Screening and check-up

Yesterday I had what felt like a marathon appointment at the OB. The plan was to have a screening at 11 and a check-up at 1:40. Jake was going to drop the littler girls off at a friends house and bring Ashley up at 11 so they could be with me for the ultrasound. (We thought it would be fun to include her.) But after sleeping in a little longer than we planned to and waking up to almost freezing cold rain outside, AND getting an email from our friend that she and her daughter may or may not be a little sick... we opted for Jake to stay home with all of the girls and I trudged on to my appointment alone.

I got there almost 15 minutes early expecting to need to fill out paperwork but didn't need to after all. Then they had some emergency and couldn't see me until 11:30. So I sat in the waiting room for 45 minutes reading prego magazines and laughing at all of the advise that anyone who has a mom of their own or even just a friend with kids would already know. :)

Finally they took me back and started the ultrasound. This "nuchal translucency screening" or "nuchal fold scan" was basically just an ultrasound where they focus on measuring the fluid in the back of the baby's neck and that is supposed to tell them if my baby could have a chance of having Trisomy 21 (Down syndrome) or even any other chromosomal abnormalities. (To read more about this screening you can click here.) Anyway, I got to see my sweet little baby and he/she was beautiful. :) It really is amazing how much the baby has grown since the last ultrasound just a few weeks ago. I could see the baby's face, fully formed, arms, legs, fingers, elbows and kneecaps. And what a wiggly little thing! Every time the tech would get a good shot of the back of his neck, the baby would snap his head way back and then fall into a completely different position. And his little legs were crossed and the ankle. It was so cute. :) She said it was way to early to tell the gender yet, so we didn't even try to get a look. And Jake still wants to wait and not find out, so that was probably a good thing anyway.

After the ultrasound, I had lunch with my mom which was nice... I can't remember the last time we had lunch, just the two of us! Then back to the Drs office for my 3 month check-up. We went over some typical 3 month stuff and she said everything looks great. Oh and we got to hear the heartbeat which was cool since I was just watching the heartbeat a few hours before. :) Then more blood drawn and I was done.

We'll get the results from the screening by friday. She basically said that if the results are "negative"... then they're negative. But if they are "positive" then they will just be giving me the baby's odds or chances of having a chromosomal abnormality. So if its negative, we are in the clear; if its positive, the baby could still be "typical" and healthy OR could have a chance of having Ds. Does that make sense? Anyway, we'll know more on Friday. And I still feel the same way- I'm just not that concerned about it. God is good. :)

(I'll post the ultrasound pictures soon... she didn't give me very many good pictures, but one was pretty sweet.)