1. Unnecessary Pregnancy Drama aka: Quad Screens
I don't know why they do these - they just give a pregnant woman more stress and drama (like she needs any more). High margins of error mean pregnant women get readings that there is a problem with their child when more than 90% of the time it's not the case. Most doctor's offices, I'm told, explain this to their patients so that said patients can opt not to have this screen done. Mine did not. And in my ignorance of all things related to pregancy, I was told they were going to do my "blood work" that week, and I believed it was routine - something every pregnant woman has to go through -so I gave them my blood. Guess what? It came back positive for Downs - but as I pressed the nurse as she attempted to tell me that I needed further testing - she admitted that most are actually false positives and that I had a 1 in 781 chance of having a baby with Down Syndrome. Depending on the stats you look at EVERY woman has a 1 in 733 -800 chance of having a baby with Down Syndrome - so why put a pregnant woman through this unnecessary crap? I'm not going to abort my baby and I'm not about to let them poke around me anymore to see if this test was right or wrong. Lesson learned - I will not be taking the Quad screen for any subsequent children I may have. Thanks for the drama - I could've done without it.
2. Rude Kids
Okay, I'm not a mother yet - but what the heck is going on with kids these days? I can't stand it when I hear a kid sass his parents - I just want to go over and pop that kid in the mouth. Is it really so hard to discipline your child or teach them manners? This Halloween I got so upset because more than half the kids who came by didn't say "Trick or Treat" they just stood there with their bags open and quickly turned and walked away once the candy was dropped in their bags - no "thank you" "see ya later", "kiss my foot" - anything. I even had one kid (aged about 8 or 9) actually reach into my candy bowl to help himself because I was busy dropping candy in other kids bags at the time. WHAT THE HECK!!??!!
3. Tailgaters
I'm not talking about the parties - I'm talking about the people who ride your bumper even when you are going over the speed limit. This guy did that to me yesterday - I would've moved over for him, except I was turning left in about 500 feet. As he speedily passed by on my right side - I had to smile I little. His brand new truck had a huge crack in the windshield, several dents on the doors and a large dent on the back bumper....I wonder how it got that way?
4. Belly watchers/touchers
I'm pregnant - you don't have to remind me every five seconds. I know my belly is getting bigger - I know my clothes are getting tighter - please don't chase me down to tell me these things. This woman I work with actually waited until I finished a conversation with my boss, followed me to my office where she waited for me to get off the phone to tell me "You're looking very pregnant today." Thanks. Don't get me wrong - I love my baby bump - I love that others love my baby bump....I just don't think it is necessary to hunt me down to tell me so.
Coupled with the baby belly watchers are the belly grabbers - STAY AWAY FROM MY STOMACH! I don't mind if you ask - but patting my stomach/rubbing my belly without permission may result in you losing a few fingers. I had a lady do that to me one time when I WASN'T pregnant - because she thought I was (thanks rumor mill at church) - it was mortifying then and it still is now - just because there's a baby in there doesn't mean I have ceased to be protective of my personal space. Please don't be offended - again, I don't mind if you ASK - but think of it this way - would you like for someone just to walk up and start patting YOUR belly? I didn't think so.
Now on a more positive note - my next appointment with the doctor will be the gender appointment. It was supposed to be next week, but Erick is having me reschedule so that he can be there (I don't know why ; )) - so I'm unfortunately going to have to wait a little while longer to find out. I'm itching to buy little baby stuff too. I was in Target this afternoon and I saw the CUTEST little outfits for baby boys and girls - I know as soon as I find out I'm going to be running to the nearest store to outfit my unborn child with the most adorable stuff I can find - that kid is going to be spoiled rotten.
3 comments:
I think we were very lucky. Heather's Ob/Gyn is a nice guy and explained everything to us. In fact he asked us flat out, "Is there any chance you would abort your child?" Being Mormon and owing to the fact that Heather's Mom was adopted the answer was no. "Then you don't need any of these tests," he said and so all we had were the regular check-ups and the sonogram. It simplified matters a great deal for us.
I would not stress over it Gretchen. When they do the "big" ultrasound, they will be able to tell then if there is any higher of a chance of the baby having downs. Ususally they would see spots on the heart, shortened limbs, webbed fingers, etc. If they have a good machine they can even check the nuchal fold in the neck, if it's above a certain number, then the chances are higher, but not even than, is it for sure the baby has downs. Heck, even an amniocentesis can be wrong. Many women will abort because the results came back positive for downs, and the baby was perfectly fine, no genetic problems at all. As far as the blood work. I get it done each time. Not because I would ever abort. But if the numbers were high that the baby has downs, I would want the right medical personel there at the delivery. Like a cardiologist, downs babies almost always have heart issues. So I would want to be able to give the best care out there.
Like I said though, don't worry about those numbers. Most docs don't even tell the patients the numbers unless it's down in the 1/200 chance that the baby will have downs. Keep smiling :)
As for the baby bump, it just gets worse, wait till the baby is born and these germ infested people go to touch your baby's hands and face!
I told you the belly grabbers would be out to get you. :) I am so excited that you are going to be able to call it boy or girl shrimp soon! yay!
And I know what you mean about rude little kids I had more than one ask me for more candy.... and I gave them some. I let a 6 year old bully me... I'm so ashamed.
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