Amnio Test and Weekend photos

Had my amnio test done yesterday morning.

I went in feeling very nervous. I guess the Dr saw my pale face and reassured me everything will be fine by patting on my arm.

After identifying the spot which was a safe distance away from the baby via ultrasound, Dr immediately sterilized his hands and my tummy area with alcohol and started the procedure.

During Zara's time, I was so afraid I just closed my eyes the entire time until the Dr told me it's over. This round, I chose to watch the entire procedure. I saw the Dr deftly inserted the long needle into my abdomen, the strange thing is, there was no pain. Not even a sting or an ant bite feeling (with Zara, there was at least a ant bite sting). With the Dr holding on to the ultrasound scanner and the needle to ensure the baby is at a safe distant, the nurse started extracting the amnio fluid into a tube. It was yellowish in colour, like urine.

I was concentrating on the amount of fluid extracted, and suddenly heard the Dr said, "Oops, baby has moved". I turned my attention to the monitor. I could see the baby's hands reaching out to the needle. Yes, the little one was reaching out his/her hands for the needle! The Dr maneuvered the needle a bit so that the baby could not touch the sharp end which then stopped the amnio fluid from flowing into the collection tube. So it took longer for the desired amount of fluid to be extracted with the baby being so 'busy body' trying to touch the needle every time it was inserted back to the amnio sac.

When the right amount of fluid was collected, the Dr took the needle out, and did another scan on my stomach to show that baby is ok, heart beating etc. I could still see the baby's hands reaching out towards the direction of where the needle was. 10 little fingers all stretched out. What a sight!

When we got home, I showed Zara the plaster on my tummy, and told her I won't be able to carry her, or bring her to the park these few days. I also told her to be careful when she's around me, no pressing on my stomach or jumping on me or 'blood will come out'. She has been trying to refrain herself from doing all these.

We now have to wait 2.5 to 3 weeks for the result.

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And here are the things Zara did over the weekend.

Swimming! She's staying afloat on her own for longer period of time now!

After 3 weeks of not sucking her thumb, we took out her 'present' for her. She had a good time slowly unwrapping the present, then immediately making use of the paint to do some finger painting on paper as well as on the toilet wall.