stuck again

last night i went in to the lab to get more blood drawn. i should point out here that i detest needles and can't even look at a syringe without cringing. this time it was for my x-afp test, which tests for four proteins (including alpha-fetoprotein) produced by the baby and carried in mom's bloodstream. abnormal levels of these proteins can indicate chromosomal defects such as down syndrome and trisomy 18 as well as non-hereditary defects like neural tube defects. we are not as concerned about genetic defects because both brian and i have pretty good genes, but non-hereditary - random - defects do concern me, especially since a friend recently lost her baby to anencephaly and i saw how heartbreaking that was and continues to be for her and her husband.

a second vial was also drawn for a chromosome test on me. again, brian and i are not terribly concerned, but we figure the more information we have at our fingertips, the better. the test is going to look for chromosome translocation in me and could be a remote possibility (and an even more remote chance of a birth defect) because of my mother's history of miscarriage (she had four before me); my father's direct, severe, and repeated exposure to agent orange during his tour in vietnam in 1968-69; and his brother's (my uncle's) mental retardation. if there is a translocation, likely it is balanced since i have no problems, but it could cause problems for a baby. again, the likelihood of a problem is minute, but i figured it's no more hassle for the lab to draw an extra vial and run an extra test and we get more information this way. also, it's not something we would need to do with subsequent babies, since it's not like my chromosomes are going to change.

this whole pregnancy has certainly been a learning experience for me. we'll have the results from the tests back in about 2-3 weeks.

we are at: 17 weeks 1 day.