Waiting room

We’ve officially hit the 4 month mark, and celebrated this milestone by going to our latest prenatal appointment. Most of these have been pretty painless, as you go in, get your vitals taken (including the dreaded weight), and then you see the doctor, during which you give her your list of random questions. The visit is capped off with that wonderful experience of hearing the baby’s heartbeat. I think you have to be a mom or mom-to-be to fully appreciate just how freakin’ cool that is. You could listen to it all day long.
I found out the first time I was PG that I am in that ego-inspiring category of “advanced maternal age.” This means that the medical staff immediately starts hinting or alluding to things such as amnio or CVS in order to detect things such as Down’s syndrome or any other “neural tube defect.” As neither a large needle through my abdomen or my feet in stirrups while they snip my villi sounded palatable, I/we opted for a less accurate diagnostic blood test called the quad screen. Essentially, this is a blood test whereby the docs look for different levels of proteins and hormones that the baby passes into my bloodstream. According to the paper they gave me yesterday, they can check for traces of up to 70 mutations. The down-side to this whole thing is that the test is NOT diagnostic. It can only indicate that there “might” be a problem, at which time it’s the needle or stirrups for me.
Now odds are, all is right with the world. I’m not THAT damn old, and neither of us have a family history of any of this kind of genetic aberration. Still, it’s an un-nerving thing. We have to wait 2 weeks for the results. There is also the necessary “what if” discussion that follows.
We have agreed that even if the kid has Down’s or something similar, we will proceed. This test (and any others which may be required to refine the results) will simply be a way to prepare ourselves, our house, and our families for anything out of the ordinary. A game plan is always good, right? Still, as I waited to let Nurse Ratched poke me, I did agonize over whether it was even the right thing to do. I think it will be a long 2 weeks.