Today was my NT Scan. This u/s measures the fluid in the nuchal fold on the back of the neck. If it's too thick, it can mean you're at risk for things like Downs Syndrome or Trisomy 18. Another marker for abnormalities is not seeing the nasal bone. I'm happy to report that all is perfect!
Waiting with my mother-in-law and grand-mother-in-law. Wow, I didn't realize my belly was poking out so much already!
Being scanned:
Here's a few u/s photos. Seven has transformed from cute gummy bear to ummm, a little scary looking. The skull, legs and arms are now showing that bone has formed.
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Seven was a little uncooperative today. S/He insisted on facing us and the tech needed a profile view in order to measure the back of the neck. She kept jiggling my belly with the transducer trying to get Seven to turn over. She had me coughing, laying on my left side, then my right side. I lost count how many times I had to lift my hips and shake my booty. Kerry started singing "put your butt up in the air, and shake like you just don't care...". He's so funny. We finally got Seven to roll over and she must have measured that fold about 20 times. I could see the measurements on the monitor and saw that all were less than 2. I'm thankful that I looked up the normal value before hand or I would have started to think something was wrong.
Here's our stats from the u/s:
CRL: 56.2 mm, measuring 12w1d (2 days ahead, yeah!)
HB: 171 bpm (previously 117 and 173, check out all those 7's!)
Nuchal Fold: 1.3 mm (they want this below 3, so all perfect!)
Nasal Bone: present
Amniotic Fluid: normal
Placenta: posterior (the placenta is behind the baby which means I'll really be able to feel baby's movement)
Cervical Length: 3.5 cm (up from 3, yeah!!! I just need it to go to 4 cm)
My ob/gyn said all is progressing normally! My next step was a 20 week u/s which is 8 weeks away. But since we are going to watch my cervix as a precaution, I'm to come back in 4 weeks for a 16 week u/s. And maybe, just maybe, we'll get a peek between the legs.
Today's hormone levels:
Estrogen: 1555 (up from 1498)
Progesterone: 48.19 (up from 23.35)
So my placenta is definitely taking over hormone production. After $1052.13 in estrogen and progesterone support and 18 blood draws, as of tonight, I'm completed weaned! YIPPEE!!! I graduated from CCRM. Now I can finally live like a normal pg woman.
Symptoms:
Exhaustion let up significantly for 3 days and then hit me hard again yesterday and today. So it seems that it's going to improve very soon.
Irritability. This is caused by the rise in progesterone. My poor husband is all I can say!
Prominent blue veins on my boobs. This is due to the increase in blood volume.
Constipation. The prunes aren't working, they just give me thunder. This is heard nightly from Kerry; "OMG, you stink, wave the covers, get it out of here!". I just proudly smile at him and tell him it's pay back time!
Waiting with my mother-in-law and grand-mother-in-law. Wow, I didn't realize my belly was poking out so much already!
Being scanned:
Here's a few u/s photos. Seven has transformed from cute gummy bear to ummm, a little scary looking. The skull, legs and arms are now showing that bone has formed.
.jpg)
Seven was a little uncooperative today. S/He insisted on facing us and the tech needed a profile view in order to measure the back of the neck. She kept jiggling my belly with the transducer trying to get Seven to turn over. She had me coughing, laying on my left side, then my right side. I lost count how many times I had to lift my hips and shake my booty. Kerry started singing "put your butt up in the air, and shake like you just don't care...". He's so funny. We finally got Seven to roll over and she must have measured that fold about 20 times. I could see the measurements on the monitor and saw that all were less than 2. I'm thankful that I looked up the normal value before hand or I would have started to think something was wrong.
The scan lasted about 30 mins but the DVD I received only contained just over 2 mins of video (below). The sonographer was contantly moving around trying to get a profile view, so we got nothing more than short little clips of Seven moving. I really just wanted her to hold still for a little bit so we could watch Seven in action. Around 1min 14sec, I think Seven was fed up and flipped her the bird. Some cute things the video didn't capture was Seven waiving and sucking it's thumb.
Here's our stats from the u/s:
CRL: 56.2 mm, measuring 12w1d (2 days ahead, yeah!)
HB: 171 bpm (previously 117 and 173, check out all those 7's!)
Nuchal Fold: 1.3 mm (they want this below 3, so all perfect!)
Nasal Bone: present
Amniotic Fluid: normal
Placenta: posterior (the placenta is behind the baby which means I'll really be able to feel baby's movement)
Cervical Length: 3.5 cm (up from 3, yeah!!! I just need it to go to 4 cm)
My ob/gyn said all is progressing normally! My next step was a 20 week u/s which is 8 weeks away. But since we are going to watch my cervix as a precaution, I'm to come back in 4 weeks for a 16 week u/s. And maybe, just maybe, we'll get a peek between the legs.
Today's hormone levels:
Estrogen: 1555 (up from 1498)
Progesterone: 48.19 (up from 23.35)
So my placenta is definitely taking over hormone production. After $1052.13 in estrogen and progesterone support and 18 blood draws, as of tonight, I'm completed weaned! YIPPEE!!! I graduated from CCRM. Now I can finally live like a normal pg woman.
Symptoms:
Exhaustion let up significantly for 3 days and then hit me hard again yesterday and today. So it seems that it's going to improve very soon.
Irritability. This is caused by the rise in progesterone. My poor husband is all I can say!
Prominent blue veins on my boobs. This is due to the increase in blood volume.
Constipation. The prunes aren't working, they just give me thunder. This is heard nightly from Kerry; "OMG, you stink, wave the covers, get it out of here!". I just proudly smile at him and tell him it's pay back time!
It's about time...I've been sitting at my computer all night waiting for an update:-) Everything sounds & looks perfect! OMG...I cannot believe it only seems like yesterday that I was having my NT scan and now my little guy is 10 1/2 weeks old already! So.....you are slacking on the belly pic thing....you are supposed to take them every 2 weeks....
ReplyDeleteI hope they can get a gender shot in 4 weeks,,,that would be awesome...although from what I hear it would be pretty early to get an accurate guess.....but 8 weeks is just around the corner and hopefully you'll know VERY soon what you're having....
Wonderful hormone levels...yep that placenta is in full swing!
Can't wait for more update!
love ya!
I'm so happy Seven is doing great!
ReplyDeleteYou should give Kerry a "dutch oven" with your stinkies :)
Lookin' good!! :-)
ReplyDeleteEverything sounds great!!! and, believe it or not, you are almost out of the first trimester! I've wanted to call you all week to catch up...will probably try tomorrow if you are around. I have a lot of appointments today and we are in the middle of a crazy snowstorm! Congrats on the great u/s...and great hormone levels...and great cervical length...you get the idea:-)
ReplyDeleteCongrats on the wonderful, wonderful news! (Except for the prune effects - ew!). I am so happy for you!
ReplyDeleteThings really do look perfect! I'm glad you get to graduate from CCRM. I was about to say may you never ever have to go back to them again, but then again, they were your miracle worker so you probably want to take little Seven there to meet them one day :) Enjoy enjoy enjoy!
ReplyDeleteSo glad all is well!! I waited all day for your update and finally went to bed!! lol Glad to see it is on here this morning. Keep up the good work and yes, we need belly shots!
ReplyDeleteCindy
TMI comment on the constipation issue:
ReplyDeleteI forgot to tell you that I've struggled with constipation throughout the pregnancy. I think the only thing keeping me regular is my daily breakfast drink of 1/2 OJ and 1/2 water with a heaping teaspoon of metamucil in it. I actually like the metamucil, especially if it's not all dissolved in the juice yet. Then I'll have an apple a day too. Occasionally I'll eat some prunes, but they don't seem to help much. That routine gets me going each morning, and if I go a day without, I take 1-2 pills of docusate sodium at night, and may also throw in 2tsp of milk of magnesia. Supposedly all safe in pregnancy, and so far it seems to be working like a charm. I think I'll keep it up after baby so that I hopefully don't end up with hemorrhoids.
And now my initial comment has disappeared. Congrats on a great scan! Seven's looking perfect (face-on always looks like scary skeletor), and will be even cuter at 16 weeks.
ReplyDeleteSo glad your hormone levels are perfect, and that your very sweet-looking MIL and GMIL were able to come along and share your joy.
Hi Kate, thanks for all your advice!!! I'm not sure what happened to your original comment, but here it is:
ReplyDeleteAwesome news! Little Seven looks normal scary - the skeletor face-on view is always creepy. Very cute though, and I'm jealous of your posterior placenta. Mine's all in front, so I didn't really feel her till 18w2d.
Congrats on all the hormone levels being so fantastic. And your MIL and GMIL are totally cute.
That's going to be one cute kid at 16 weeks - just wait!
I love the last u/s picture. So sweet! I am so excited to hear all the good news!!!!
ReplyDeleteThis was awesome. So glad gmomma and g-gmomma could go with you. I would telll Brian the same thing at night, lol! Love you!
ReplyDeleteLyndsay
Hi...I love the "poking out" pg belly pic! Regarding your "little scary looking" comment...I sent my mom an u/s pic on my camera phone once...she though it looked like a dinosaur head with one eye, while I was thinking alien...these little ones are so much cuter "in person"!? :) So happy to hear Seven is growing and doing well. Enjoy! Smiles, Heidi
ReplyDeleteWow, such a great report all around!!! Love the u/s pics, even though Seven does look like s/he belongs to another planet... ;0)
ReplyDeleteI am cracking up at your comments about symptoms-- oh the joys that come with pregnancy; smelly, colorful changes!! It really is a marvel that women get to experience the metamorphosis that happens.
Congrats on the weaning of drugs-- I'm sure you're so thankful to be through that phase.
Continuing to pray for the rest of your pregnancy to be healthy and that you'll enjoy every minute of it!
Love to you and your bump (however small or big),
The Other Jill
CONGRATULATIONS! That is one of the big milestones of the many! About the constipation... I never ever had constipation up until PG... and oh man (sorry TMI), sometimes inspite of eating healthy and consuming tons of water (4-5 L in a day)... I have issues! If I anticipate any issues... I have taken Metamucil... and it works great... you might want to keep it handy!
ReplyDeleteSo glad you invited us to watch the u/s. It was really awesome, especially for Mom. It was nest watching Kerry watching the screen and listening to his comments.
ReplyDeleteThanks again.
Can't wait to find out if #7 is a girl or boy.