Visit to the OLD

Sorry I've been MIA, but I've been pretty freakin' sick.  I knew I would whine and moan about it here and that just didn't sit right with me.

*This post is about a prenatal visit.  If you aren't in a good place right now, feel free to pass.  If you're in a great place, read on and check out Chipmunk's updated page.*

Today I went to the OLD.  That's Old Lady Doctor for those of you not in the know.  Okay, some people say it's the perinatology group, but I'm calling it the OLD, because that's why I have to go there.  I'm turning 35 in 12 whole days.  That apparently gets the dreaded AMA stamped on your chart.  Advanced Maternal Age. Oooooh.

First we went to the regular OB for a checkup.  There are 5 OBs in this practice.  I liked the first one and today I liked the second one.  She was very grandmotherly and just lovely.  She commented several times on the rough road we've had.  We got to hear the heartbeat for the first time.  I've seen it a few times now, but I've never had the chance to hear it.  It was quite possibly the most beautiful sound I've ever heard in my life.  She let us listen for a good long while.  She did a regular old exam and told me that because of my small stature and small pelvis (which of course seems gigantic to me!) we're aiming for a 6 lb baby.  No bigger than 7.  Not only would I have a hard time with a vaginal birth with a baby bigger than 7 lbs, but there just isn't a lot of room in there for a "big" baby.  I kinda saw that coming.  So the goal is to keep my weight gain to 1/2-3/4 lb a week for the rest of the pregnancy. Wowzers.  I have to behave, people!  I was only 6 lbs and J was 7 lbs so hopefully things will be just fine.

Then I got some not so good news.  My pap showed atypical cells.  This is a first for me.  So they ran an HPV test and I came back positive for high-risk HPV.  At the time the OB seemed really nonchalant about it, so I really wasn't worried.  She said 80% of women have HPV at some point in their lives, but I still felt like a big ho.  She assured me that it Chipmunk isn't at any sort of risk either.  I was okay at the time.  Then I of course started Googling as soon as I got in the car, and found things that bothered me.  Like how high-risk HPV has an increased chance of turning into cervical cancer, and of women who had to abort their pregnancies because they had malignancies.  Thankfully, these women in my OB's office are really awesome, and she called to check in later.  So I asked her if these sorts of things are usually a big deal.  She told me that I could have had it for years and it just laid dormant until now, when my immunity is down.  Most of the time it's either completely benign or there is some mild-dysplasia.  I'm having a colposcopy on 4/16 and they will hopefully decide that nothing looks concerning and they can postpone a biopsy.  They'll do another pap at 28 weeks to see if anything has changed and then another after I deliver (me... delivering... and not pizza... crazy).  We'll decide from there what to do if it's still there.  She also assured me that if there is a cancer risk it typically takes years to develop, so we should have some time to decide what to do.  That call really put my mind at ease.  I'm seriously tired of the drama, however.  Just for the record.

Then we headed off to the OLD.  First we met with the genetic councilor.  She went over my family history and J's in detail.  Nothing stood out for either of us putting us at a higher risk, so that was good to hear.  Then we had our ultrasound.  You guys, Chipmunk actually looked like a baby.  It was amazing.  S/he was wiggling all around, kicking arms and legs.  She took a nuchal fold measurement since Chipmunk was in a good position.  She measured arms and legs (two of each!) and looked at my uterus, ovaries, and cervix.  She said everything looked good.  Then the maternal fetal medicine specialist came in, declared we had a "very cute fetus" which cracked me up, and took a look at things. She too declared that everything looked great.  I'm measuring right on time.  11 weeks 0 days exactly.  I had my blood drawn for the MaterniT21 testing and we were all done!  I'll get the results in 7-10 days.

It's been a good day.  I'm finally starting to feel like I'm bonding with this little one.  That's been hard to explain to J.  I guess I've just been so scared that it's been hard for me to really fall in love with the Chipmunk, but after hearing that heartbeat and seeing that little wiggle worm today, things are certainly changing.