The NT scan

This Tuesday last week I was anxiously counting down the hours until my NT test. I was a bundle of nerves, and had to break down the activity into tiny steps so that I could get through it (get dressed, leave house, get to hospital, walk through front doors, etc). My doppler still hasn’t arrived, so I had no idea if the foetus was even alive.

I arrived 30 minutes early and impatiently waited for my husband to arrive, as he left it to the last minute and only arrived 5 minutes early. Twenty minutes after that, they called us in. My first transabdominal ultrasound, I didn’t even have to take off my pants.

The technician pressed down on my belly and a grainy picture appeared. At first glance, it didn’t look that different from the scan three weeks ago, and my heart froze. But she pointed out the heartbeat and I started to relax. I thought that I had been a responsible patient by drinking a litre of water an hour beforehand, but the technician said that all I was doing was forcing my uterus further towards my spine. She sent me to the bathroom to empty my bladder, and then got down to business.

Everything looked great. The foetus was measuring 6.5 cm (12w6d) at 12w0d with a femur length of 0.68 cm and a NT thickness of 1.49mm (photo of the fetus with a hand on its nose here). I was so relieved when I saw that NT measurement. Then the technician went on to check all the organs, pointing them out as she went along: brain, stomach, kidneys, spine, fingers, feet, even the four chambers of the heart. Due to the position of my uterus, she switched to a transvaginal probe for some of the measurements, so I got a visit from my old friend too. All in all, she concluded “it is a good baby”.

The foetus waved its hands in front of its head, occasionally wiggling and kicking. Although the print outs were a bit poor, seeing the live-action movement on the screen was incredible. With my husband by my side, holding my hand and smiling at me, we could have watched that little thing for hours.

After she had finished, the supervising doctor came in to double-check the measurements. I was a little concerned that the heart rate was a little low (151 bpm) – (the mean rate is 159 +/- 3 bpm at 13 weeks). She did something where she did four different types of doppler heartbeat measurements and said that everything looked fine.

My urine, weight, and blood pressure looked good, so they printed out an official certificate of pregnancy that I need for my work and for securing a childcare position. A few days later I heard that my combined trisomy risk is 1:11 600 for T13 and 1:20 000 for the others.

So, there we are. So far, things look good. Now another three weeks until my next check-up, and another seven weeks until the big anomaly scan.

10w2d Anxious

It is a long slow wait until my next ultrasound in mid-January. I have ordered a doppler, but it seems to be making its way to my home on foot, and is not due here for another week. Although the queasiness, fatigue, back-pain, and swollen breasts continue, it is not the concrete proof that I would like that everything is progressing well with this pregnancy.

My husband, on the other side, seems to have accepted the fact that our family will welcome another member in August next year. He is busy reading "First Time Parent" and making a long list of all the tasks that must be completed before then. He wants to start painting the nursery and buying furniture. The other day he started asking me questions like if we should alternate bottle with breast at night to allow me to get more sleep, and if we should use a crib in the nursery rather than a co-sleeper in our bedroom.

I responded to his thoughtful questions by bursting into tears. For me, it is all I can do to get through the next two weeks until the Week 12 scan. For him, he figures I've got the pregnancy handled, and his job starts in August. I am thinking fetus, and he is thinking newborn. I am so thankful that he realises that he is an equal partner in the upbringing of our child, but sometimes his go-go attitude is a little intimidating, especially when I can barely muster the energy to get off the couch.