i've only had one little blip on the pregnancy screen and it's not all that big of a deal but it's a little strange. i went in last month for all my big scary blood tests. the ones where they tell you how many genetic disorders they think you might have. i was really worried about the testing which measures your likelyhood of down's syndrome or spinda bifida. i was less worried about the cystic fibrosis one because half the time people don't even get that one done. you can probably see where i am going with this.
as it turns out, i am a carrier for cystic fibrosis. i suppose the next time you see me you'll wear gloves and a mask when greeting me but it's not THAT big of a deal. just a little freaky. so i stressed for the two weeks it took to get a blood test back on whether or not craig was a carrier. and he's not a carrier because i'd really be freaking out while writing this.
cystic fibrosis is pretty rare. only 30,000 americans have it. 1 in 30 people are a carrier. 1 in 800 couples are both carriers. even if both of the parents are carriers there's still only a 25% chance the baby will have full-blown cystic fibrosis. i memorized these numbers when i found out i was a carrier. no one in my immediate or extended family has cystic fibrosis so it was pretty much a crap shoot in the gene pool. this means that one of my parents has the gene and didn't know it and that each of my brothers may also have the gene. the test for cystic fibrosis was only developed about 5 years ago so plenty of people just don't know that they're carriers.
anyway, the only thing it means for us is that i have a least one defective gene and there's a 50% chance that i'll pass on this recessive gene to my daughter. i wish i had been tested before i was pregnant so i would've known i was a carrier and not have been stressing out at 5 months pregnant waiting to find out if my husband has this gene.
of course, they can't test for all the other crazy genes you'll pass on to your kids like cancer, heart disease, a loud obnoxious laugh, a dislike of peas and the way i can make my toes snap on the floor. c'est la vie.
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