Shopping - Maternity Clothes

Today, I brought my wife to shop for some maternity clothes.

I first took her to the Adidas store, and I learned that Adidas had never carry maternity clothes line. Then I tried the local BMW dealer... no luck there either!

I ended up have to settle for some Mom-and-Pop store in the local shopping mall. I picked out a few outfit for her. They look very comfortable, and probably fit me just as well because of my big tummy.

My Best Friend's Baby

Today, I received an email from my buddy, Gary, telling me that his wife is expecting their 2nd child! I can tell from his email that he is so excited and so looking forward to this new addition to his family. Surprisingly, the expected due date of his child is in close proximity to my child's due date - Late October, early November!

I really wanted to break my good news back to him as I was congratulating him via email this afternoon. But I decided to stick to my original announcement plan. Sorry Gary, you just have to wait for a few more days! :-)

Once again, Congratulations to You!

Is it Positive or Negative?

After I got home on Monday, I was reading over the pamphlet that Dr. Chan gave me in regards to this test. Based on the information that he provide, along with this scanned image (see above), I had to assume that the test yielded a 'positive' result.

However, Dr. Chan called me again today asking if I had asked him to contact me. It turned out there when I was asking Dr. Albert Chen to contact me to discuss the test result, Dr. Albert Chen simply asked Dr. Kenneth Chan to call me. Anyway, although he explained the test result very thoroughly, I told Dr. Kenneth Chan that I was just hoping for a second opinion from Dr. Albert Chen. I told Dr. Kenneth Chan that I don't really have any further question, except that: "Does it mean my wife test came back with a 'positive' reading?"

Dr. Kenneth Chan: "No, in fact, it's a negative reading. To be considered a positive reading, the result has to be 1 in 50, or less. The reason why I'm alerting you is because at your wife's age, a 1 in 86 rating is considered unusal."

I take that as a good news because all along, I thought that the result must be 'positive.' As we all know, there is no gaurantee in life! Very rarely we can have absolute certainty on things that we deal with in life. Therefore, I've told myself to stop thinking about this 1.16% (1/86) chance. Especially when the test result was actually 'negative.'

I am beginning to wonder if there are any hidden agenda from these medical professionals when they recommend, and explain, these tests to patients.

Announcement Date

We have been discussing when we are going to make the big announcement. I have been thinking about making the announcement on May 15. The day that my Daddy left for eternal happiness! But I don't know if choosing this date will mean any disrespect to my father. (Kind of like stealing his show, you know!?) Although, I'm pretty sure that Daddy wouldn't mind because I'm certain that he is filled with excitement for being a Grandfather soon!

Currently, only the immediate family members are aware of this good news. Our plan is to make the announcement via email, and include a link to this Blog for them to catch up, and to keep up-to-date. However, even our immediate family members are NOT aware of this Blog!

With this in mind, coupled with my I.T. "test-run" background, I think I'm going to announce this Blog to my immediately family first. Let them browse around this blog and see what their comments are. I have to assume that most of our family members don't even know what is a 'Blog.' I might have to make some changes to accommodate the 'older generations.'

With that in mind, I think I will push out this blog to the family fairly soon.

Gift Idea - Something for the family

To the members of my loyal fan club in the U.K., if you want to send gifts to my newborn, here are some ideas. As much as I'm a loyal Liverpool Football Club supporter, they are literally charging an arm, and a leg, for their (rest-of-world 'ROW') shipping cost. Coupled with the rising U.K. Pound against the US Dollar, along with the add-on percentage point on the exchange rate from my credit card, buying these items from this site (click on picture to get to the site), from the U.S., just does not make any sense!



Just in case you want to make sure there's a matching outfit for Daddy, and Mommy, I've done all the 'leg-work' for you.
You'll Never 'crawl' Alone!

The result is in!

As we were driving back home, my cell phone rang, and it was Dr. Kenneth Chan calling.

Dr. Chan told me that the test result has arrived. He explained to me that the blood test is divided into 2 sections. The first section is screening for Down Syndrome, while the second section is screening for Trisomy 18.

Before the test was taken, it was measured that our Baby's risk of having Down Syndrome was 1 in 230. The blood test result shows that the Baby's risk of having Down Syndrome is now 1 in 86.

Before the test was taken, the Baby's risk of having Trisomy 18 was 1 in a 6500. The blood test result shows that the risk of Trisomy 18 is now 1 in 10,000+.

So, the good news is that we don't have to worry about Trisomy 18. (Trisomy 18 is caused by an extra chromosome #18. This extra chromosome causes severe mental and physical problems.)

The bad news is that the risk of the baby having Down Syndrome has now been increased to 1 in 86. That's 1.1628%.

Dr. Kenneth Chan told me that there are 2.5 options available for us to consider.

1) Do nothing. (and wait for #2 below.)
2) Do nothing until a month later for the 2nd blood test, which is part of this entire test package.
3) Perform a CVS or Amniocentesis

CVS - Chorionic Villi Sampling (CVS) is a procedure that takes a small amount of the tissue from the developing placenta for chromosome analysis. CVS is associated with a small risk of miscarriage.

Amniocentesis - is a procedure that takes a small amount of the fluid that surrounds the baby. The fluid is sent to a laboratory to test for chromosome abnormalities and open neural tube defects. It is usually done around the 16th week of pregnancy. It is associated with a small risk of miscarriage, however, the risk is lower than that for CVS.

I told the Dr. Chan that I will discuss this matter with my wife. Meanwhile, Dr. Chan has scheduled us to return for the 2nd blood test in a month.

Doctor's Visit - April

Today, we went back to meet with Dr. Albert Chen. Our primary ob-gyn.

It has been a week since we met with our Generic Counsel, Dr. Kenneth Chan. Although we were told that the blood test result will be available on Friday, 4/20/07, it wasn't the case. I called this morning before stepping into Dr. Chen's office, hoping that the result will be available for discussion... but it wasn't.

We didn't have to wait long before we were called-in for screening. It turned out that Amy actually lost 3 pounds! This is probably because she hasn't been able to eat much, due to her Morning-Afternoon-Evening-Morning Sickness. She was also asked to provide a urine sample, and the blood pressure reading was also taken. Soon after all these tests were taken, Dr. Albert Chen met with us in the exam room.

Almost immediately, we told Dr. Albert Chen what had happened when we met with Dr. Kenneth Chan. Dr. Albert Chen told us that we shouldn't have to worry about the 29mm measurement. He told us that since neither of our family has any past history of Down Syndrome, and the fact that we are still 'young', the chances of the baby getting Down Syndrome is slim... less than 1%. He told us that he has seen a lot of 29mm measurement in the past and most of those babies came out okay. He told us not to be too concerned, and as soon as his office receive the test result from Dr. Kenneth Chan, he will also contact us directly to discuss the test result further.

Meanwhile, Dr. Albert Chen pulled out an device (I later found out that it's called a 'Doppler'), and press it against Amy's tummy. It turned out that it is a device that listens to, and measure, the Baby's heartbeat. Almost immediately, we heard our Baby's heartbeat for the first time! The measurement was 174 bpm (beats per minute). It was loud, strong, and clear! It sounded like our Baby was having a party inside Mommy's tummy!

Amy did mentioned to the doctor that she felt some pain in her abdomen. Dr. Albert Chen's assessment was that those are 'muscle pain.' Nothing to be concerned of. As for the backache that Amy experienced, Dr. Chen explained that it is because the tummy is getting heavier, and therefore, the back muscles have to work harder to counter balance the body, causing the back muscles to ache. Dr. Chen prescribed some 'Husband Massage.' His precription seems questionable to me, leading me to momentarily consider switching doctor... again!

Overall, it was a rather quick and simple visit. We still have to wait for the test result.

Still no result.

By now, I'm sure the Doctor's office has closed. I guess we won't find out the test result until Monday.

We also have our appointment to meet with our regular ob-gyn, Dr. Albert Chen, on Monday. We will also get his opinion on this topic.

No result yet!

Dr. Kenneth Chan told us that if we do not hear back from his office by Friday (today), we are to call his office to follow-up on the test result.

I called the office this morning, and the nurse told me that the test result has not arrived yet. She told me that as soon as it arrives at the office, she will contact me. She also told me that if they do not receive the result by today, we would have to wait till Monday.

Generic Counseling

Today, we went to see Dr. Kenneth Chan. A Perinatologist.

We were referred by our OB-GYN to meet with Dr. Chan because of my Glucose-6-Phosphate Dehydrogenase (G6PD) Deficiency diagnosed when I was a new-born. According to Web-MD, G6PD is defined as...

an inherited, sex-linked, metabolic disorder characterized by an enzyme defect that leads to the breakdown of red blood cells (hemolysis) upon exposure to stresses associated with some bacterial infections or certain drugs. A deficiency of this enzyme may result in the premature destruction of red blood cells (an acute hemolytic anemia or a chronic spherocytic type) when an affected individual is exposed to certain medications or chemicals, experiences certain viral or bacterial infections, and/or inhales the pollen of, or consumes, fava beans (favism).

During our visit, Dr. Chan explained to us that our offspring will have a 50/50 chance of inheriting G6PD if the baby turns out to be a girl, and none if it is a boy. Assuming that my wife does not have G6PD, our babies should be free of any G6PD symptoms. However, should we give birth to a girl, her off-spring(s) require close monitoring of G6PD.

During the visit, Dr. Chan also ran a few Ultra-sound scan on the fetus. This time, we are able to clearly see the arms and legs of our baby, as well as the heartbeat!

However, Dr. Chan spent quite a bit of time focusing on the neck area of our baby. He was running a few measurement off the scan, and he told us that the space between the neck bone and the skin of the baby is at borderline. He explained to us that most babies at this stage should have a thickness of 25-26 millimeters. Our Baby scored a 29mm. A borderline for Down Syndrome symptoms.

He explained that most doctors won't sound an alarm until the thickness reaches 30mm. He likes to bring out all the facts to the parents, and in this case, he always inform the parents when the thickness is measuring between 27mm to 29mm.

He explained to us that there are a few options for us to consider.
1) Do nothing
2) Run a Blood Test
3) Take a sample from the fetus for further lab testing.

He also explained to us that the accuracy of each study.
1) Ultra-sound (which is what he was doing): 70% accurate
2) Blood Test: 90% accurate
3) Sample Test: 100% accurate

As for the risks of each test:
1) Blood Test: None
2) Sample Test: Risk of miscarriage.

Dr. Chan also explained that based on the Ultra-sound images, the risk is at approximately 1 in 200 for our baby to have Down Syndrome.

This is certainly not the news that we were looking for. After a brief discussion with my wife, we have decided to draw some blood for a test.

We shall find out the test result in about 5 days.