Genetic Screening

Today Zachy had his genetics screening appointment at the NYU Medical Center. I met Mommy and Zach in front of the complex, where Grandpa Stephen had dropped them off. Although Zach (and Mommy?) seemed unconcerned upon arrival, Daddy was worried about seeing his little guy upset over having blood drawn. In the past Zach has become so upset by this that he vomits. Mommy brought a full change of clothes for him and a large bath towel, just in case it happened this time.

We checked in at an office on the first floor and Mommy filled out some insurance forms while Daddy and Zach played with and counted lollipops on the reception desk. We then proceeded walk through the maze of corridors to the third floor to Dr. Pappas’s office suite. There were some toys in the waiting room, but nothing all that interesting so Zach played his upside-down game with Mommy and Daddy.

After waiting for 40 minutes or so, we went in to see the doctor and his nice assistant. They were very impressed by what a handsome boy our Zachy is and they asked a lot of questions. The doctor measured Zach’s head circumference, height and weight and checked lots of other parts too. Zach was his usual charming self through all of this and had a good time playing with the doctor’s stethoscope and retractable tape measure.

The doctor explained that while he didn’t expect to find anything he was going to test for Fragile X Syndrome, some individual gene deletions, and a couple of other things. Then came the not so fun part: the blood drawing. I must say that Zach was very brave and although he cried, he did not get sick and let the doctor take three big tubes of blood. He would not keep the bandage on but recovered to his normal (if slightly red-eyed) self by the time we left the office. The doctor said that the results will take about 4 weeks, and we strolled out of the center onto First Avenue. Daddy had to go to work, so we had to part ways with Daddy heading to Harlem and Mommy and Zach for the express bus back to Brooklyn.