The Miss Elaine-ous Life

random acts of life, family and photos

It’s Officially Offical

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We saw the “wee one,” baby #3, the peanut, the kidney bean… yesterday. And it was as spectacular as it has been the previous two times. Especially that little baby heartbeat, just blinking away at us.

And we were relieved that there was only uno bambino (that’s a little shout out to 3B1M, whose blog name I’ll be stealing it if it’s a boy). Not that there was really any concern about that, but still.

So here’s the baby’s first photo! My official EDD is October 7th, which just so happens to be my nephew Matthew’s birthday.

Just a quick poll, if you’d let me know in the comments. What do you all think about the genetic screening? I’m scheduled to do it at my next appointment (which is on my birthday) in four weeks but I think I’m going to opt out of it. I didn’t do it with my other two pregnancies and it won’t change anything. So, tell me, what would you do?

elaine

Comments

  1. These completely blow my mind because you can definitely see a little tiny person. Did you ever see the episode of Friends where Rachel couldn’t see her baby? There’s no doubt about your baby being there! I think having these are the coolest thing ever.

    I have no advice about the genetic testing since I really haven’t even thought about it for myself either. I assume they charge extra for that though, right?

  2. If it’s not going to change anything for you, then don’t do it. There are too many risks for a test that can be done with much less risk once the baby is safely in your arms.

    My husband and I have discussed it and won’t be doing those tests when the time comes…too much risk (any risk is too much) unless there was a real reason to do so.

  4. All this baby love going around! It’s so inspiring! What I need to know is if I should have another boy or a girl. Yes, I can predict the sex of my child.

    Hey, email me because I wanted to tell you something about that screening you asked about. But to go on in the comments section might take forever.

  5. Oh Elaine

    Wow, what a privilege to see your beautiful baby. Just gorgeous.

    When we went for our 12 week scan we had to have a blood test a couple of days before the scan. They used the blood test results as well as information from the scan (nuchal translucency scan) to ascertain the risk of having a baby with a chromosomal abnormality (but the results did not guarantee the absence of Down synfrome). Then at 19 weeks we had a more detailed morphology scan which which was recommended for all women at the practice we attended. However, we did not have any invasive prenatal tests such as amniocentesis. Like you, Elaine, we did not want any testing that wasn’t routine testing because it wouldn’t have changed anything for us.

    I hope you are feeling better as your pregnancy progresses and that nausea feeling is subsiding.

    Lots of love and hugs
    Elise

  6. If it’s not going to make a difference for you, then it really doesn’t matter. There is a test that checks the folds of the back of the neck which can tell you if the baby has Downs syndrome. My GF had a baby with downs and she did know about it when the baby was born. It was a big help to be prepared for it, instead of finding out at giving birth.
    Congrats!

  8. Oh man! This makes me want another baby SO badly! He/she is perfect! 🙂

    We didn’t do genetic screening either. If it doesn’t change our opinions on having the baby, then why do it? Yes, I realize that we could have prepared ourselves if there was something wrong, but I like to live in ignorance, apparently. haha.

  9. What a cutie.

    And, while the genetic testing wouldn’t change anything, I didn’t do it the first time and did the second. Really, I guess I did it since I already had a kid and I just wanted to be educated if there was anything I would need to know. Does that make sense? I guess I would want to be prepared.

  14. Congrats Elaine! Your little jellybean looks healthy and happy to me. As far as the genetic screening goes i would say this.

    I was offered a amino when i was pregnant with MJ because of suspicion that he had DS. I declined because knowing that it was a chance was all the preparation i needed. I think if you have non-invasive tests done, then it is always good to know or have a heads up so you can be prepared. Nothing is a big surprise that way. But If it is not going to change your mind about your jellybean then why do anything invasive that would risk a miscarriage. It is always nice to have all the info you can if only just to be one step ahead.

  15. Congratulations!! How exciting to see your newest little one waving to us all!

    As far as genetic testing goes: I’m guessing you’re talking about the blood work, and not an amnio? For the blood work, I always opted to have it done because even though there’s NO WAY it would have changed any of our decisions about the baby, from what I understood there are certain genetic abnormalities that it is beneficial for the doctors to know about ahead of delivery, so that they might be prepared. I know with spina bifida, for example, usually a c-section is recommended. (But I also think that’s something that can be detected at ultrasound, so maybe it’s a moot point?) Plus if we were to have a child with a special need, I wanted to be able to educate myself about it before the baby arrived.

    My doctor offered me an amnio with our first because there was a slight irregularity noted on his ultrasound. We declined, since there is a small risk of it causing a miscarriage. We knew it wouldn’t matter to us if there was something wrong. Thank God, there wasn’t, but I didn’t want to do anything that carried even the slightest risk of harming him.

    I think it boils down to doing whatever you are more at peace with. And this comment is officially WAY TOO LONG now. Congratulations again!

    ~Keri

  16. Aw, the little peanut is so cute!

    And I have always opted out of that genetic testing. The one they do here has a high chance of false positives for downs syndrome…it happened to two of my friends. In both cases, the baby did NOT have downs and all it did was cause whole lot of heartache and stress for nothing.

    Just my experience 🙂

  17. eeeeee! a baby!! 🙂
    i just love ultrasounds!

    i say go with your gut on the testing. i had the blood tests done because they were already taking blood- and what’s a few more drops, right? i wasn’t worried about anything and actually forgot all about it until they mentioned the results. i didn’t do the extra ultrasound and all that stuff- didn’t see the need. (weird because i love ultrasounds and all)

    sending you healthy, happy pregnancy vibes! 🙂

  18. awwww…

    that’s you new baby friend!!

    yipppeee for officially official 🙂

    as for the testing is it sad that i don’t remember if i did it? i guess looking forward i see both sides. the practical side of me says of course. but the emotional side of me says no thanks.

    and now my ramble is no help.

    sorry 🙁

    i know you will make the right decision for you and the new bean!

  19. So excited for you! I love ultrasound photos!!

    I had the test done with both of my kids but only because I felt like I would want to know so I could prepare myself mentally if there was anything wrong. Since then, I had a friend who had a false positive and she went through hell worrying during her pregnancy. Now I’ve heard this is very common so I’m not sure I’d want to go through that again.

  21. I don’t think I would personally do the screening unless there was a medically necessary reason . . . like a scary gene in the family tree or something that was a concern. It’s certainly a personal choice though.

  22. How exciting! I still have Lovey’s ultrasound photos on my fridge. I love them!

    I did the blood testing with BJ, but since we were paying out of pocket for my pre-natal and delivery of Lovey, I opted out of things that weren’t necessary. I knew it wouldn’t change how I felt and that if there was something wrong, they would most likely be able to detect it on a later ultrasound.

    Congrats on seeing the heartbeat! LOVE!!!!!

  24. dont cha just love those alien-like pictures only a mother could love 🙂 congrats to you- so girl maybe? everyone needs a little drama-queen in their life- it will help balance out rowdy boys. 😉

  26. Thanks for sharing, “she’s” beautiful! My step daughter is due about one month before you, she’s passing on the genetic testing, it won’t change anything. Go with your heart.

  27. I did not realize that one of the blood tests that I did with my second pregnancy was for the quad screen. I found out days before my 30th birthday when one of the doctors called me after I got home from work. I sat there in tears as he told me that the screen showed that the baby had a higher than usual chance of having DS. I asked to talk to my usual doctor to see what this meant. Of course what nobody tells you is the quad screens are not diagnostic and are often wrong, both ways. Hubby and I went to a genetic counselor, had a very detailed ultrasound and I still opted to do the dangerous amnio. At that point we had to know in case we needed to prepare for a child with DS. I just could not sit and wait 20+ weeks and worry about things. In the end you know that JSL was fine, but it was a horrible scare. My advice, avoid those blood tests that do not give you real information and only scare people for no reason.

  29. Yay on the first shots!

    I hate stressing about that “whether to test or not” stuff. It’s the worst! You sort of feel like “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” about it. At least I did.

    Anyway, if you aren’t going to do anything regardless of results, then you don’t need to do it, right? I think the only way you’d want to do it is if you were going to act based upon the results.

  31. I opted out on #3 as well. I figured why put myself through something with a very high false positive rate if I am not going to do anything about it.

  32. I wouldn’t do anything that is not routine. The blood testing and ultrasound doesn’t have any risk. Reason being, especially with already having two kiddos, you could prepare yourself and them for what is to come. Information is power.

    I personally would rather know ahead of time rather than having that become known only at delivery. I like to be prepared and have time to do my homework though…depends on how you would approach it.

  33. Yay for the bean! 🙂 As far as the test goes, I’d say that if you don’t like it will change anything, then why get it?

    I mean, that’s what I would do anyway.

    Hope you are feeling well. Eat plenty of Nacks to keep the bean happy! LOL j/k

  34. Cute little bean!

    I never did the testing. There are many false positives and I didn’t need the stress. My ob does not recommend unless over 38.

    Great seeing you last night! You really are glowing!

  35. Such a cute little belly bean! It’s pretty amazing how much it already looks like a little person. I opted out of all the genetic screening…like you said, it wouldn’t have changed anything except to make me worry.

    SO great to see you last night, and thanks a million for all the work you put into organizing everything. I feel special that I got to ride with the Lady in Charge. :o)

  36. Thanks for introducing us to your little one! As for the testing, I never did it for my 3…becuase it wouldn’t change anything for us and I knew it would stress me out.

  37. I am with all those that said to skip out on any testing that isn’t routine. We did the blood-testing and all, just so we could be prepared if our baby was going to have a problem. I am the kind of person that would need to be prepared for that kind of thing, even if it wouldn’t change anything.

    Best of luck with your pregnancy!

  38. Congrats on baby # 3! How exciting!

    I would defnitely opt out of the genetic screening tests, since they have so many false positives. We had a major scare and freak out session with our baby #1 after the AFP test. Our doctor did NOT ask us if we wanted testing and did NOT explain properly after the test came back positive. We opted out with baby # 2. If it won’t change anything, then why put your self through an extra test and possible extra worry. It’s all just my opinion though…Good luck making a decision!

    I hope your pregnancy goes well!

  39. Love the baby bean photo. I think they can see most things on ultrasound now. So many false positives with screening if you wouldn’t change anything I would not do it. I had a positive AFP then refused my amnio. I should have never had the first test to begin with if I was not going to follow through with the rest. Just my thoughts on the subject.

  40. It’s WONDERFUL when you get to see your little one! I’m so excited for you! 🙂

    I did not do any genetic testing with either of my children. I also knew that it would not change anything…I would not have ended the pregnancy. I say Trust God.

    Blessings,
    Tina