Scary Test Results Update

About a week ago, I had the "scary test". To be honest, it wasn't so scary...I think it was more a fear of the unknown. My mind was put to ease a bit when I asked why I was referred for this test, thinking it had to do with the fact that I am now officially over the hill (at the ripe old age of 30) and/or had something to do with the past miscarriage. They informed me that they didn't have this test in 2004 when I had Caiden so it wasn't an option. They only had the AFP test (which I took at the time with Caiden. Great! So it was the leap in medical advances that landed me at this doctor's office and not my quickly aging body. :) (Although as I type this I was just reminded that I am much closer to 31 than I am to 30 now) :(

But I digress, I arrived at the High Risk OBGYN center, with my mom in tow. They had me fill out paperwork to be admitted to the hospital. They said it was procedure as they are connected to the hospital. uh huh....my tension level is already at stun, can it get any higher? I bet if they took my blood pressure it would be completely off the charts at this point.

The doctor was VERY nice, and spoke a lot like me. My mom was laughing the whole time because she said we both had Type A personalities and spoke way too fast...so much so that she was having a hard time following us. The doctor then looked at me and asked me if I was understanding everything she said. I said yes, and asked her if she understood me. She said yes, so we just looked at my mom and shrugged and basically hoped that she could keep up :)

The test consists of two parts. It is called the Sequential First Trimester Screening test. The first part of the test consists of an ultrasound (which they conduct with a full bladder - unusual) and blood work. In the ultrasound they had to have a profile shot (which was difficult to get for me, as my baby is a bit stubborn and was quite enjoying his/her little nap. S/he was facing towards my back with one arm over his/her head when we started. She had me cough a few times to jar him/her into moving into a more convenient position for this test. S/he was uncooperative, so the doctor tried to push and prod into a profile position. Eventually we got the baby into the correct position for measurements to be taken. They measured the thickness on the back of the next among other things. Apparently, a normal rating is anywhere under 3. My results were between 1.35 and 1.36, which she was good.

I then had to move to the nurse who was to do the blood draw. I tried to warn her that my veins are crappy and they roll, and blah blah blah. She did what every other medical professional does and is polite but frankly does not believe me. I even tried to tell her which arm had the "better" vein, which is a relative term with my crappy veins. I told her about the time when I had the miscarriage and had to get my blood drawn in which they had a policy that each Phlebotomy Technician (person who draws the blood) is allowed 3 tries before they must switch to a different technician. I went through 3 people. They were so frustrated they nearly let Dave take my blood (which frankly most places do, but they wouldn't due to insurance reasons). This particular nurse at the high risk station just politely laughed and then stuck me with the needle. She dug around for a while until I said..."don't worry it happens all the time. It's not you". I felt really bad because I had blown her confidence. She even said to me "I was VERY confident. I do this all day. A lot of people come and tell us they have problem veins, but you weren't kidding. I really thought I would be able to do this". I told her the other arm tended to be better. She even considered my hand (ouch), but I told her that although that can be effective, it tends to collapse.

Sigh. She worked herself up and then tried again. FINALLY we got it. Not bad, she even got it on the second try. Sadly enough, she told me she could see all of the other marks on my arm where people have tried in the past. I laughed and told her I probably looked like a drug addict with track marks. I told her I used to joke to my mom that I wouldn't be a good drug addict 1) because of my veins, 2) my abnormal fear of needles. She laughed and said some people just aren't built for it. Seriously, like people are actually BUILT to BE drug addicts? :)

Anyway, to make a long story even longer, I waited so long to post this that I got my blood work test results back and all is well. I just have to wait until the 2nd part of this sequential testing which is unfortunately MORE blood work. I think I will bring David to this one. I don't feel like being a pin cushion.