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Friday, August 5, 2011

First Trimester Screening

I know, I know...I have been slack about posting for the past few days!  It has been an insanely busy few days between work, traveling home from out of town and my doctor appointment, but I hope that this post will  make up for it. :-)

Today I had a pretty big ultrasound - my first trimester screening.  It involved a blood test combined with an ultrasound to scan for Down Syndrome, Trisomy 13 & 18 and Cystic Fibrosis.  For those of you who don't know (I didn't) - Trisomy 13 & 18 are both caused by chromosomal defects.  13 occurs in about 1 out of every 10,000 newborns and interferes with normal development.  Symptoms include, but are not limited to: cleft lip or palate, clinched hands, extra fingers or toes, seizures, and mental retardation among other things.  18 is a disorder which occurs in about 1 out of every 3,000 births and is more potentially life-threatening - it results in a lot of stillbirths.  While none of these disorders would change our mind, most are mandatory tests, and either way we are OK with being prepared.

Because of the nature of the tests, they had to be done between weeks 11-13.  I am almost to week 13, which is unfortunate because we didn't really have a lot of time to work with.  I've been traveling for business and could not come home mid-week, which limited us to Mondays or Fridays.  Also, Dan was out of town for "work" (I use the term "work" lightly, as he is in NOLA with a bunch of his work friends for some sort of lobbyist cult event), so he had to miss it!  I was so bummed, but my Mother was not, as I invited her to come with me to the appointment.  She and Aunt Niecey made the trek to Raleigh last night, and we had a fun-filled girl night of homemade peach daquiris (virgin for me, of course) and watching the Nick Lachey & Vanessa Minillo wedding special (loved it!).

I went in and peed in a cup and weighed in like normal, and then went to talk to a Doctor (first time I've seen a Doctor at this practice - so far it's only been nurse practitioners and ultrasound technicians).  Today I saw Doctor Buckley, who was very nice.  He walked me through the tests and what they entailed, and explained a little about each.  We won't know the results for a week, and he noted that a positive test does not necessarily mean anything - it may be a false positive or it could simply mean that I am at higher risk - and he cautioned me not to worry about anything (he clearly doesn't know me).  Little did he know what he was getting into when he asked how the pregnancy was going - I am pretty sure he almost fell out of his seat when I told him I think there's enough backed up poop clogging up my colon to fill up a whole street block (What?  TMI on the pooping again?  SBI...kinda.).  Enter a prescription for a prenatal vitamin with stool softener, as well as instructions to take a fiber supplement, Miralax, and drink 6-8 cups of water DAILY.  In case you are a visual person, here is what constipated looks like:
Add to that the prenatal vitamins and water, and I'll have a whole medicine cabinet taking up my kitchen counter.  The water should not be a problem; I've been pretty good about drinking 6-8 glasses/day so far - the other stuff should be interesting.  Let's just hope it works, before I have to call nice Dr. Buckley back in a state of gestational psychosis and "flat lay a cussin' on him," as my Granny would say.

Next was the fun part - the ultrasound!  I really hate that Dan couldn't make this one, because it was by far the coolest one yet.  It was the longest - they were taking lots of measurements - and the most exciting part was, Baby Geronimo actually looks like a REAL BABY instead of a peanut-looking-blob-like-thing (side note: Dan, if you are reading this - the ultrasound technician assured me with 100% certainty that we are in the clear - no twinsies for us!  WAHOO!)!  Again, for your viewing pleasure:
Look!  Real live baby!  Head is to the right, and you can see his/her little arms and legs, too! 
Another full-body shot - I can't tell if that alien looking thing is a hand, or what, but it looks kinda cool, right?

This is a sort of aerial view from the bottom - legs & feet!
 
Another full-body shot, with the heart rate measurement along the bottom
Another side note: I've been trying to figure out how to put some of my pictures side by side, but I am technologically challenged and can't get it to work right.  Maybe I will bribe someone into teaching me.  Anyway, Baby Geronimo is measuring at 7 cm - it's amazing that the whole body is so defined now for it to still be so small! - and his/her heartbeat is a perfectly healthy 148.  The baby squirmed and moved for the duration of the ultrasound, and it was truly incredible to watch...I told Dan that the baby can't sit still and must take after him in that regard!  Of course Mom cried, but not as much as I did - I am a sap and could not contain the tears today!  They were worse than normal, if you can believe it.  Thanks, Mom, for coming to the appointment with me - how special that we got to do this together!  My next appointment is actually next Friday, but it's just a check-up, so I'll be talking with the nurse practitioner again. I think the one after that will be to find out the sex.  Who wants to help me talk Dan into a fun gender reveal party for family and close friends?  COME ON it would be SO FUN!

We shared our good news with the world today in an official Facebook announcement - sooooo addicted to social media, I know.  It was both incredible and humbling to see the outpouring of love, support and congratulations we got.  Baby B, you are already so loved and you're not even close to making an appearance!  Speaking of, if you want a good old-fashioned ugly cry, head over to my bestie's blog and check out the super sweet post that she dedicated to Dan and I and Baby. I am warning you, it will start you out rolling on the floor laughing, but do not be fooled - by the end you'll be all snot-nosed and puffy-eyed.  We love you guys!

We don't have any huge weekends plans, and I'm excited about that because it will be the last in-town-non-busy weekend for a while.  Tonight, we're grabbing dinner with our besties.  Tomorrow or Sunday I am ***hoping*** to get around to cleaning out my closet to make room for and organize the maternity clothes I've already been given.  And tomorrow we are going to a pool party and cookout for our friends Grant & Emily so that we can meet their baby girl Olivia.  We are so excited!  The last thing on our agenda is to hop back on the church-hunting train - a daunting task since I love my church family from Charlotte so much and have never know anything else!

That's all for now - baby's getting hungry for Mexican or pizza.  Happy Weekend to all!

Sarah

2 comments:

  1. LOVE the ultrasound pics!! So exciting!!

    And ps you have to make the pictures size small and then drag them next to each other...at least thats how ive managed to do it.

    Anyway - so happy for you both!!

    Keep the pics comin!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Sarah, Jeremy and I are so happy for you and Dan! I am so glad that the first trimester screening went well. To some that is just another routine but to us every single scan/US is a HUGE milestone in your pregnancy! SOOOO happy that Geronimo :-) is growing healthy and strong! Can't wait to hear in less than two months that either Mr. or Miss Geronimo is still growing just as healthy! Hope you are feeling well. Again, we are so happy for you...children are the BEST blessing!

    ReplyDelete

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