Well, this is both a post AND a happy announcement for whoever is caring.
I've not written on the board since a long time because I was very busy at work and because of a strict internet policy at the Regione Emilia Romagna preventing workers to use leisure and private sites. So, basically, all I could do was reading the forum and getting in touch through my blackberry.
Well, now I'm at home because I got pregnant.The second good news is I can write on expattalk again.
Gabriele and I are expecting a baby. You can all imagine the happiness but also my perverse thought:now I get a taste of all the horror stories about pregnancy and birth, endless queues, waiting fiascos "e chi più ne ha più ne metta" described on expattalk.

Ok. Now I can speak first hand. So far:
called consultorio in Bazzano, announced I had a positive test. Appointment in 4 days. Got there at the hospital,no queue, no waiting. Immediately introduced to the ob-gyn I had chosen. Got internal and external ultrasound, complete blood tests, antibody tests included.
All well, I saw my little "fagiolino"'s heart beat...terrific.
Second ultrasound scheduled on Monday. Meanwhile: Gabriele and I had a meeting with the ostetrica inquiring on our health history and prescribed the cross blood tests, while explaining about TN, tri test,amnio (since I'm 36 I have it FOC).
Since I had to do 60 km a day by car to go to work, they put me at home at rest until 16-17 weeks.


Expense for all this?
ZERO.

At the same time, Regione Emilia Romagna is granting me the opportunity to work from home and help them through telelavoro. Means I have a dedicated laptop through which I can work from home FOC because the connection is paid by the Regione itself.
Why that? I don't know, maybe they appreciate what I do for the Regione.

I love Italy.

I'll keep you posted on the horrors,Ciao,
Chiara

Congratulations...I hope you will keep us posted on your joys too

Thanks for the write up Chia- we've missed you. And congratulations on your "fagiolino".

Congratulations! If I have another baby I think I'll move to Bazzano!

Chiara, it's nice to hear some good news for a change! Auguri to you and Gabriele

great news! congratulations!

Congratulations!

Congratulations! Thanks for posting such a positive story.

Well 'there ya go....'

See - it's not ALL doom gloom and despondency when you have a 'sprog' in Italy, is it?

But back to the important bit....
Felicitazioni vivissime Chiara e Gabriele!

Congratulations Chiara. The consultorio is a great resource. Mine is fantastic as well, staffed by really professional and caring people. It's a pity the consultori don't deliver babies. I'm sure I would have had a better experience had I been able to do everything through the consultorio. It's the hospitals here in Milan I found to be sorely lacking in just about every aspect of maternity care. Glad yours is working out for you.
Michelle

Congratulations Chia! I think the horrors of being pregnant here are region specific. I did everything publicly and spent over 1000 euros on my pregnancy and birth (not to mention endless bureaucracy). Sounds like things are great in your region though.

Ciao carissimi,

thank you SO MUCH for your caring and encouragement.
Today had the second ultrasound (inner - I was so afraid something could happen to fagiolino but of course this was just my fantasy!)8 weeks and three times larger! Life is a marvel...I was so amazed at what I was viewing through the screeen I kept saying to my doc "che storia!....Che storia!!!"
Everything seems to go well. I keep my fingers crossed, until 12th week I do not feel "safe" anyway. After this time, I can stop being so superstitious and pessimistic.

Michelle - Unfortunately in Bazzano they don't deliver babies, too, I'll be forced to go to Ospedale Maggiore or Sant'Orsola in Bologna, but I feel confident they will do a good job. Ramona - I feel sistema sanitario here is not bad, either.
Today I felt very pampered by the osteriche and my ob gyn, truly.
I discussed amnio test, this will be a great shock for me, because as you know this is not a totally safe exame to undergo, not for me of course but for my baby. I am still not sure where to have it done, wether in Bazzano with an ob gyn I know or at the Ospedale Maggiore in Bologna with...who knows?
The percentiles of abortions or infections because of amnio in Bazzano and Bologna are the same, very low,the same as in Emilia Romagna as a whole. But this is a dilemma.
I already booked in Bazzano, but still...

For the moment I'll have to pay only for the Cytomegalovirus test I have to repeat every month because I never got it! (30 euros each time)
I am totally safe from Toxoplasmosis instead because I got it when a child! YEEEAH POSSO STRAFOGARMI DI PROSCIUTTO CRUDO!

Ok, I don't want to bore you now.
To be continued...
Bacioni
Chia

quote:

YEEEAH POSSO STRAFOGARMI DI PROSCIUTTO CRUDO!

Beata te! This was the worst part of pregnancy for me - I was pregnant over the summer and couldn't have prosciutto and melone!!

P.S. If you decide that you don't want the amnio there are other less invasive tests you can have done (in Bologna) but that I found weren't as publicised by the public system - let me know if you want more info!

quote:

Originally posted by C in Bo:


P.S. If you decide that you don't want the amnio there are other less invasive tests you can have done (in Bologna) but that I found weren't as publicised by the public system - let me know if you want more info!

Thank you.
I suppose you refer to Translucenza Nucale and the TRi-test, and the Ecografia di secondo livello.
I discussed this, too at the Consultorio, but what they provide is a percentile.
If I were 26 I would have no doubt. NO AMINOCENTESI at all, and I'd do the TN and Tri test.
But at 36, I need a sure response.
Anyway voices are the future is a simple blood test. Alas, this will not be my case, but for the future mamme at expattalk, who knows?
Ciao,
Chiara

The Nucal fold test is pretty accurate - I had this at the age of 41 and it gave me a very low chance of having a baby with downs. They do this around 12 weeks don't they? So if you had that then there should still be time for an amnio if you still wanted it, I think?

Personally, at 32 and 41 I chose not to have the invasive tests, even with a disabled child already in my family ( my niece). But that is me.

First, congrats on the baby!
Do they want you to have the test because you are over 35?
I had my last child at 36. I was almost 37 when she was born. I did not have amnio for 3 reasons:
1. No one is sticking some huge needle in my stomach.
2. I would not risk having another miscarriage.
3. I didn't think I could have an abortion because the baby wasn't perfect.

I think this is a decision that you all have to make. It will be a hard one. Good Luck!!

Congratulations!

quote:

Originally posted by Chia of Bologna:
I love Italy.

I'd say I love Emilia-Romagna, more than anything else.
In my opinion it's great to live in a place with the population of Ireland which has a political leaning so different from Italy as a whole. That's how I see it.

And my best friend's lady is from Bazzano.

quote:

I suppose you refer to Translucenza Nucale and the TRi-test, and the Ecografia di secondo livello.

Yes, I had this done and I was low risk but if I had been high risk I would have had the amnio. I completely understand if you prefer to have amnio, it is a very personal decision and the risk is still very low.

Congratulations Chia! What fantastic news. I look forward to hearing all about your pregnancy as you go through it.

As per the amnio, as everyone has said, very personal decision. I too was 36 during my pregnancy, however, I chose not to do the amnio. I went private for the traslucenza nuchale (my gyno told me that the state hospitals can be a bit too 'sbrigativi' and it's a test that needs to be done by someone highly qualified) and it was money well spent. This doctor spent several hours with me and came to his conclusions WITHOUT the TRI test. He told me that the TRI test results in too many false positives and that he chooses not to do them and gets better results that way. In the end, he advised me NOT to get the amnio because my risk for having a baby with Down's Syndrome or other problems was practically non-existent. He was not wrong. So there are other options. I have no regrets.
Michelle

What is it with us 36 years old having babies? I was also 36 while pregnant and chose not to have the amniosentesis after getting a good result on the 'traslucenza nucale'. My doctor tried to convince me to do it anyway - but, as I told him, I had a much smaller chance of having a baby with Downs after the NT scan than of miscarrying as a result of the amniosentesis.

I think it's worth doing some research on statistical risks before deciding to do the amnio. Another factor is - what would you do with the information? In our case, we weren't sure we would terminate even if we found out our baby had Downs so that made it even less important for us to do the amnio.

Anyway, the point is that you don't have to do the amnio just because you're over 35. Your statistical risks may be much lower than that of an average 35 year old after you do the traslucenza nucale - and you may chose to forego the amnio. And the amnio itself carries risks- it's an invasive test. In addition, you need to decide what you would do with the information from the amnio depending on your personal and/or religious beliefs.

On the other hand, you could just ignore all this- I tend to be a researcher...

HI Chia

Congrats on your pregnancy. Just wanted to add my experience to what others have written here.

I am 36 and pregnant with my second child and did not have an amnio this time. For my first pregnancy (i was 33 then) i did the TRI-test and it came back with a risk of 1:248 for chromosomal abnormalities. The obstetrician who did my nuchal fold test/ scan said she was pretty sure (like Mschoen) that the baby was absolutely normal. Despite this, the cut off for elevated risk was 1:250 so it was 'recommended' i have the amnio.

I was very undecided as in my country they no longer do the tri-test due to the high rate of false positives and subsequent invasive amnios. Also my risk of down's syndrome (and other things) was 1:248 but the risk of an amnio induced miscarriage was 1:100. I know this is related to the skill of the person who does the test but still the stats are not great in any case.

In the end, we chose to have the amnio as we were here, they offered it (cost 3e since i was 'at risk' otherwise would have been 1000e+) and it would at least prepare us for what the baby's status was. We did not know what would have done if the result was positive.

They do the amnio around 16weeks (i think), and it took 4-6 weeks for the results to arrive. It was the most nerve racking wait i have ever had. Thank God the baby was fine. I don't know what i would have done if the results were positive for a disorder as by then i was well over half way of the pregnancy. I was also very impressed with the dr who did the amnio. he explained v well all the risks, the stats etc and in fact was probably the most professional person i saw during my entire pregnancy. However it was something i would have preferred not to have done.

This pregnancy i didn't really want to, but repeated the tri-test and luckily my risks were only 1:2000 so the amnio was NOT recommended, despite my age.

The other comment i would make is re: eating prosciutto crudo. I too have previously had toxoplasmosis so was/ am not at risk during pregnancy. However, raw meats (among other things) are also sources of LISTERIA and are in general not recommended during pregnancy. I am a dietitian and do not eat it myself (don't like it!) so it makes no difference to me during pregnancy. However i do notice in Italy the nutrition advice is different so all i will say is check out the info on listeria before making your own decision/s.

Good luck with the pregnancy and i look forward to reading some more positive pregnancy postings!

Can I just say - how come we don't have these great neighbourhood 'consultorie' here in Rome? We pay the same taxes...

So annoying when I hear about all the stuff people get in some areas of the north which we don't get here.

The only place in Rome (city of 3.5million!) which comes close is Sant'Anna but that place is