Friday, July 29, 2005
Nuchal Translucency or What I did on my last day of freedom
So part one of the integrated screen was today - nuchal translucency (NT) was measured via ultrasound (the non-vaginal kind!) and blood was taken. Supposedly I don't get any of the results until after the second part of the screen which can't be done for at least another four weeks. I did do on-line research about the risks of various abnormalities and NT measurements. According to what I saw, the risk of the three most typical trisomies is 1 in 98 at 12 weeks for my age. Expected NT measurements are in the range of 1.5-2.0 mm. Measurements that are over 3.0 mm may be reason for concern. My NT was 1.6 mm. I'm thinking that this is good so far.
This was my first trans-abdominal ultrasound. It was interesting - very goopy. When I got to the office I asked about needing to fill my bladder. I was told more or less no (something along the lines of "well, only some technicians want a full bladder"), although I did slurp some water from the very metallic tasting water fountain.
The technician dug around just north of my pelvic bone and saw the fetus curled up looking happy in the bottom (?) of my uterus. After lots of digging, she asked if I had a full bladder and was disappointed with the answer. She explained quickly that I have a -- forward tilting I think -- uterus giving her a very narrow field of vision blah, blah, blah. It went too quick for me to understand except that I had made her job harder. She had to look at things from close to my left hip to see what she needed to see. She said everything looked as expected.
We saw arms and legs and she got her NT measurement. She also measured my ovaries and uterus and perhaps some other non-fetus things. The heartbeat was 165. She measured the fetus at 11w6d - two days up from yesterday.
My blood draw went fine. The technician was a very friendly older women with an Eastern European accent. She asked the question I'm just starting to get, "So, is this your first?" So far, every time, I've responded that this is my fifth pregnancy. Perhaps there will be a time when I just say yes. But, right now I think I'm afraid of too much unbridled joy. The other answer that comes to mind is, "if we get to keep this one it will be." The friendly tech asked to see the ultrasound photo. After looking, she told me that I'm having a healthy boy and that this is a good one. I'll take the good intentions.
I don't have another appointment until Aug. 26th. This is going to be a bit strange after all of the feedback I've gotten, but everything is going well. I considered renting a doppler to listen to the heartbeat, but think that I would worry more rather than less.
Monday is back to work.
This was my first trans-abdominal ultrasound. It was interesting - very goopy. When I got to the office I asked about needing to fill my bladder. I was told more or less no (something along the lines of "well, only some technicians want a full bladder"), although I did slurp some water from the very metallic tasting water fountain.
The technician dug around just north of my pelvic bone and saw the fetus curled up looking happy in the bottom (?) of my uterus. After lots of digging, she asked if I had a full bladder and was disappointed with the answer. She explained quickly that I have a -- forward tilting I think -- uterus giving her a very narrow field of vision blah, blah, blah. It went too quick for me to understand except that I had made her job harder. She had to look at things from close to my left hip to see what she needed to see. She said everything looked as expected.
We saw arms and legs and she got her NT measurement. She also measured my ovaries and uterus and perhaps some other non-fetus things. The heartbeat was 165. She measured the fetus at 11w6d - two days up from yesterday.
My blood draw went fine. The technician was a very friendly older women with an Eastern European accent. She asked the question I'm just starting to get, "So, is this your first?" So far, every time, I've responded that this is my fifth pregnancy. Perhaps there will be a time when I just say yes. But, right now I think I'm afraid of too much unbridled joy. The other answer that comes to mind is, "if we get to keep this one it will be." The friendly tech asked to see the ultrasound photo. After looking, she told me that I'm having a healthy boy and that this is a good one. I'll take the good intentions.
I don't have another appointment until Aug. 26th. This is going to be a bit strange after all of the feedback I've gotten, but everything is going well. I considered renting a doppler to listen to the heartbeat, but think that I would worry more rather than less.
Monday is back to work.
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