Amniocentesis

Overall the experience was more strange that painful. I couldn't look at the needle. When I spotted it on the table while the doctor was cleaning the point of entry, I covered my eyes with my hands and arms. Andrew was there, thankfully, but because of the position of the equipment and doctor I couldn't hold his hand.

The doctor was sweet and attentive, he joked with Andrew and I then asked me what kind of wine I liked. “Burgundy”, I said, it was the first thing to pop into my head, the color was more on my mind more than an actual type of wine. “Well have a glass of wine tonight”, the doctor replied as he walked back and forth around the ultrasound equipment to the supplies laid out on the counter. “I can’t, my mother won’t let me!” I said quickly with a smile. She was just back in town for Passover and sitting in the waiting room. Andrew took his motorcycle to work and left early to meet us at the facility in Bay Ridge. Both my mother and sister insisted that I be driven, so who was I to argue.

“Well I’m your doctor and I say it's ok”. I felt a pinch and pressure, argh, “that feels weird”, I moaned. Needles freak me out a bit, so I prefer not to look at them go into my skin. Usually with a blood test I have no problem checking them out while they are doing their extracting job. This time it was different, I didn’t want to move and I could feel the suction as he removed the fluid. “All done”, and that was that, quick and relatively painless.

We have another appointment on April 20th for the second trimester ultrasound. I’m really excited about that. The amniocentesis test results will be ready for my next GYN on Friday the 13th.