BabyBean

Two feet & Nine Ounces Later

Can you believe it?! NINE OUNCES. That is 291 grams!!! 1/4 kg or 1/2 a lb!!!

Also learned today that when the baby gets bigger you don't need to have a full bladder for them to see anything in the ultrasound. Good to know now.

It was quite the ordeal, there are A LOT of things they measure, not really sure how they are able to see all these things, but it was still amazing to watch! Jacob finally got to hear the heartbeat, so no more guilt trips!

Just as an example of what they test, here's what the evaluation said:

Measurements:
BPD: 4.3 cm
FL: 2.84 cm
HC: 16.24 cm
AC: 13.71 cm
HL: 2.79 cm

Basic Anatomy:
The following fetal anatomy was identified and no abnormalities were visualized in these structures at this time: Cerebellum. Cerebellar vermis. Lateral ventricles. Cavum septum pellucidum. Orbits. Upperl lip. Palate. Facial profile. Heart-regular rhythm. 4 chamber heart. Cardiac acis and location. Right cardiac outflow tract. Left cardiac outflow tract. Chest parenchyma. Absence of chest mass. Absence of pleural effusion. Diaphragm. Fetal cord insertion. Placental cord insertion. Stomach. Absence of ascites. Bowel. Kidnes. Bladder. 3 vessel cord. Spine. Extremities. Hands. Feet. Placenta. Maternal uterus. Maternal adnexa. Maternal cervix.

Measurements/Recommendations:
Measurements are consistent with dates. Normal interval growth. Normal amniotic flud volume. No fetal malformations were identified.

Is any of that english? Ok, some of it is, and some of it is in latin, I am sure - but holy crap, they check for A LOT of stuff (and with a full bladder, it does feel like an eternity), at the same time it is beyond mesmerizing and miraculous that we can make something so precise as that. We were actually able to see all the four chambers of the heart. SEE the heart beating, also see the little legs moving around, toes, fingers, the BRAIN even! Amazing.

Had to go look up what all those abbreviations meant for the measurements, and found this website:

http://www.baby2see.com/medical/charts.html

Here's a quick cheat sheet:

BPD = biparietal diameter
FL = femur length
HC = head circumference
AC = abdominal circumference
HL = humerus length

The little squirt was not good at cooperating, deciding to be mostly curled up, some arms waving, and right when she was ready to take a picture of the face, put the hands in front of its face. Had to do some waiting around until the baby decided to cooperate. We were quite ok with just sitting around watching the awesome moving pictures on the screen.

When there is a couple of weeks between appointments it starts to feel unreal, especially with not much of a bump to watch, but on a day like today it feels very real! Especially when we got to see the most perfect little foot! Check it out:

TWO little feet:

A face:

The spine:

The stepwise sequential screening blood work was also normal. Now all we are doing is just watching it grow.

We're almost almost half way!

I am a Mutant

There are a few things I didn't quite expect being pregnant. One of them is this incessant poking & prodding going on. I swear my body isn't mine anymore. Oh wait. It really isn't. And I have to say, it is really nice that there are professionals out there who know their stuff. Makes me feel like that the poking & prodding is actually for a reason. But, gawd, it's drawing blood or peeing, peeing or drawing blood. Who knew bodily fluids had so much information. You find out a lot about yourself, it is always good to know. Both the good and the bad.

One of the first blood tests include testing for Cystic Fibrosis, and I found out I am a carrier for the Delta F508 mutant gene. (Yes, I am a mutant.) CF is a scary disease, mostly present in Europeans (who knew?), and 1 in 20 Europeans are carriers. Reading up on things is always my way of keeping some semblance of control. This article is good and very interesting: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cystic_fibrosis, and really gives you information to help you make decisions. This also meant Jacob had to be tested (YES, he had to give blood too!!) And we're good, because he's no mutant. Whoohoo!! It requires both parents to carry the gene for the child to have a 25% likelihood of getting CF.

Around week 13 or 14 we did the NT (Nuchual Translucency) screening, but prior to that we had to go trough Genetic Screening Counceling. They give you alot of pamphlets. A lot.

They had a hard time squeezing us into their schedules, but  sometimes it is good being old! I think that is why they made the extra effort to squeeze us in.  They didn't want to discuss the CF possibilities until Jacob's CF results were back, I am guessing most people freak out, but I just wanted to know more about it (which now doesn't matter anyway, so lets just go on!) For the NT they measure this fluid pack behind the baby's neck, and it is an indication of chromosomal abnormalities. Baby Bean's fluid concentration is 1.6 mm, and honkey dorey apparantly. So good. They also drew blood (no surprise there) to give a statistical likelihood of the baby having abnormalities. Here's a chart for what they tell you, the odds vs Maternal Age. 

The values were good, we are now at 1:1246 for Down's, and 1:3321 for Trisomy 18.

Last week included a lot of P&P, two blood tests, but no peeing! At the biggest P&P session, my Dr (where Jacob didn't get to hear the heartbeat, yes, I am reminded daily, 160 beats per minute!!!! Exciting!!!!), being cautious, decided to do more blood tests (still really no surprise), and referred me to an Endocronologist. (At that office they said "you can say Endo, it's easier".) The things you learn... The Endo Dr decided that I needed more blood tests (shocking); and based on the results, wanted to put me on thyroid hormone medication, to supplement what my body wasn't producing enough of. Oh right, I am within the Normal range, but apparently being pregnant is not Normal. (I should know that by now). He called it a slight Hashimoto's disease, and with not enough thyroid hormone production it could impact the baby by giving it a slightly lower IQ, by 2-3 points or so, but no reason taking that risk right? So yet another pill for Jacob to keep track of. The prenatal vitamins at night, thyroid bat-shaped hormone medication in the morning. Check! Check!

Now for the fun part. Next Friday (3/27), we have THE ultrasound. You know, the one where you can find out what the sex is? But we're not. At the last ultrasound Baby Bean measured 8 cm. Can't wait for next Friday.

In the mean time. #1 Knitting Project is completed!

Cute huh?

Baby Bean's first trip to KC is on Thursday. It's going to be fun!

We are at 18 weeks. Starting Month #5.