Monday, December 19, 2011

Three things (that might turn into more things as I get going)

  1. I told you about the MaterniT21 test that looks for fetal DNA in the mother's blood to determine whether there is a Trisomy (13, 18, or 21) or even cycstic fibrosis, yes?  Good.  Well, did you know that if you google it (as of last Thursday), the first 5 or so links are to Pro-Life websites?  I have nothing against Pro-Life people, though I profoundly disagree with their opinion and often their tactics, but this is ridiculous.  Seriously?  I mean, it's a test.  It gives you information.  To say that people shouldn't get the test or that it should be illegal is ridiculous.  I want the test.  I want the test enough that I faxed my ob 42 pages of journal articles about it because he was having trouble sorting through the bing results (which were even more heavily Pro-Life than the google results).  And you know what Pro-Life people?  Pretty much no matter what the results of that test, I am not terminating.  So there.  Nyah.  You ought to trust women to make sound medical decisions in the best interests of their families.  The End.  And nyah.
  2. The same technology that can allow you to test for fetal abnormalities can also be used to determine fetal sex and fetal paternity (very early...maybe 8 weeks or so).  So, I can see that there are times and places when the technology might be abused.  And you know what?  I still don't think that the test should be supressed.
  3. I watched football on Sunday (since I pretty much put myself on couch rest this Sunday on the advice of my favorite midwife who told me Saturday that what I was experiencing at a family Christmas party did not sound like typical Braxton Hicks contractions, and maybe I ought to slow it down).  Chuckles often talks about how when he grows up, he wants to be a Green Bay Packer (much to my disappointment because We Are Bear Fans and Packers are our arch-enemy).  But, I did tell him that I would root for the Packers if he were one (and that was about the only way I would).  Anyway, during this Sunday's Bears' game, Johnny Knox got bent in half backward where the hinge was his spine.  I am glad he lived, and I cannot believe he isn't going to be paralyzed after that, but I did tell Chuckles that maybe he might like to be a dentist or a test pilot instead of a football player.
  4. I told someone that I would be proud if my son joined the Air Force (or the Navy, Coast Guard, or Marines but not so much the Army).  This person was shocked that I find a career of military service to be something to honor.  Well, it is. 
  5. I did end up making some cookies from scratch and I made some toffee and Turtles, too.  But I am taking it easy now so I might only make two more batches this week.
  6. I am hosting brunch on Saturday (Christmas Eve) morning for the grandparents.  We're having mimosas, coffee, egg nog, French Toast casserole, two kinds of quiche but both will have bacon, fruit, and a chocolate Kringle.
  7. I haven't started wrapping presents and am seriously considering asking my husband to do it, but I do like him to be surprised on Christmas morning when he sees what he got for me and the children.
  8. In my little corner of blogs I have ben reading since back when we called the internet The World Wide Web, there is a little mini-baby boom going on (of second and third babies).  I'd like to state for the record that I am the farthest along and, hence, can be considered a trendsetter.
  9. I'd like to end with some photos. Remember my first market price lobster? Here it is.  I will call him Grabby. 

  10. And this picture is my three men looking out the window at the airport watching the ground crew paint lines.
Lastly, 11 years ago, for Christmas 2000, I purchased Mr. Long-Suffering his first digital camera.  I didn't know anything about them, and he didn't know he wanted one (and I wanted to know why the camera didn't take normal discs and what kind of racket were they running making me buy some other "non-standard" kind of memory cards?).  Anyway, here is a photo of me from that Christmas.  I am showing off my new diamond earrings that I got that Christmas, but all I keep noticing is how nicely maintained my eyebrows were back then.


3 comments:

  1. Have you considered getting an amnio around 33 weeks? At that point, risks are basically prematurity (obviously not something to take lightly either). It would give you a few weeks to prepare based on the results.

    Sara

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  2. @Sara - I have. It's our fall-back plan. We were looking at 34-36 weeks for the amnio since results take 2 weeks we'd have them before the scheduled c-section.

    We have a follow-up ultrasound in about 3 weeks, so if the echogenic heart and bowel are still present and we haven't been able to secure the MaterniT21 test in that timeframe, we will embrace PLAN B. Plan B involved cycstic fibrosis screening for me, TORCH testing for me, and a possible late amnio if all of that comes back normal.

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  3. Yes, it's an excellent fall-back plan. All of those tests seem reasonable, though it's never been clear to me if these things resolve what the residual risk is for DS, etc.

    Unless you can convince your primary OBGYN to order the Sequenom test and let you pay out of pocket for it, it seems unlikely to happen. (FYI--the company had a problem with falsified data in the past and had to pull this test before, probably part of the reason that people who actually know what it is--of which there are few--are hesitant to order it.) Also, you probably are aware of this, but if you get the amnio and don't want to wait that long for results, ask for FISH for X,Y,13,18,21 (every lab probably calls this something different), but you should get an answer about Down syndrome in 24-48 hours. And someone might say this is unlikely to be covered by insurance, but I've never heard of it not being covered.

    I will be hoping for good news and waiting for an update.

    Sara

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