George’s Scrapbook

Week 12: The week with the 1st big testing decision!

Week 12 scrapbook page, with a multicolor background that transitions from dark pink in the bottom left corner to light green in the top right corner, with sage green, yellow, and purple in the middle. There are two blurry ultrasound photos, one zoomed in of the baby's profile captured "Nice Profile!" and the other zoomed out showing the whole baby curled up in the uterus, head on the bottom and legs curled up on top, with legs and head labeled. "Happy Summer Solstice" is noted on the top right of of the page.
Week 12 scrapbook page, with a multicolor background that transitions from dark pink in the bottom left corner to light green in the top right corner, with sage green, yellow, and purple in the middle. There are two blurry ultrasound photos, one zoomed in of the baby’s profile captured “Nice Profile!” and the other zoomed out showing the whole baby curled up in the uterus, head on the bottom and legs curled up on top, with legs and head labeled. “Happy Summer Solstice” is noted on the top right of of the page.
Previous PageBack to IndexNext Page

This week we had our 1st trimester screen appointment. This involved another ultrasound (for a nuchal translucency screening) plus blood tests which combined, help to evaluate risk for abnormalities of chromosomes 13, 18, and 21.

The ultrasound was a lot fuzzier than the ones we had at our fertility clinic. It was fun watching it on a big screen in the room, though. The baby wasn’t particularly cooperative and was curled up in an awkward position that made the testing a little difficult. At one point they flipped around, and I also noticed that they were sticking one of their legs straight up/out at one point.

The ultrasound results were normal – the nuchal translucency, which is a collection of fluid at the back of the baby’s neck, measured 1.2mm. (Anything <3.5mm is considered normal.) That particular ultrasound test is generally only considered reliable when paired with one of a few different blood test options. The options we were presented with were the sequential screen (involves blood tests in both 1st and 2nd trimesters), the quad screen (would generally be done in the 2nd trimester), and the NIPT (non-invasive prenatal testing). There were also options to do more invasive testing at the appropriate point in our pregnancy like Chorionic Villus Sampling or an Amniocentesis.

After discussing the options with the doctor, we opted to do the NIPT, which tests fetal DNA that is found in the gestational parent’s blood (pretty cool!). Research suggests that the NIPT triggers fewer false alarms than some of the other screening options and is generally more accurate. I knew that I wasn’t interested in the more invasive tests unless they were necessary.

After this appointment I scheduled our 20-week anatomy scan ultrasound, which could be our last ultrasound!

Baby Stats:
Stage: Fetus! Woohoo!
Size: Brussel Sprout, 1.5 inches long
Major Developments: Growing hair follicles, fingernails, fingers/toes losing their webbing

Dad Info:
Dr Visits: 1st trimester screen, 6/21/19
Symptoms: Nothing New! Fatigue & Heartburn getting better.

Previous PageBack to IndexNext Page
Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18