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Oklahoma’s Pregnancy Services Program is Part of Medicaid

Typically, the Medicaid program of an individual state will include a portion of the program that is designed to help low-income women who are pregnant to receive necessary health care. In Oklahoma, that program is called Pregnancy Services. You can tell by the name exactly what it is for. Medicaid is a public, or government run, form of health insurance. It is designed to provide health insurance for families and individuals who are low-income and who cannot afford to purchase a health insurance plan from a private company. Medicaid is funded, in part, by the federal government, and, in part, … Continue reading →

What is Trisomy 18?

Republican presidential hopeful Rick Santorum temporary left the campaign trail this week, in order to care for his daughter, Bella. She has a chromosomal disorder called Trisomy 18. Bella is now in the hospital, recovering from pneumonia. How much do you know about Trisomy 18? Isabella Santorum, who is called “Bella”, is three years old. She is the youngest of Rick Santorum’s children. This week, Bella got sick from pneumonia, and was hospitalized at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Rick Santorum temporary left the campaign trail to care for his daughter, and then returned to it after Bella’s health started improving. … Continue reading →

Genetic Screening During Pregnancy

A person’s risk for some genetic disorders may be calculated based upon the occurrence of those disorders in other family members. Also, for both disorders that have been linked to genealogy and those that have not yet been linked to genealogy there are times when an individual can be screened for genetic disorders. One of the times when genetic screening is available is during the first trimester of pregnancy. The first trimester screen is a noninvasive test that consists of two parts. One portion of the test is a blood test and the other involves an ultrasound. The test identifies … Continue reading →

Pregnancy and Baking

Baking is something I have not done in a long time. I absolutely love to bake and have been baking pretty regularly since I was eight years old. The only time I have not felt inclined to bake has been during my first trimesters. Of course there have been times when I really want to bake and choose not to given the amount of “empty calories” I tend to eat when I bake; and it is really hard to lose the baby weight with a dozen freshly baked chocolate chip cookies tempting me to indulge. Most recently, I gave up … Continue reading →

Testing, Testing 123

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When I decided to get pregnant the second time around, I was so excited. With my first pregnancy, it took 4 months before we got pregnant, but the second time, it took one shot. Yes, one!! We are very fortunate to not have had any issues with trying to conceive up to this point in our lives. So many of our friends and family do, so we do not take it for granted. But, I have a little problem. I’m obsessed with taking pregnancy tests! I have always been very regular with my periods. Before the birth of my second, … Continue reading →

FDA Considers Regulating DNA Testing Kits

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Those DNA test kits that you can buy from a website sure look tempting. Genealogists often find them interesting because they can learn more about their ancestors based on the analysis of their DNA sample. Many people use these tests to learn more about their health risks. The Food and Drug Administration is considering putting regulations in place regarding these direct to consumer DNA kits. You may want to wait a little longer before purchasing one. In some cases, doctors will recommend that a patient have genetic testing done. The purpose may be to determine the risk a couple has … Continue reading →

Why Genetic Testing Can Be Wrong

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I took my second child in for genetic testing a couple of days ago. My oldest child has cystic fibrosis, and although my two-month-old had a normal newborn screen and a normal sweat test, her doctors and I still felt we should do the genetic testing for CF for that final, more definitive answer. While I was speaking with the genetic counselor, I learned something that I hadn’t known before. When it comes to genetic disease, at least with CF, there are numerous gene mutations that can cause the disease. In the case of CF, there are over 1600 possible … Continue reading →

The Pros and Cons of Testing Often

One of the big questions that comes up when we talk about home pregnancy tests is when you should test and how often. While it is a personal decision, there are both pros and cons to testing early and often. Here are a few: Pros: 1. If you test early and often you are more likely to catch a pregnancy in its very early stages. This makes determining your due date accurately much easier. It is also better if you are high risk. 2. Catching a pregnancy early on gives you more time to plan. You have more time to … Continue reading →

Pregnancy Test Rules

Home pregnancy tests are always a fun topic to discuss. They are the kick off show to every pregnancy, and there is a lot of debate over things like whether there is such a thing as a false positive and whether the dollar tests are accurate. Here is an overview of the basic rules of home testing: 1. Use your first morning urine. I know it’s hard to wait until the next morning when you just bought a pack of tests the afternoon before, but it will be worth the wait. Your hormone levels are highest in the morning, so … Continue reading →

New Pregnancy Test Detects hCG Sooner

Perhaps you’ve heard the term “two week wait.” Who are we kidding, if you’ve ever tried to conceive, you lived (or died) for those two weeks. The phrase is a little misleading however, since it implies that most of us actually wait for two weeks after conception to take a pregnancy test. When I was trying to get pregnant, I joined a forum with some other women on the same ovulation schedule and some of us would start testing daily just seven days after ovulation. For the most part, testing so early and so often was a waste of money … Continue reading →