Life has been still a bit chaotic lately around here. Just a few days after the kids started school I kinda had a panic attack and pulled them out of school grabbed the dogs and headed down for San Diego. As crazy as it sounds I refuse to stay here while my husband works in San Diego. So the kids started school over there and are adjusting ok to the temporary move. This will only be until the baby is born or until he finds a job closer to home (which he has been looking for since the beginning of this year). The hardest part is not being in my own home. Right now we are in between my father in law's tiny apartment and my mom's house. With no internet connection. We have to go to the public library to connect.
One of the biggest challenges of this pregnancy that I am facing is my age. Two weeks ago I was referred to the Genetics department. Scary stuff indeed, the counselor was very nice and explained everything in an easy to understand way from Down Syndrome to chromosomal abnormalities to neural tube defects everything from screening testing to diagnostic testing if needed. I came out of the counseling meeting a bit relaxed because she was very nice and made me see things in a positive way kind of like a glass half full rather than half empty. But still my age was my concern I will be 43 this next Tuesday. A woman of maternal age of 20 has a chance of having a baby with Down Syndrome of 1 in 1600, a woman aged 40 is 1 in 90 and a woman aged 45 is 1 in 30. I had a non invasive blood test which they say has a 99% accuracy and can also tell you the sex of the baby.
My anxiety only grew while having to wait a whole week for results. It's only statistics I tried to calm myself. It is what it is. When I got the call I felt like my heart was going to explode. My baby passed the test and no abnormalities were detected. The bonus, she is a girl!! So thank goodness I can relax now.
Little by little I've watched my waist or what I used to call my waist disappear. It is a funny situation because I know people wonder is she fat or is she pregnant? It's amazing how fast toilet paper goes with all the peeing involved day and night unfortunately.
At times I don't know if I am hungry or not it's really a weird feeling because I have to eat every three hours or so and it only makes me think of how huge I will get. I've only gained like 4 lbs but I look like 5 months pregnant already :(
At my first prenatal appointment they drew 8 tubes of blood! What do they think? do they sell it or what? At least the lab should have given me a coupon for a free donut at the cafeteria or something...see I am thinking of food most of the time.
I also cried at the dentist because they refused to do the routine cleaning on me. I blamed it on the hormones. A dental cleaning is very important during pregnancy because gum disease may result in premature birth. They say they needed to do x rays in order to perform the cleaning. What?? no x rays for me while pregnant even if the doctor and the dentist say it's safe. So I changed providers and they say the dentist will first do a visual examination and then perform a basic cleaning. I have my appointment in one week.
The first day Xavi learned that he was going to be a big brother he said that he will love the baby more than his legos. He also said that he will act like a baby to teach the baby all the skills needed like talk or walk isn't he a caring sweet kid? As I had to buy better supporting bras he mentioned that he had never seen such big bras before :/ Oh and listen to this before I knew the results of my screening test I asked him what would you think if our baby had Down Syndrome? He said he would cry but still love him and take care of it. That broke my heart and silently cried myself to sleep. He was hoping for a boy but is happy with a girl as well.
Sophia on the other hand hugs my belly and tells me I am hugging the baby not you...of course she is kidding (I have a whole post coming up on her) She is hoping that I go into labor while she is in her math class so that she can skip it :/
Everybody was thinking this was a boy. All kinds of boys names were coming up so now we need to rethink the whole perspective. When my belly started popping Javier told me this baby is coming and there is no stopping it...he got closer to the belly and said baby if you are in there knock three times ja ja! no answer from baby but as I enter the second trimester things are looking good and I plan to enjoy this journey. I am glad to check on you as wifi permits and certainly hope things are good for you all.
