Wednesday, April 2, 2008

Second prenatal visit

I went back to the doctor today. All's well! I listened to the heartbeat today with some kind of high powered stethoscope. This time the heartbeat was 165 bpm. Mainly, during this visit we just talked. They did test a urine sample and that came out good too. One thing we talked about was cystic fibrosis. There is a blood test that can determine if you are a carrier of the gene. So after my doctor appointment I went to the lab in the hospital and had my blood drawn for the test. Unfortunately, I have little, piddly, hard to find veins. So every time I give blood I get nervous. I've had a lot of mess ups and I won't even include some of the disasters at the Red Cross. So anyway, the nurse sticks me and no blood. I immediately tense up and feel nauseous. Oh by the way, did I mention that I don't like blood and I HATE veins? So, with the needle hanging out of my arm, the nurse goes to find the master sticker, Rita. Rita tried to get blood to no avail. She takes the needle out and tells me she has to try the other arm. Bummer, because the arm I offered up was actually the good one. Anyway, she ties me off with the rubber string, I make a fist, and she goes about finding a vein. She's poking around and she's poking clear on the side of my arm--not even close to where you think the vein is. That's where she found the vein. GROSS! She stuck me and she got it. Yay Rita! Thank goodness they only needed one vial, but it was a huge vial. It did leave a bruise but, in Rita's defense, I bruise easily. So they put gauze and tape (which practically ripped off my skin) on both arms. So now we just wait. If I come back a carrier then Noel will have to go and see if he is a carrier. You can't have a baby with cystic fibrosis unless both parents are carriers. The next appointment is Friday and that involves an ultrasound so Daddy is going to that visit. He hasn't seen the baby or heard the heartbeat yet. It should be an exciting visit!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I just read that it wasn't a stethoscope but a doppler!