We had our 12 week screening today with the perinatal group. Had another transvaginal ultrasound since my uterus is apparently tilted and we couldn't get a good read with an abdominal one. No assistance needed this time with the wand, though! Apparently it's only my weird OB's office that does that. Or maybe it was just that one particular ultrasound tech. Who knows...
There was some mad thumb-sucking going on today, and as always, baby was a big mover and shaker. So fun to watch him wiggle around in there! And so weird to know that's going on inside of MY stomach. It's always a relief to see that heart pumping away when the picture first comes up. I mean we have no reason to think that it wouldn't be, but at this point we have no way of knowing till we see it! Yes, it's still there... good, good.
Today they were measuring the skin behind the neck (for signs of downs, etc.) and it looked good and skinny, just how it should. I also had bloodwork for further lab tests and we'll get those results later this week. But the doctor suspects everything will come out perfectly. No luck on determining the sex this time. We could barely get a butt view as it was and it's still early. I measured 13w5d today and baby is about 7cm long (crown to rump). But they'll see me back at 16 weeks (on August 11th) and we should be able to determine the sex then if baby cooperates!
In the meantime, I'll be back at my OB's office next Tuesday. I can't remember exactly what for... I'm pretty sure we're not doing another ultrasound at that point. But yeah, we're rolling right along! I still feel cruddy... in FACT... I actually vomited this morning for the very first time. Don't know if I waited to long to eat something or what... but yeah. Thought I was going to escape the whole up-chucking thing, but I guess not. Everyone's still telling me I should turn a corner at 14 or 15 weeks. I'm counting on it! Well, hoping anyway. Either way, it's all worth it. I'll get the sonogram pic up when I get a good scanned copy.
So random question... There are pamphlets and ads and whatnot being shoved in my face everywhere for cord blood banking. I understand what this is - I think. But of course nothing tells you how much it costs. One company even offers up a gift registry program to raise money for it, which is (a) really tacky and (b) means it must be really expensive. Did any of you mommas save your baby's cord blood? How much did it cost and is it a one time cost or do you have to pay like yearly storage fees or something? Hey, we do for our embryos, so it's not a dumb question. Any advice is helpful!
11 comments:
How exciting that everything is still going well! Bummer on not finding out the gender too! I thought you knew when you said "him" early on in the post.
We did not bank the cord blood and I don't know anyone who has. The rumors that I have heard are that it is expensive initially and then a fee every year after!!
We chose not to bank the cord blood for 2 reasons. One, it's VERY expensive. Two, in most cases, it's better not to treat a child with his own cord blood.
In the case of many childhood cancers and immune deficiencies, a child would not be given his own cord blood. Those stem cells would probably carry the disease genetically, meaning that you'd be reintroducing those defective cells into the child.
I suppose you could bank Child #1's cord blood on the off chance a future child would need it and they would be a match. But siblings only have a 25% match rate. For us, that was too many "if's" to justify the cost.
We did however choose to donate the cord blood which is a free service offered at our hospital.
Hope that helps some. See if your OB office has any pamphlets about it. We got several which is where we found most of our info to help us decide.
Good luck! It can definitely be a tough choice!
I guess I've been a long time "lurker!" But I wanted to finally come out and say a HUGE congratulations!
So as to not echo complete everything that Mrs. Eyecansee said.. we chose to not bank C's cord blood for basically the same exact reasons. Our number 1 reason was because most often, if your child suddenly becomes in need of stem cells for whatever reason, they most likely won't be transplanted with their own.. For the exact reasons that Mrs. Eyecansee stated. She was also correct when she said that you could bank for future Baby #2.. but again, for us? Too many "what if's" and it just couldn't justify the cost for us!
So much research to be done.. Couldn't pregnancy just be easy?!? I mean, there's more than enough to worry about.. Banking cord blood shouldn't be so difficult! ;o)
After reading your questions about cord blood banking, I just had to look it up.
According to Cord Blood Registry.com (apparently largest in the nation?), for the first year it costs $2,195, but if you use the registry, they give you a $250 discount.
Then it's $125 per year storage.
That's seems ridiculous! Especially if it's true that you will likely not be able to use it for your child that it's from...
Yeah, I don't know anyone who has done this. I'm just excited for you!
I have a few friends who did the cord blood. None of my closest friends though. I believe it is quite expensive but I would probably at least look into it if I was prego. I think stem cells are amazing and where a lot of future cures are headed.
I don't know anyone who has banked the cord blood. I am so glad your pregnancy is progressing well. At first, I was thinking you had found out the gender when you said "he." :)
Ditto to what MrsEyeCanSee and Ashley Paige said. One of my best friend's is a Pediatric Oncology Nurse Practictioner and that's the advice she gave me and what she did with her daughter's cord blood. I figured if she was right there with cancer patients all day, she knew what was most helpful (and that was to ensure the blood bank had LOTS to choose from if we ever needed it). That's exactly what we did with our cord blood. You fill out a form and the doc will ensure the cord blood gets donated. It doesn't affect anything with the baby and you don't have to do anything extra (I didn't even know it happened).
I'm so glad everything is going well! I always felt a huge sense of relief as soon as I saw or heard the heartbeat.
You will definitely feel better soon! I felt great starting at week 16. It was like a veil had been lifted and I felt good again!
We didn't bank our son's cord blood. It's really expensive! We thought about donating it to a public bank, but we just never got around to getting a kit, even if we wanted to and Landon came almost a week early.
Glad your appointment went well!!
I'm glad you asked about the cord blood thing because I have been wondering about it and see it mentioned everywhere. I just got something in the mail about it yesterday and I told myself I need to read it and figure the whole thing out but I still haven't opened it.
Language Arts Lady has the money exactly right. We just signed up for it and did the registry. I doubt we will inform any one of it as I'm only 4 wks away and already had my shower. I'm not sure I would have put it on my baby shower info. Probably. I kind of thought it was odd/tacky to do the honeymoon registries, but people really want to give and receive the things they want, so why not cord blood.
We decided to bank the cord blood after seeing a video while waiting in the OB's office. Preppy Pink Crocodile is right that stem cell research is amazing and so much progress is still being made. From my understanding, just because the a child gets cancer, it doesn't mean that the issue was in the cord blood. So yes, some issues can be treated with the child's own cord blood. It isn't necessarily or only for potential subsequent children. Cancer is not the only thing that can happen. The stem cells can be used for other things. On a side note, apparently they can grow bone replacements for horses with cells, so I see why people are really excited about what lies ahead for humans.
My husband & I have a good number of ethnic groups between the two of us. My concern about a public bank would be finding a match. I believe finding a bone marrow match must be more exact than cord blood or tissue. We just figured it was like insurance. I started saving for the cord blood once I saw that video. We probably won't need it. If we do, the $ will be worth it. It took us a long time to get this baby. $2k is nothing in comparison. For the record, I'm not in healthcare in any way and not from a cord blood bank or anything. There are soooo many things they market to expecting parents, so I've been picky about what we're going to buy. My husband & I felt strongly about this one. Oh, we did *not* go for the cord tissue because my OB said they're about 10 years behind on development on that, in comparison to cord blood.
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