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.