of these problems. In fact its quite unlikely, even with a positive screen, that the baby would have any of these conditions.

3. The only way to be sure that the baby had any of these conditions would require an amniocenteses which has a 1 in 100 to 1 in 200 chance (depending on which research you look at) of resulting in a miscarriage.

4. Even if the baby did have any of these things we wouldn't abort.

So, given the risk of miscarriage we wouldn't have an amniocentisis. And, given that the chance of a false positive in the screen is high and it would just make us unnecessarily anxious, we've decided not to go forward with the screening. This means that those of you excitedly waiting for ultrasound pictures will have to wait a few more weeks - probably around the middle of May for a routine second trimester ultrasound.

I've started reading a great book: Ina May's Guide to Childbirth. As many of you may already know we are hoping to have a drug free home birth. So far I've just been reading the stories of women who have had natural births outside of a hospital setting and I find it encouraging to read their stories. The second half of the book offers information about the various interventions that can occur in labor and ways to cope with labor. We will be attending the home birth information session that the midwifery practice we're signed on with offers. Having worked at a midwifery clinic for 4 years I am comfortable and quite excited at the idea of a home birth and Mark is also keen on having our baby at home. I think it would be so special if we are able to bring this baby into the world in the home we have built together.

Week 9 Biology Lesson