Last week was week 11 of the pregnancy. There isn't a whole lot new or crazy to report. The baby is now about 2.5 inches, weight 0.5 oz, and has distinct human characteristics: hands and feet in front of the body, ears, nasal passages on the tip of the nose, and a tongue and palate in the mouth.
I've been feeling pretty much about the same, although there are days now where I feel more tired than usual, and sometimes the side muscles of my tummy hurt (probably from all of the stretching and rearranging going on!). I also had a good bout of dizziness this past Monday into Tuesday. I guess this happens because a lot of blood is flowing to the baby, and my body is still expanding its blood vessel system to keep up. So while the baby is fine, I end up feeling a little lightheaded! But the dizzies seem to have subsided for now, so that's good!
Today, Mark and I went to the Princeton Hospital for a 1st Trimester Screen. This screen includes a blood test, but the bulk of it is via ultrasound. Among the general measurements of the baby the technician seemed to be taking, the 1st trimester screen tests for indications of Down Syndrome and other trisomy defects by looking at something called "Nuchal Translucency." This has to do with a collection of fluid beneath the fetal skin in the region of the fetal neck, which is present in all pregnancies, but greatly increased in babies with Down Syndrome or other disorders. (You can read about it and look at example pictures by going to: http://www.baby2see.com/medical/nuchal_12weekscan.html)
The ultrastound measurements are combined with the blood test results, my age, medical history, etc., to calculate a number which indicates high risk or low risk for Down Syndrome or other problems. It takes about 1.5 weeks to get the results back from the 1st trimester screen, so we were glad when the technician reassured us a few times that everything looks good and normal. (And looking at example pictures of ultrasounds online, I can see that our pictures match the "normal"pictures, which is also reassuring!)
But, my anxiousness about the testing was quickly diminished as Mark and I got to watch real-time imaging of the little one. It was pretty amazing! I didn't think we'd see such detail, or movement of the baby. We will of course post pictures, but they don't give the ultrasound justice...haha (I wish they would take short videos of the baby moving, heart beat, etc., that we could show.) The technician kept saying "very cute baby" (although I wondered what exactly an "ugly" baby looks like at this point?), and that the baby was very active, which is good. According the measurements, she said that the baby is actually a few days older than what our dates suggest, but that it isn't enough for her to change the due date, which is still May 6th.
As Mark and I were driving back to work, we talked about how we both thought we saw something between the legs of the baby in a couple of different angles the technician took...haha So we'll see how that pans out. We will find out the gender of the baby for sure closer to Christmas time when we go in for a 20-week anatomy ultrasound. But upon reading up, it is acknowledged that with modern ultrasound technology, it can be possible to tell gender by 11-12 weeks if the baby is in the right position. (Of course, a boy at this stage would be much easier to tell than a girl...haha)
That's it for now!
-Mandy :)
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