High-Risk Classification

On Monday Dec 19th, I went back to Dr. Weltman, who happens to be a perinatalologist (lucky me :-P), to discuss where we go from here.  I have been classified as a High-Risk Pregnancy for being at risk for preterm labor.  As of right now, I do NOT need to limit my activity, NOR have I been put on bed rest.  They just want to keep a closer eye on me and baby girl.  If I go into labor before March, then I need to go straight to INOVA Fairfax, as they are better equipped to deal with a baby that small.  If I go into labor in March or after, I'm safe to go to Potomac Hospital (which happens to be across the street from my house).  Both Hospitals have the same Neonatal doctors on rotation there.
She gave me a referral to INOVA Fairfax Hosptial for perinatal ultrasounds to monitor Baby Girl.  I need to go back every 4 weeks.  Which isn't too bad.

So now I've got three doctor appointments every four weeks: one for Hashimoto's, another for routine OB appointments, and another for perinatal ultrasounds.  I'm exhausted just from going to the doctors.  Another downside with being classified as High-Risk is that I now have a husband that over-reacts to every ache, pain, groan, and moan.

Amniocentesis and the Waiting Game

On Monday Nov. 28th, we drove up to Fairfax to the Genetics & IVF Center for the Amniocentesis.  I gotta admit that I was rather nervous about the whole thing.  We met with a Genetic Councilor to go over the blood test results, and to discuss what we should expect from the Amnio an when we should get the test results back.  They often times try to get and give preliminary results to the expectant parents about 3 days after the test is done and the final result after 10 days.  The genetic councilor asked all about our family history, and after this interview, we were take back to on of the exam rooms for the Amnio.  Before they take the sample, they do an in depth ultrasound, and if you want to, you can find out the sex of your baby.  We found out, much to our surprise, that we are gonna have a baby girl.  When they were taking a look at baby girl, they did NOT find any physical indicators of Down Syndrome, which was rather reassuring, but they did notice that the Amnion had not fused to the Chorion.  They did give us a picture of Baby Girl, which is always exciting.  Then the doctor takes this needle that's about 6" long and jabs it in my stomach.  Oh my god it hurt, but Dr. Stern was very careful not to hurt baby girl.  He told me it would only take 30 seconds, oh no, it was more like 2 minutes.  But then we were done, and the waiting game began.

Jennifer (the genetic councilor) called us on Thursday Dec.1st with good news from the preliminary test results.  Baby girl did NOT have any chromosomal abnormalities.  So from a genetic aspect, she's perfectly healthy.  Now we just had to wait on the final results.

We got the final Amnio test results back on Tuesday Dec 13th.  We had good and not so good news.  The good news was that the prelim results matched the final results.  The not so good news was that the lab was only able to grow and cultivate one cell instead of 18 - 20 which they feel more comfortable with.  So they want me to come in again and at minimum have another ultrasound, and possibly have another Amnio.

So we went back to the Genetics & IVF Center to talk with Jennifer and Dr. Stern.  This time when we got there, we had the ultrasound done first.  Dr. Stern took another look at baby girl, and again did NOT see anything physically wrong with her, however, what he did notice was that there was an even greater gap between the Amnion and Chorion than before.  So based on this and what he saw from the ultrasound, he didn't feel that it was necessary to do another Amnio.  He then classify me as being at-risk for preterm labor, but wanted me to talk to my OB to see where to go from here.

Not So Smooth Sailing

At 16 Weeks (around Nov 17th) I went to my OB for the normal routine 16 week check up.  They took a few vials of blood to test for this, that, and the other.  Nothing to worry about, or so I thought.  A week later my doctors office calls me back,  the blood test came back abnormal and want me to come in and discuss, so I made an appointment for the next day (Nov. 23, the day before Thanksgiving, and the day we leave for NJ).  My doctor told my that the combination of different markers in my blood indicated that my baby had at 1:10 chance of having Down Syndrome.  The alpha-fetoprotein (AFP), unconjugated estriol (uE3), and human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) make up the standard tests, known together as the "triple test." Sometimes a marker called inhibin A is added, making the "quadruple screen." These tests are independent measurements, and when taken along with the maternal age, can calculate the risk of having a baby with Down syndrome (For more info click here).  The doctor wanted to discuss my options and wanted to know what I would do with this information.  I've waited so long for this baby, there was no way that I was gonna terminate this pregnancy, but I still wanted to know if the baby had Down Syndrome.  I wanted to have the heads up so that I can do everything in my power to take care of my child, no matter what.  So Tim and I decided to have an Amniocentesis done to know for sure.  We called the Genetics & IVF Center in Fairfax to make an appointment.  We were able to get in for the following Monday (Nov. 28th).

Endocrinology Results

I went to see an Endocrinologist at George Washington University back in October to see what is going on with my body.  They took some of my blood to run a whole battery of tests.  Like a week later, my doctor called and told me that my TSH levels (Thyroid-Stimulating Hormone) were low, so they wanted me to go back in December to retest my levels.  I went back to GW on December 12th to get my blood redrawn, and I just got my test results back today (December 19th), and my TSH levels were rather high this time.  So I have been diagnosed with Hashimoto's disease (autoimmune thyroiditis).  In the general scheme of things this isn't a big deal, but it answers a lot of questions and explains my fertility issues.  This also classifies me as a high-risk pregnancy, this sounds scary, but really isn't.  The silver lining to this all is that I finally have answers and insurance covers everything 100%.