12 Weeks

12 weeks!!! (I see a little pooch hanging over the pants!)

On August 11, we went to a perinatologist's office to have a special ultrasound, because we opted to have the baby checked for Down syndrome & other chromosomal abnormalities. The doctor was looking for a few things: a fluid-filled area below the baby's neck, the presence of a nasal bone, & general measurements of the baby. He said that all babies have fluid below their neck, but that babies with Down syndrome or other chromosomal abnormalities have a thicker fluid-filled area than healthy babies. Our baby had a normal fluid-filled area from his viewpoint. He was also able to detect & measure the nasal bone, which he said is not usually detectable in babies with Down syndrome or other chromosomal abnormalities. So both of these things are great news! They will combine these measurements with some bloodwork that they took from me to give us a number chance on how likely it is that our baby would be born with Down syndrome, i.e. 1 in 5 or 1 in 10 is a high risk, 1 in 10,000 is a low risk. These results will be given to us in 6-10 days; if the baby is determined to be a high risk, then we will go back to the doctor for further education & testing. If the baby is determined to be a low risk, then great!

The other measurements were typical ones of the baby's length & head width; both types estimated me to be 12 weeks & 1 day, which is 2 days further along than my first doctor's appointment had me at. Both doctors have said that a 4 day fluctuation in either direction is no big deal, & it still keeps the due date between Feb. 20-24.

Because Jeff, Phil (Jeff's dad), & Jordan (my brother) all have a history of having a heart defect, the doctor does want us to continue to be monitored for that. He wants us to come back at 18 & 30 weeks to have an echocardiogram performed on the baby, & then one once the baby is born. Jeff & I feel blessed that we had the chance to have this ultrasound done & that we will be followed for the baby's heart, because the more reassurance you can have on something, the better.

We loved hearing the baby's heartbeat again- another astonishing 174-176 beats per minute! We also got to see the baby move around, although this doctor also had to prod around to get it to move (do you think that this means because the baby is so docile & serene in the womb I'm wishful thinking to hope it will continue once it's born? :) We got some neat pictures of the baby's full-length profile & one of it's hands, which have gotten so big! And during one view of the baby, it went from resting peacefully to it's whole body moving in a wave-like fashion, as if it had a hiccup!

However, we still don't know the gender of the baby. We were hoping we would be able to find out because my OB said that it is possible between 11 & 14 weeks, as long as the person looking at the ultrasound was trained & got a good shot of that area. Our physician who performed this ultrasound was really trained, but he said that at 12 weeks, all babies look like a girl, as our baby did, & that could be because it is in fact a girl, or just that the boy parts haven't "popped out" yet. So, we'll just have to wait until our next ultrasound appointment, which will be in September. Although I think Jeff is sooooo excited to know that he may call the doctor's office & ask if we can pay for them to do an ultrasound when we go on Aug. 24!

These pictures from the ultrasound show: the baby measuring at 12 weeks 1 day (top), and of the baby's feet (bottom).