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.