Waiting for results

Yesterday I had the CVS procedure done. It will take 2 weeks to get results. At that time, we’ll know if there are any chromosomal abnormalities. And we’ll know if it’s a girl or boy! It’s a good thing I am on vacation for a couple of days because this will be a long 2 weeks.

We drove down to Stanford’s Lucille Packard Children’s Hospital, to their perinatal testing unit. First, we had a session with a genetic counselor, who asked us questions about our families (to see if there was any increased risk in certain birth defects. Thankfully our families have all been healthy) and told us what to expect with the procedure.  Because I have a tipped uterus, there was some chance we would have to wait another week for them to have good access, which would have bummed me out. I went in and they did an ultrasound to determine where the placenta is – that determines whether they would be able to do the procedure and whether they would need go in through the abdomen or the cervix. So, we got to see the baby and hear the heartbeat, which was just awesome. The docs said they would go through the abdomen and talked amongst themselves about the best angle and about needle size. I was trying to ignore this and I looked only at EB and grabbed his hands and progressively squeezed harder and harder through the procedure.  They gave me a shot of local anesthesia, which pinched a little. Then came the needle. I am told it was quite long. It hurt a little and mostly just felt odd and crampy. I think the worst part was not knowing if it would get worse or how long it would last. It was probably weirder for EB because he was watching the ultrasound monitor during the procedure. Then they were done and checked to make sure they had enough of a sample. On went a Daffy Duck band-aid. They did another ultrasound and I asked them to hear the heartbeat again. It was  more erratic, which kinds of scared us but the doctor saw the look in EB’s face and said it was moving around a lot and that’s why.

I’m not supposed to exercise or lift anything for 3 days. We’re up in Tahoe with friends at a gorgeous cabin so it’s a great place to relax. I’m relieved because there has been no bleeding or other unusual symptoms. After the weekend, the risk of something happening to the baby as a result of the procedure goes way down. I feel fine and think everything is going to be fine.

CVS Pre-natal testing next week

Jelly Bean is 9 weeks and 2 days old and is the size of a medium green olive (22 to 30 mm).

We’ve decided to go ahead and do the CVS (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chorionic_villus_sampling) pre-natal genetic testing to check for potential birth defects, like Down Syndrome. It’s going to be Thursday, March 27. It’s similar to amniocentesis but can be done earlier (up to 12 weeks). We were going to do a Nuchal Translucency (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuchal_translucency) first, which would narrow down the odds of Down Syndrome in our baby and thus help inform us about whether to do a CVS, but I realized that I would most likely want to do the CVS anyway given that I will be 39 when the baby is born (incidentally, that is how old my mom was when she had me, but of course, she already had 8 kids) . Also, I’m running out of time to do the CVS, and I would then have to wait until 16 weeks to do an amniocentesis.

Similar to an amniocentesis, there is some risk of miscarriage, which of course scares the crap out of me and makes me second guess our decision. But, it’s being done at a Stanford clinic with a great reputation for this procedure. Also, there is one perk that should help to soothe me, which is that we get to find out if it’s a boy or a girl! Most of the time I’ve been feeling like it’s going to be a girl. But I’ve known enough women who’ve thought wrong We are very very excited to find out this early.

I love how the books and web sites tell you that you shouldn’t be gaining much weight in the first trimester – in fact you don’t even need any additional calories. Well, given that I need to eat crackers and bread and cereal and toast all of the time to not feel sick, I am sure I am eating more calories. Whoever writes this stuff should be required to deal with morning sickness and THEN tell me that I shouldn’t be eating more calories! Our scale is actually broken so I don’t know if I’ve gained much weight but I know I can’t button my jeans.

People try to comfort me by saying the morning sickness will be over when I hit the second trimester. Unfortunately, it is more like 14-17 weeks in for most women to have their morning sickness subside.

I don’t know if it’s because I’m old or because I’m a wimp or both, but all I can say is I don’t know *how* my mother did this 9 times.

Jelly Bean is 8 weeks old today

One of those things that you only know about if you’ve had a baby is that the calendar they use is a bit odd. Officially, Jelly Bean is 8 weeks old today, even though conception took place about 6 weeks ago. That is because you use the first day of your last period as the start of the cycle.

Appropriately,  the Bean is the size of a pinto bean (14-20 mm long). It already has eyes and elbows and fingers and legs and is working on making its toes.

I’m managing the morning sickness better. I have to be careful to eat enough protein and to not eat only carbs, even though that’s all I really feel like eating. My current thing is a turkey-cranberry sandwich from Togo’s (sub shop). The really difficult symptom right now is that the sciatica I had before getting pregnant is making my butt and hamstrings so sore and tight that I can only sleep for a couple of hours before I have to massage them. Lying on my back puts pressure on the butt, and lying on the side puts pressure on one butt cheek, both of which cause spasming hamstrings I’ve been going to my chiropractor but I think maybe I need to find a specialist, as the lack of sleep does not help matter in general!

Given the sleep issues, though, I am not as exhausted as I would think and I feel pretty good in genera.

Seeing the heartbeat in the ultrasound makes it all worthwhile…

The first sighting

Note: Though this post is dated March 9th, it was actually written on March 6th (the blogging thing is new; I’m still getting the tough stuff figured out…  How was I supposed to know you have to click “Publish” before your posts actually appear on your blog?)

Yesterday we had our first doctor’s appointment.  It was as expected: routine, uneventful, and totally mind-blowing anyway!  First and foremost, we saw a heartbeat on the sonogram!  I saw the image, but hadn’t figured out where to look for the fetus, when the doctor pointed at an intermittent nebulous flickering and told us it was a heartbeat.  But once I was told what I was looking at, it was clear as day…  a very foggy San Francisco day, but who cares?  We saw our baby’s heartbeat!

We found out that our due date is Oct. 19th.  Seems pretty far off, but I’m sure these months will fly by!  Another important thing is that we liked our doctor, which is really important (and not at all a given).  I can’t put  a finger on why we like her, but as long as we both do, the reason doesn’t matter.  We will be going back to see her in about a month (and every month until the end of the pregnancy).

 In the interim, we have some decisions to make.  There are several tests that “older” women (sorry, Jean, but at least you’ll always be younger than me) are told to consider, some of which are invasive of the fetus, and therefore potentially harmful to the baby.  Jean will be 39 when she delivers, and the chance of our baby not having Down Syndrome is still over 99.25%.  Being a gambling man who can recognize good odds when he sees them is unfortunately not helping me…  Offer me that bet for cash-money and I’d say “Book it, book it again, and twice more on Sunday”.  But this particular 134-to-1 shot is scaring the hell out of me!

I think the biggest issue for us right now is making sure Jean gets enough rest, and enough nutrition.  She is having definitely noticeable but not severe pregnancy symptoms.  It seems that getting to bed on the early side and then sleeping a full day each weekend takes care of fatigue, and keeping something simple in her stomach helps with the nausea (I’ve stopped using the term “morning sickness” because it’s not accurate, and “morning, afternoon, evening, and night-time sickness” sounds like we’re about to advertise for  Robitussen).  If any of you are investors, I’d suggest putting some money into crackers!  I think our household will single-handedly increase the profitability of the market over the next six weeks…  It’s many a night, at 3 in the morning, that from the other side of the bed I hear the quiet crinkling of Jean fumbling open a sleeve of Ritz crackers.

Here comes Bean-Berg!

The main impetus for the creation of this blog is that we’re pregnant.  One of the many things you don’t think of until you’re pregnant is that if you don’t come up with an in-womb nickname, you have to call your unborn child “it” until you know the sex of the baby.  Since Jean’s child-hood nickname (one of many) was Jean-Bean, and since the fetal position roughly estimates a Jelly Bean, and since our baby’s last name will be “Sandberg”, we’ve decided on “BeanBerg”, or just “the Bean” for short.  I like it so much I’m toying with the idea of keeping the name after the birth, but I haven’t broached that idea to Jean yet…

 Anyway, later this morning, the Bean will meet with our doctor for the first time.  Not coincidentally, so will we.  I don’t think that the first visit is all that informative.  First and foremost, we’ll see if we get any kind of vibe about our doctor.  Also, we will find out the due date, but we already know it’ll be around Oct. 20th.  I think we’ll also have an ultrasound, though I am not sure.  Even with that simple agenda, it is still pretty exciting.  The last couple weeks, I have often found myself walking around, minding my own business, then I am hit with this thunderbolt that we’re having a baby, and it is honestly almost as though I’d forgotten.  I think the first ultra-sound will really bring things into permanent focus, though.  It’s almost like until that point, it is a theoretical pregnancy.  Once we hear a heartbeat, and see that little sonogram, I think it’ll seem so much more REAL; we’ll see…

Welcome to the Sand-Blog

This is the blog for Jean and E.B. Sandberg.  Our good friends the Huffs have a blog that I followed with great enthusiasm during their pregnancy (and still follow, actually) and so we are blatantly copycat-ing them.  Speaking of the Huffs, thanks to Jen for helping me set our blog up (or, to be purely technical, ”helping me” isn’t quite accurate; she did it and I watched).

 I”ve never actually kept a blog before, and until the afore-mentioned Huff blog, had never followed one either, so I really don’t know what to expect.  At a bare minimum, this will help us keep everybody up to date (well, everybody who checks the blog), and I think it will also be fun to look back at these early posts and remember what we were doing, thinking, feeling, etc. 

 So, check in any time, post any comments that come to mind, and enjoy our blog!