No, silly, SHE'S having a baby...

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

Alright, time to come out of the closet. :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::Brace;Yourselves::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::This dot stuff is harder that it looks…sheesh!
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**An Announcement: **
There is going to be another little doper running around this household and subequently attacking the computer keyboards in the near future.

I’m 17 weeks along, (That’s four months and one week for you regular folks) feeling perfect (except for chronic sinus congestion. Yeah, I know, shut up and gestate.) and since I’m just starting to pop out,( Only 10 pounds on so far.) I can no longer suck in my stomach anymore to hide this tax deduction due around the first week in March.

It’s been killing hubby to tell everyone and I could keep this a secret until Christmas, if I hid behind props and wore baggy clothes ( like an actress on a TV show hiding her pregnancy. :)and avoided family gatherings citing feeble excuses ( like they haven’t heard THAT before) then instead of a 40 ( well 24 week preg. at this juncture) week pregnancy with my respective families, it would be like an 8 week pregnancy. Easier on all parties involved.

Be honored, I told everyone here first before my mom or the in laws. ( You folks are much more sane and --ahem–well adjusted.)

**A Question **
Time to call out the Mommies and see if anyone every had this:::::

I had no complications at all with my first pregnancy. I did have a Triple Screen Blood test come back with a abnormal ( high) AFP - alphabeto protein level which *could * mean a:
1)Nueral tube defect ( spina bifida)remotely possible situation.
2)Wrong conception date - now where was I when abducted by aliens?
3)Few other nasty things that I won’t go into that my doctor didn’t tell me because there is no sense in worrying because this test is a SCREENING mechacism and not DIAGNOSTIC.
4) Twins. Heh.
5)The test is Wrong.

If the AFP came back low, it is an indication that Down’s might be a possibility.

Thank god I am not a panicker by nature, after my doctor called me and told me everything ( and she thanked me for being so mellow and open minded, which I am because panicking does not help anyone.), I surfed the web to get more information and am feel that it is nothing to get overly concerned about.(It’s not like I can do anything about it anyway until my ultrasound next week and worry is such a useless emotion.) I haven’t even told my husband yet. ( I will AFTER we tell our parents, then it won’t take away his joy.)If by some sick twist of fate there is something wrong (After an amnio, if needed) , then I shall commence panicking.

However, my Doctor was very calm and relaxed( As per her physcian training taught her) and kept on stressing the twins angle ( at least I think she was trying to take my mind off the bad stuff with “well, it could be this too” something more positive. Unless she is reading something more into the tests from experience…which then, by gum, I’m gunna name one of the little nippers what I want after all…( we’ve been -for lack of a better word-facilitating on who has the worst taste in baby names. I vote for hubby. :slight_smile:

Anyone else have a false positive about the AFP test?

2

** CONGRATULATIONS!!!**
what the heck did you do to the screen?

3

1)I don’t remember that test, but Bowen came out o.k., so it must not have been a big deal. :::shrug:::

2)Your stupid dots messed up the screen. :::glare:::

3)OHMYGOSH CONGRATULATIONS!!! :::squeal::: I’m so jealous!!

Veni, Vidi, Visa … I came, I saw, I bought.

4

I wouldn’t worry about it too much, Shirley. Do you plan to get an amnio and ultrasound? I too had “abnormal” results on this test, and ultrasound proved that the due date was off (I was further along than we thought). As I had a few drinks one night before we found out I was pregnant, I flipped out. I figured I pickled the poor little darling for sure. The ultrasound also proved that his neural tube was quite ok. My son is sitting on my lap right now as I type, drooling and cooing.

An amnio also can help screen for these things, but I chickened out. But since the ultrasound looked ok, I figured why bother?

In my sister’s case she had the abnormal result and it was twins. We didn’t have any twins in the family (except a set several generations ago) so Beth was rather rattled about the test result till she found out why. Ask around in your family if there are any twins! Also, your age may factor in here. I don’t know how old you are, but after 30 your chances for twins goes up, and after 35 dramatically. So don’t assume the worst. Go for the other screening tests, keep taking care of yourself, and try to relax.

Best wishes…hugs to you! :slight_smile:

Prairie Rose

If you’re not part of the solution you’re just scumming up the bottom of the beaker.

5

YAY! Congrats! Woohoo! I’m so excited! I hope you have a girl, because I’m expecting a boy (in about 2 weeks). We’ll start a Straight Dope Play Group (Call it, what, Cecil & Me?). We can betroth them now, and not worry about all that dating crap. Whaddya think? :slight_smile:

Again, congratulations!!!

6

Shirley you’re not jesting? You’re not just Joan anymore? :wink:

Congratulations!!

::goes off to contemplate giving the boys a little sister::

-Melin
(I HAD to come out and post for this!)

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YAY!!! Congratulations! What a wonderful thing giving life is! :slight_smile:

About my AFP, mine came back normal, but had it not (and Hubby has a history of mental retardation and severe epilepsy in his family), I would have done exactly what you are doing. Go from AFP, to ultrasound, to an amnio if needed.

I had a level two ultrasound anyhoo (because of the history) and it’s amazing what they can see. The Doc checked everything so thouroughly that I felt comfortable that no furthur testing was needed.

Good luck and congrats once again!

8

A big congrats from this corner, Shirley.

Take good care of yourself.

9

Congradulations on successfully breeding.

Raise the rugrat good in this shitty world we live in, and I’ll congradulate you again.

Don’t ever mess up a screen AGAIN! It’s givig me a headache…

Yer pal,
Satan

10

Thanks everyone for your kind words and congrats.It does mean alot to me. I’m sorry about how the screen looks. It looked not so bad on mine, but apparently it’s quite annoying on others, so I profusely apologize.

Tonight I told and explained all the AFP stuff to my husband. He took it much better than I thought and luckily he is not a panicker and knows how useless worrying is. ( Or at least he has his game face on for me.)We’ve adopted a One Step at a Time mentality, for that is all we can do. I’ve been playing phone tag with the Doc for the past two days because I need the numbers and levels and MoM’s for the Ultrasound technician, but I want her to explain everything to him incase I missed out on anything. ( I don’t think I did, he said I sounded very coherent.)

Funny thing about the twins thing though
( speaking of clinging to a life raft) being adopted, I haven’t a clue if twins are in my side of the gene pool ( which is why I’ve always done all the testing and screening possible and had no problems/concerns the first time around), but hubby’s side has them. But I don’t know if twins come from either parent or only just the mother.

Prarie, did your sister who had the twins look big at all when she found out? I’m barely out of regular clothes right now, but I’m really putting the cart before the horse.

So, on Thursday we go in for the ultra sound, which is one of the coolest things I’ve ever experienced in my life. ( Better than a day at Disney and covered by insurance :)) and it totally blows my mind that they can see the spine, heart, brain, head formation, neck stuff and all the fingers and toes and which direction the plumbing goes. My heart knows everything will be fine, but it’s the cynical woman inhabiting my brain that won’t accept this.

Sigh…it’s a long time till thursday. Keep us in your thoughts and prayers.

11

Sometimes twins just happen. My sister has twin daughters and there has never been any other multiple births on either side of the family.

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Identical twins are usually flukes. Twins tend to happen if the mother is over 30, or has had more than 4 pregnancies. This happened to my grandmother. Her 5th pregnancy was my identical twin uncles, the first set of twins in my family. One of those twins passed this bit of info along to me shortly after he & his wife found out they were expecting triplets. :slight_smile: His wife, though, is over 40, and was taking fertility drugs.

Fraternal twins, on the other hand, tend to be hereditary. The wife of the aforementioned uncle also has a lot of sets of fraternal twins in her family, which increased her chances of having twins (or more) even further.

Now I’m so excited, I can’t wait until Thursday either! :slight_smile:

13

Sincere congrats, Shirley. Everything will go fine. Now I’ll go lie down a bit: I feel woozy from reading all the previous posts in one sitting. :smiley:

14

Added bonus: Melin graced us with a visit!! If that’s what it take to bring her out of hiding, I’m sure several of her old female friends will happily follow Shirley’s example and go the extra mile…Wouldn’t you say it’s worth it?? :slight_smile:

15

Getting back to Cristi’s arranged marriage with her soon to be son and my yet unknown sex child.

If it is a girl,(we’re screwed name wise) then I am all for an arranged marriage. As a part of her dowry, I shall give to your son

  1. Our 30 year old Sears Riding Lawn Mower which will be about 55 years old by the time they march down the aisle ( It has the charming accessory of a lighter in the control panel so you could keep your Winston’s smoking while cutting the yard).
    2)All my tupperware containers (without lids),
    3)My china that I received for my wedding and
    haven’t used once.
  2. A variety of white towels stolen from hotels around the globe.
    5)5 gallons of used motor oil in old milk jugs.
  3. Cookbooks that have never ever ever ever ever been opened.
  4. My spoon collection ( you know, the cheezy ones that you pick up as a memento of Marengo Cave, Indiana.) Used to decorate the Christmas tree every year.
  5. Envelopes of ticket stubs of movies I’ve seen and concerts I’ve been too.
    9)A manual Typewriter.
  6. A 1984 Dodge Ram pickup truck.( It will be a collectors item in 25 years, if you can overlook the rust, dings and scratchs)
    Have you and hubby settled on a name yet for your son, or is it still in the “Are you fuckin’ nuts, we are not naming him after your Uncle Clyde.” stage?
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good luck.

someone asked about the wide post. When you usethings like AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA, the UBB software will not cut the item, so it widens the screen for the entire topic, not just your post. You may hit enter to cut down lines, like this:

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaa(enter)
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaa(enter)

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
then they will not go full width

17

Shirley, I find that dowry quite acceptible.

And my son’s name is going to be John. Is that okay? :slight_smile:

18

You know, I doubt any of the old board folks can ever see that name again without cringing. No offense.