what the good doctor knows

Maybe it's been Divine Intervention or just old fashion Lady Luck but, since I moved to Utah, I've had really good luck picking doctors. I inherited my awesome dentist upon my marriage since that's who Jason saw. The first doctor's office was picked out of desperation when I came down with strep and bronchitis at the same time. The doctor I ended up seeing there was a great doctor for 2 and a half years until she moved to another practice 20 miles away. I stayed with that office out of indifference until I knew we were going to start trying for a baby.

That's when I opened our medical provider directory and pointed to a name, called the office and got an appointment. They got me in quickly and without a lot of fuss. The first few times I saw the Physicians Assistant, who if I had met outside of the office, we would have become fast friends. Now that I'm seeing the Doctor monthly, I have really begun to see how fortunate I was in choosing them. I went into the doctor yesterday for my monthly check up with a list of things I was concerned about. The doctor came in, asked how I was and immediately let me get to my concerns before I forgot any of them. She is patient and gentle but with a no nonsense attitude that I really respond to. After answering all of my questions thoroughly she brought up a small issue that could become a greater issue later on.

She asked us whether we were interested in the Alpha-fetoprotein test that they can do at 16-18 weeks. This is the test they do to determine if your fetus has or is developing problems such as spina bifida or Down Syndrome. The downside of the test is that 30% of results are false positives. Your test could come back positive and then have a perfectly normal healthy baby. She said that all parents fall into three categories: The first category wants the test done because if it comes up positive, they would terminate the pregnancy. The second group wouldn't terminate but wants the test done because they want to know and be prepared for any problems to come. The third group wouldn't terminate the pregnancy anyway so they don't want the test done because if it was positive they would worry endlessly.

Jason and I fall into the second group for the same reason we want to know the sex of the baby before it's born....because I'm anal retentive and would be a basketcase all through the rest of the pregnancy if I couldn't be prepared for the outcome. This baby is going to be loved and adored like it was the first baby since sliced bread regardless of any problems. But the mama of this baby will be a much less stressed mama once she can be prepared for anything.