G e n e t i c s C o u n s e l i n g

When I was first diagnosed with my blood disorder, Beta Thalassemia, I was told when I was pregnant it would need to be a planned pregnancy. I previously miscarried and I was never sure why. Whether it was my blood disorder or not in God's plan or perhaps a combination of those and several other things. So a planned pregnancy has been a bust two times thus far.

A few other things I was told when I was diagnosed was that I shouldn't drink (ha, don't listen to that either. Ima cheap drunk though.) and that we'd need to continue to watch my hemoglobin throughout my life. My hemoglobin usually rests at 8 which is when blood transfusions are usually used. We decided then that we would wait and not do transfusions since I had lived my whole life without them anyways. The doctor stated when pregnancy rolled around that it would be a different story though. To our surprise my hemoglobin is at an 11! "Pregnancy likes you so far!" my doctor said but also stated we'd need genetic counseling to make sure Matthew wasn't a carrier of this blood disorder and to speak with a doctor who deals with high risk pregnancies.

So yesterday we met with a genetics counselor in Sioux Falls and I guess you could say I wasn't mentally prepared. I wasn't aware at how serious this could actually be if Matt were to be a carrier. Most people with/carry the Thalassemia trait are from the Mediterranean area and so I guess, it freaks me out even more Matt's grandfather's roots are from that area. If he were to be a carrier and our child is born with Alpha Thalassemia the child's quality of life would be almost non-existent if they even live through pregnancy and birth. That's when the doctors throw the word, "options" around which is hard just to think about when I have always felt every life has value.

Matt is pretty confident he is "fine" - like he would have symptoms if he was a carrier of certain genes that would conflict with mine. We, of course, have at least 2 weeks until we find out any sort of results and the suspense is draining and I'm only on day 1! Here's where I have a hard time giving my worries to God and trusting that He knows what's best for everyone in the situation. It's hard to give up control, ya know? I always enjoy talking with Thomas' family and his Mom reminded me God wouldn't give me anything I couldn't handle. So I'm going to try to be POSITIVE and enjoy my pregnancy. I no longer really worry about miscarrying again since I'm a sliver away from being complete with my first trimester! My lower stomach is starting to get really firm (first time in ages, hehe) and Baby Lenzpipes is the size of a lime!