12-Week Doctor's Appointment

These two pieces of advice came from the staff at my obstetrician's office: (1)" Babies are resilient. I mean, as long as you're not doing meth, the baby will be fine." (2) "You can throw out the book (as in the baby book). People love to torture pregnant women." Good thing I gave up that costly meth habit when Chris and I started paring down our household expenses and most of those things I'd heard pregnant women can't do is apparently just a bunch of baloney.

When you read up on the subject of pregnancy as much as I have, it's easy to stress yourself out about all the things you have to change about your life or do to create this perfect environment for your baby-to-be. Every activity or bite of food must be pre-approved by that little voice in the back of your head that's evaluated the action based on how likely it will be to doom your baby. The basis for this evaluation ranges from information you actually read in a book written by a credible source, an urban myth, something you heard from a friend about her friend's sister's co-worker who had a baby, or common practice that may or may not be based on up-to-date scientific knowledge.

It was my obstetrician, Dr. Toppin, who I met for the first time at yesterday's 12-week appointment, who advised me to throw out the baby book. (Funny, it was the clinic who gave me the book Your Pregnancy & Birth as a gift - but I'll keep it since it serves as a good reference.) She continued by telling me that people, women and men, like to torture pregnant women and make comments about anything to a pregnant woman, and they will make assessments just by looking at you that a doctor wouldn't be able to make until looking at an ultrasound. Despite what I will hear, she assured me that I can continue to eat what I want, do what I want and basically, live my life as I have been. She said this, of course, after having reviewed my health history, so she knew I wasn't a drinker or a drug-user, (I was joking about that meth habit Grandmother) didn't have a dangerous job, was taking a multi-vitamin and was active and in good health. The results of my tests from the nine-week appointment and the ultrasound I'd had shortly before meeting with Dr. Toppin, didn't show anything to be concerned about. My baby and I are healthy.

I learned that I'm allowed to sleep on my back, (another one of those myths - one I'd believed since women on my Pregtastic podcast had been advised by their doctors not to sleep on their backs later in the pregnancy) which is important since I'm a back-sleeper. I can continue my regular exercise routine, (except for soccer, of course) including weight-lifting, for which Dr. Toppin gave some general pointers.

Dr. Toppin explained the nuchal translucency test I had preformed. The test involves an ultrasound and a blood test performed between approximately 11 and 14 weeks (despite it being my "12-week" appointment," I was actually at 13 weeks and two days yesterday). During the ultrasound, the technician measures the fetal heart rate, estimates the gestational age and measures the amount of fluid accumulation (nuchal translucency) behind the neck of the baby. Blood droplets were collected from a prick in my finger to measure certain chemicals and proteins found in the blood of pregnant women. Compared with amniocentesis or CVS, it's non-invasive and it only determines my risk factor for carrying a baby with Down Syndrome and trisomies 18 and 13. It does not determine whether my baby will have Down Syndrome; it only determines whether further testing can be suggested.

She also explained common ultrasound findings, such as cysts on the baby's brain, which do not necessarily mean anything is wrong with the baby. Dr. Toppin said that our ability to interpret technology's findings can't keep up with the technology itself. With the example of ultrasound technology, major improvements are made to the equipment every two or three years, so the tiny laptop ultrasound system used in her practice is leaps and bounds more powerful than the equipment used when she was in residency. Now doctors can pick up things like cysts on the brain, but haven't yet figured out what risk is associated with them. In the example of the cysts, they usually resolve themselves by the third trimester, so the fact that we know they ever even existed doesn't improve or affect prenatal care.

Although the average healthy pregnancy may only result in one ultrasound at 20 weeks, I've had two so far. Yesterday's, because I chose to have the nuchal translucency test, and the other at five weeks to determine how far along I was so I could have my first couple of routine appointments scheduled. I think the technology of being able to see inside my stomach is pretty cool, but the sight wasn't all that impressive the first time around. I couldn't figure out what there was even to look at. Now, at the last week of my first trimester, my baby is starting to look like a real baby and not just a blob on the screen. Although I'm self-conscious that I'm showing, I know that I don't yet look pregnant to the person I pass on the street. Instead, I just feel fat, and the ultrasound was a welcomed reminder that I'm pregnant and progressing healthfully. I thought it was cool when the technician pressed down on my abdomen with the ultrasound "wand" and got the baby to roll over into a position better for taking measurements. Then we were sent out the door with our first strip of ultrasound pictures just in time for a Chesla get-together for Easter.