SO...as you may or may not know, on Friday, my OBGYN called me to let me know that a specific type of protein found in my blood was high when my blood test results came back...the possible products of me having this high protein in my blood could mean a few things; examples are spina bifita, or some type of brain defect. She told me nothing else of my results other than that my kid has like no chance of having Down Syndrome, which was good news, but it still didn't make me feel better.
Monday, I got an expected call from MSU Women's Health Clinic in Lansing to schedule an appointment to get another ultrasound done to go back over and make sure the spine was the way it was supposed to be along with the brain how it was supposed to be. This appointment happened this morning, thankfully, and I have good news: everything looks the way it is supposed to look!!!
BUT I am still considered a high-risk pregnancy: after my ultrasound, I had another appointment with a genetic counselor to explain everything, and for me to ask my questions. She explained to me what everything means...bare with me...
They tested my blood for 5 different things: a "perfect" test result would come back with all 5 results at 1.0. Nobody comes back with perfect results, but a good "normal" test result would have all 5 come back close to 1.0 as possible, like .7 or 1.4 or whatever is OK...my first high protein, "AFP" came back as 3.7, and the other one, I think it had the initials were HCG or something, it was also 3.something. AFP, or alpha fetal protein, is only created in my baby's liver...and since she virtually "produces" the amniotic fluid, is let out that way and then goes into my body via through my uterus and into my blood stream. Which is how every pregnant woman has that protein in her body. But they did the ultrasound, and the spinal collum is supposed to make a triangle around the nerves and such...like so<>...to have spina bifita, it would look more like V...and since the bottom of the spine's bones are so tiny at this stage, they can't be 100% positive one of those bones isn't like V, but since her legs were moving, and her feet weren't "club feet", they say they are 90% positive she is fine.
Now I'll explain the not so great news: Because those 2 specific things came back high, together they signify that I have a higher chance of going into premature labor, my water breaking early, bad case scenario preeclampsia, SUPER worse case scenario, still-born. But still-born is like SUPER unlikely, so I'm not worried about that, more along the lines of premature labor...I opted out of having a amniocentesis because the risks out-weighted the benifits, I'm already at risk for my water breaking too soon, why poke a hole in the bag if I don't really need to, so I am not going to. It would be really bad if I started getting contractions because they poked the bag. plus, it wouldn't matter either way, there is nothing I could do about it anyway, obviously termination is WAY out of the question, so taking the risk of the amniocentesis makes no difference. Plus, going from 90% sure of no spina bifita to 95% sure, is a pointless test that i won't mess with. 5% isn't a big deal. So, I guess you can say, other than the risks later on, everything is fine.
But if you think about it this way, if my biggest concern is a preemie baby, and not spina bifita, I think I'll be OK.
Oh, and as of right now, Tony and I want to name her Bayani (Bay-on-E) Sage.
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