Our Eventful Tuesday

Today was NT Testing day. While this is an optional scan and test, we decided that we would have it done to be on the safe side and to lay some of our fears  to rest. Here is the babycenter.com explanation:

This prenatal test (also called the NT or nuchal fold scan) can help your healthcare practitioner assess your baby's risk of having Down syndrome (DS) and some other chromosomal abnormalities as well as major congenital heart problems.

The NT test is not invasive. It uses ultrasound to measure the clear (translucent) space in the tissue at the back of your developing baby's neck. Babies with abnormalities tend to accumulate more fluid at the back of their neck during the first trimester, causing this clear space to be larger than average.

The NT scan must be done when you're between 11 and 14 weeks pregnant, because this is when the base of your baby's neck is still transparent. (The last day you can have it done is the day you turn 13 weeks and 6 days pregnant.) It's usually offered along with an evaluation for the presence or absence of nasal bone, as well as a blood test, in what's known as first-trimester combined screening.

Like other screening tests, an NT scan won't give you a diagnosis. But it can assess your baby's risk for certain problems and help you decide whether you want to have chorionic villus sampling (CVS) or amniocentesis to find out whether your baby is actually affected.

The NT scan is now widely available, and it's offered to all pregnant women in the first trimester. But because the NT scan requires special training and equipment, it may not be available in many smaller institutions.

The doctor looked at Squishy and measured the space by the base of the cranium to get a measurement. He said that they are looking for a measurement of less than 3- and Baby is at .07- all three times he measured, which means that Squishy has passed another test with flying colors!

 While waiting to get a good profile of Squishy, we got to see several minutes of their swimming activity. Little arms and legs just flailing about! The doc even gave me some different views of the thighs, arms, feet and head. It's amazing that just 3 weeks ago we could barely differentiate the top half from the bottom half, and NOW we have a little swimmer on our hands (well, technically in my uterus- but who's counting?)

Arms and legs were moving all over the place!

Appointment next week to follow up with blood work from today, as well as thyroid results again- fingers crossed that we can go 4 weeks without having to change med doses again! Telling a pregnant person to remember to take morning pills, pills with lots of food, and another pill every other day is just asking for problems! After next weeks "all- clear" we should move onto the perinatologist.

It was slightly upsetting (mainly due to the hormones) that daddy couldn't be there to see his little Squish swimming and moving around. I can't wait until he can actually feel them (or when I can for that matter). Just about 200 more days and we will get to meet our little swimmer! It's amazing how fast time goes... already almost done with the First Trimester- bring on the Second!