36 weeks and counting!
Sep. 21st, 2010 09:32 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rkoldToday I have the last of my battery of tests pregnant women in the US often go through. It's funny, before I started the process I had such different expectations about those and which I would need to take. The big ones most pregnant women in the US now have are:
Genetic Testing (sometimes before you try to conceive and in our case around week 9) where they take a lot of your blood and look to see what genetic defects you are a carrier of. If you're positive on anything then they look at your spouses blood to try to see what the chances are that anything is truly an issue, before eventually wanting to test the fetus. In our case, I am not a carrier for anything tested for so it was a non-issue.
They also did a Dating Ultrasound to get some idea how far along the fetus was and how it was developing. Ryuchan had a heartbeat so she was on target.
Next up was the Nuchal Translucency which is a diagnostic to give you some idea of chances of Down's Syndrome and the even scarier Trisomy defects. This happens at 13 weeks and involved an ultrasound and a finger prick. Ryuchan passed with flying colors.
Next was the Alpha Fetal Protein Test another diagnostic done around week 17 to look for neural tube defects. It's another one where they take your blood. At the time, I did not know this test is notorious for false positives, particularly in women over 35 ~.~ We still passed though.
My favorite of the tests was The 2nd Stage/Anatomy Ultrasound which is done about 20 weeks and lets you find out the baby's gender. The technicians are making sure everything physically looks good with the baby and as the parent, you get to see lots of images of your little one. Once again we did great, though Ryuchan measured a little tiny with a due date closer to 10/22 or 10/23 than 10/19. I think she is just going to be small. lol
Next was my least favorite test, Gestational Diabetes done around week 28. If you have gestational diabetes it MAY cause problems for the fetus, but also may not. For many people this test is nothing, but with my nausea it was extremely difficult and I nearly puked up the gross tasting artificial super sweet orange liquid. Thankfully I passed this test.
This week is Strep B some sort of Strep virus that likes to live in people's colons and vaginas. If you are positive, you need to take an antibiotic when giving birth. Overall, the consequences are a lot less dire than most of the 20 week or earlier tests.
Along with all those tests, I also have my blood pressure tested each appointment. Other than one high one, I'm around 110/70 most of the time. As well as my urine for protein and sugar, which are both so far not in evidence. I also get to find out my weight gain. Right now it's a little less than 20 pounds from my starting weight. Though with my luck I've gone up again lol I've been trying to exercise more though. I go for several 20 minute walks a day and do 20 mins of prenatal yoga breathing exercises.
If you're wondering why I am sharing so much info now, it's because week 37 (next Tuesday) is the official start of term. i.e. if Ryuchan came today or anytime before next Tuesday she would be a preemie, but starting next Tuesday she would be considered a full term baby.
It just makes me think I probably should have planned my shower for earlier in the summer. lol I'm a little stressed about my shower, but so thankful to![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
muscatlove I'm even more stressed about the Baby Naming since that is going to involve a caterer and a lot more people.
Genetic Testing (sometimes before you try to conceive and in our case around week 9) where they take a lot of your blood and look to see what genetic defects you are a carrier of. If you're positive on anything then they look at your spouses blood to try to see what the chances are that anything is truly an issue, before eventually wanting to test the fetus. In our case, I am not a carrier for anything tested for so it was a non-issue.
They also did a Dating Ultrasound to get some idea how far along the fetus was and how it was developing. Ryuchan had a heartbeat so she was on target.
Next up was the Nuchal Translucency which is a diagnostic to give you some idea of chances of Down's Syndrome and the even scarier Trisomy defects. This happens at 13 weeks and involved an ultrasound and a finger prick. Ryuchan passed with flying colors.
Next was the Alpha Fetal Protein Test another diagnostic done around week 17 to look for neural tube defects. It's another one where they take your blood. At the time, I did not know this test is notorious for false positives, particularly in women over 35 ~.~ We still passed though.
My favorite of the tests was The 2nd Stage/Anatomy Ultrasound which is done about 20 weeks and lets you find out the baby's gender. The technicians are making sure everything physically looks good with the baby and as the parent, you get to see lots of images of your little one. Once again we did great, though Ryuchan measured a little tiny with a due date closer to 10/22 or 10/23 than 10/19. I think she is just going to be small. lol
Next was my least favorite test, Gestational Diabetes done around week 28. If you have gestational diabetes it MAY cause problems for the fetus, but also may not. For many people this test is nothing, but with my nausea it was extremely difficult and I nearly puked up the gross tasting artificial super sweet orange liquid. Thankfully I passed this test.
This week is Strep B some sort of Strep virus that likes to live in people's colons and vaginas. If you are positive, you need to take an antibiotic when giving birth. Overall, the consequences are a lot less dire than most of the 20 week or earlier tests.
Along with all those tests, I also have my blood pressure tested each appointment. Other than one high one, I'm around 110/70 most of the time. As well as my urine for protein and sugar, which are both so far not in evidence. I also get to find out my weight gain. Right now it's a little less than 20 pounds from my starting weight. Though with my luck I've gone up again lol I've been trying to exercise more though. I go for several 20 minute walks a day and do 20 mins of prenatal yoga breathing exercises.
If you're wondering why I am sharing so much info now, it's because week 37 (next Tuesday) is the official start of term. i.e. if Ryuchan came today or anytime before next Tuesday she would be a preemie, but starting next Tuesday she would be considered a full term baby.
It just makes me think I probably should have planned my shower for earlier in the summer. lol I'm a little stressed about my shower, but so thankful to
muscatlove I'm even more stressed about the Baby Naming since that is going to involve a caterer and a lot more people.