Friday, August 13, 2010

CVS test, part 1

Test is done. So far so good. For those of you considering/ planning, I'm giving you my full experience below.

On the plus side:
- We got to see some really high resolution images of the little guy (yeah, I have given it a gender). That was pretty amazing and made me really, really happy.
- It measures 4.6cm (~11w3d) and has a heartbeat (which we got to hear!) of 170 bpm.
- The nuchal measurements were avg of 1.1mm, which I understand from both the Dr and Google is well within the normal range for its CRL.
- We got to see this cool thing where they show blood flow on the u/s, and saw the umbilical cord.
- It was SO active that it was actually tough to do all of the measuring. But it was really awesome to watch, and the Boy, who hadn't seen it in 3 weeks or so, was amazed by how much was going on in there!
- We got to hear the heartbeat again after the procedure. I seriously can't get enough of that!
- I got to keep my pants on the entire time. Amazing.

On the down side:
- The procedure itself, while only lasting about 90 seconds, was really not very comfortable. Because I have an anterior (front) placenta, they went in abdominally.
- The initial numbing shot stung. Not a fan.
- The big needle, which I did not see and would prefer to not have any visual image of, didn't hurt going in, but once it got to it's destination? Holy crap.
- On the "holy crap" part of the procedure: it felt like very very unpleasant, deep cramps. The closest analogy is the HSG cramping, except this involved a needle being moved around to break up some tissue and suck it up the needle. I didn't watch at all. I counted ceiling tiles and breathed. I want no visual images of what was going on there, as it's too scary.
- There was still some pretty tough cramping yesterday, but today its about 60% better. No spotting or bleeding, though, which is good.

The amusing part? The MFM Dr, who depite being quite the renowned specialist, is a tiny little woman wearing tight white jeans, platform sandals, and a fluttery silk shirt with exposed shoulders. Not exactly what I expected. Quote of the day from the Boy: "she looks like she should be pole dancer." While that did not boost my confidence, it did make me giggle just a bit before we went in.

So preliminary results either today or Monday, and full results in a week.

Overall, very glad I did this. Now I just need to wait to be able to exhale and relax.
Please please please please be ok.

9 comments:

  1. Fingers crossed for good results on Monday!!

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  2. I am so glad the test went well. Wishing you the best of luck with getting the results back.
    I love your husband's comment about your pole dancing DR

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  3. Yay! I'm glad the worst part is over! I know the results will come back with nothing to worry about. :)

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  4. It sounds to me like the measurements are good - I know it's hard to know for sure until results of bloodwork are back, but I think it was a good idea to do it.
    Breathe a sigh of relief - it's over and no more big needles. I never looked at mine either, but the expression on my hub's face was convincing enough that it was BIG!

    Best of luck

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  5. It sounds like everything is going perfectly. The experience itself sounds utterly awful (the cramps would really freak me out!!!), but now it is behind you, thankfully!

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  6. Ok, so the cramp thing scares the shit out of me. How long have they lasted? What did you do afterward? Do they recommend bed rest? Is the bleeding the thing you need to worry about the most, and the cramping is ok? I need to start thinking of what to worry about explicitly. :)

    Thank you so much for sharing all of this. It really, really helps me. I wish I could reciprocate, but I guess that's what you get for getting pregnant before me! :)

    I have every finger and every toe crossed to bring you good luck. But you have made it over one huge hurdle already by getting the tissue-sample part done. Congratulations!!!

    By the way, will they tell you the sex of the baby? I wonder if you are right!

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  7. So, so glad the CVS went well for you!!! I hadn't been following the last week or so so hadn't kept up that you had decided to go with the CVS. Those nuchal measurements sound great!! I might have to think about doing CVS next time instead of waiting for the NT scan. Thanks for sharing your experience!

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  8. I'm adding my "please"s to yours...

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  9. Wow, I so hope everything is okay. So wonderful to see him :) but scary at the same time!

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