So, by the time my blood tests for pregnancy came positive, I was already pregnant for a month and a half. But goodness knows, the rest month and a half was a drag! Pure misery. Sometimes, I was so miserable that I got angry when people congratulated me with utmost happiness in their voices. :) I was like... tera kya jata hai khush hone me..yahan jaan meri jaa rahi hai :P
Yeah, I couldn't eat, couldn't sleep, was nauseous with the mildest fragrance ( I banned roses from the house, including the celebration bouquet Mayuresh bought when the pregnancy was confirmed! Ditto for all rose perfumes and room fresheners! Hehehe ), and gagged and vomited if I even cleaned my tongue.
My first OB/GYN appointment was rather good, with the Ultrasound technician confirming that I was 8 weeks pregnant, and the nurse/midwife going through a lot of elaborate exams and discussions with me. (yes, exams - vaginal and pap smear. They hurt! )
A lot of restrictions were placed on my diet, and they were so contradictory to the standard Indian practises. For instance, in US they ask you to stop eating uncooked sprouts, while they encourage it in India. Also, eating ginger is a complete no-no in India, while the docs in US asked me to stock up on ginger ale and ginger cookies, to help fight my nausea. My mom was shocked, to say the least. hehehe!
The 12th week checkup at the OB/GYN was not so comfortable, though physically, there was nothing intrusive involved. But the doctor started with 2 extremely irritating topics - my probability of getting gestational diabetes and getting genetic testing done.
I have a little history of diabetes in my family. That doesn't mean I WILL get diabetes, right? Wrong... as per the doctor, there wasn't any shred of doubt that I would. Hence she asked me to, in her own words, DIET, DIET, and DIET! Sigh... never mind the fact that I was already 5 pounds below my pre-pregnancy weight. Also they asked me to do an oral glucose test in the 16th week. Well, let's see what happens.
The second and more stressful issue was that of genetic testing. The doctor said it was optional but was pretty insistent that we do it. My point was, the test they asked us to do was not 100% fool-proof. There was a good chance of false positives and negatives. In case of a positive, false or correct, we would have to get amniocentesis done to verify the results. Amniocentesis is invasive, and also risky. Moreover, the whole process would take 6-8 weeks, which would mean too much stress on my already stressed mind.
Also, if the amniocentesis came positive and the baby did have Down's Syndrome, what would we do about it? It would have been a major conundrum.
So, after a lot of inquiries and research and discussions and deliberations, we decided to defy the doctor's orders and not do the test. The doctor wasn't happy about it, but that couldn't be helped, could it?
The thing to look forward to by the end of the trimester was the ending of nausea. (Everybody had told me that the nausea disappears by the end of the third trimester.) But alas! Why? Let's see in the next post.
Yeah, I couldn't eat, couldn't sleep, was nauseous with the mildest fragrance ( I banned roses from the house, including the celebration bouquet Mayuresh bought when the pregnancy was confirmed! Ditto for all rose perfumes and room fresheners! Hehehe ), and gagged and vomited if I even cleaned my tongue.
My first OB/GYN appointment was rather good, with the Ultrasound technician confirming that I was 8 weeks pregnant, and the nurse/midwife going through a lot of elaborate exams and discussions with me. (yes, exams - vaginal and pap smear. They hurt! )
A lot of restrictions were placed on my diet, and they were so contradictory to the standard Indian practises. For instance, in US they ask you to stop eating uncooked sprouts, while they encourage it in India. Also, eating ginger is a complete no-no in India, while the docs in US asked me to stock up on ginger ale and ginger cookies, to help fight my nausea. My mom was shocked, to say the least. hehehe!
The 12th week checkup at the OB/GYN was not so comfortable, though physically, there was nothing intrusive involved. But the doctor started with 2 extremely irritating topics - my probability of getting gestational diabetes and getting genetic testing done.
I have a little history of diabetes in my family. That doesn't mean I WILL get diabetes, right? Wrong... as per the doctor, there wasn't any shred of doubt that I would. Hence she asked me to, in her own words, DIET, DIET, and DIET! Sigh... never mind the fact that I was already 5 pounds below my pre-pregnancy weight. Also they asked me to do an oral glucose test in the 16th week. Well, let's see what happens.
The second and more stressful issue was that of genetic testing. The doctor said it was optional but was pretty insistent that we do it. My point was, the test they asked us to do was not 100% fool-proof. There was a good chance of false positives and negatives. In case of a positive, false or correct, we would have to get amniocentesis done to verify the results. Amniocentesis is invasive, and also risky. Moreover, the whole process would take 6-8 weeks, which would mean too much stress on my already stressed mind.
Also, if the amniocentesis came positive and the baby did have Down's Syndrome, what would we do about it? It would have been a major conundrum.
So, after a lot of inquiries and research and discussions and deliberations, we decided to defy the doctor's orders and not do the test. The doctor wasn't happy about it, but that couldn't be helped, could it?
The thing to look forward to by the end of the trimester was the ending of nausea. (Everybody had told me that the nausea disappears by the end of the third trimester.) But alas! Why? Let's see in the next post.
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