Chillaxing

Not much to report over here in the dark and soggy Pacific Northwest.  As Sunny mentioned, it has been pretty gray and rainy for a while.  I don’t mind it a bit, but a break for an outdoor walk would have been nice.  I’ve been mostly chillaxing since last Tuesday when I had my full anatomy ultrasound and amniocentesis.  After the amnio I went home and did as DrGav instructed.

“You are to be a couch princess for the rest of the day, take it easy the next few days.”

I am happy to report that I was very successful in my assigned task.  I endeavored to be a regal and gracious princess, ruling my dominion with dignity and benevolence.  MrBeep was a most attentive royal servant, I may have to knight him.  I puttered around on my computer. I read some magazines and books. I watched the Dakar 2010 rally updates with MrBeep each night. 

On Saturday I went out to a local coffee shop and played many hours with a gaming group.  I was able to get in on two games.  First I played a really fun game called “Jamaica.”  I think that I will buy this one to take down the next time I see my niece and nephews.  You are a pirate, sailing around an island trying to get treasure, food and gunpowder.  You are in a race with the other players and can also get into battles against them. The rules aren’t too complex, there is some randomness via dice rolls but there is an element to thinking ahead and strategy too.  The second game I played, called “Agricola” – currently ranked #1 on boardgamegeek.com - was much more complex and required a lot of strategy.  It was the first time I tried the game and came in last place, but it was very fun and I would love to play it again.  You have a plot of land and are trying to improve your house, build a farm, plow fields, harvest grains and add members to your family (more people = more turns).  Guess who took the longest to add members to their family?  Yeah, me.  Not by a little, but by several turns.  Really?  I have to be the infertile in a danged board game too?  Had to shake my head with the irony on that one.

The weekend was good.  I am doing fine.  I had very little cramping following my procedure, maybe a twinge or two.  I’ve had no pain, spotting or fever.  Now I just get to wait it out a bit for the results in a couple more weeks.  And now for a couple of questions:

Question 1 from Anonymous: “There was a result called "FISH" or something for the CVS that came after 2 days with the bigger results coming at 2 weeks. Does amnio have that?” 

Yes.  Amnio has the option for doing FISH.  We considered it.  I asked about the cost.  It costs about $500 and you get the answers for a couple of conditions, down syndrome, tri 13/18 in about 2-3 days.  We decided that even though insurance pays for the test that we would just wait it out to save money.  I was not considered a significant risk and we would want the full results no matter what.  If we had received a worrisome screening test, then I would have absolutely insisted on FISH.  This is an excellent article that includes some useful and detailed information: http://www.enotes.com/nursing-encyclopedia/amniocentesis

Question/comment 2 from mekate: Hope EVERYTHING is perfect and that no difficult choices need to be made. YOu are so brave doing the amnio! (I am scared of the big needles, never mind the rest of it).

Thank you dear sweet mekate. I’ll be honest.  DrGav recommended that I watch the ultrasound monitor and I took his advice.  I didn’t want to flinch or move at the exact wrong moment so I just kept my eyes glued to the screen.  He described what he was doing, what I was seeing.  The truth is, after all of the really painful and nasty stuff from IVF, like a pinchy speculums or being punched in the ovary, an amnio needle was a cake walk.

The comments I received were so heart-warming.  I am delighted at the wonderful support of the ALI community.  Thank you all for your kindness and good wishes.  I appreciate it so much.  The votes on the poll are very interesting.  I am, like you, very excited to find out the results very soon.