MFM Consult

Monday I headed to a consult with the MFM (Maternal-Fetal Medicine) people, aka "perinatologist". This was a precautionary visit, probably overkill, but I believe set up by my OB to help me feel more at ease. A year and a half ago I found out I have Factor V Leiden, a genetic mutation that simply increases your risk for blood clots. It's very common, about 5% of the caucasian population has it, most don't ever know they do. I would have never known I had it to this point, but my dad had a blood clot and PE a couple years ago and he was tested. Since it's genetic, they test offspring. Mal and I were the ones who inherited it, Megan escaped. What this means for women of childbearing age is that you can no longer be on birth control and you may need some heparin during pregnancy. Since I inherited only one copy of the gene (making me heterozygous) my risk is much much lower than someone with two copies (homozygous). My dr. felt that a baby aspirin for me was enough, based on the fact that I had been on birth control for years with no trouble and never had any blood clots. But to be sure, she sent me for the MFM consult. As expected, the MFM specialist concurred and said that it was an easy choice to leave me on the aspirin. He feels that I will be just fine and shouldn't worry much. My mom was with me and it was fun to have her along for the visit so she can see where I go for the appts. The only bad thing about that appt was that I didn't get to peek at the wee one :( Oh, but read on.....

Of course AFTER I left the appt I developed this nagging pain in my right calf. It was hard to get comfortable and I didn't sleep great. I went to work and it just kept bothering me. It didn't feel warm, or look red or swollen, but I just decided to call the nurse anyway and let them decide. The nurse paged Dr. Davies (the MFM guy from the day before) and he asked me to come in. He was incredibly nice to me, examined my legs and said all looked OK, but wanted to send me for a doppler just to be sure I didn't have a DVT. I went downstairs, had the test and was reassured that all is well. The best part of this crazy adventure is that before I left the appt with Dr. Davies he said "would you like to take a peek at the baby?" Was that a rhetorical question?! Of course I'd LOVE to see the baby! So he wheeled in the portable ultrasound and gave me a reassuring glimpse. What a difference two weeks makes--the baby had definite recognizable arms and legs and it had moved into a different position than my previous ultrasound. The heart was still beating strong, and it was just a beautiful sight. The only bad thing is that I didn't get a picture to take home to show Matt and post on the blog. Anyhow, I'm extremely grateful to Dr. Davies for being so kind, understanding, and compassionate to this crazy pregnant woman!