01 May 2009

First trimester screening


We had an ultrasound at the maternal/fetal medicine specialists today to screen for Down's syndrome and Trisomy 13/18. They also took blood and do some hormone levels, then in conjunction with the ultrasound results tell us our risk for the baby having one of these chromosomal abnormalities. I am 36, so at my age, the risk of down's is 1 / 190 or so. Yikes, seems pretty high! The ultrasound showed completely normal - they measure the thickness of something in the baby's neck to determine part of the results and that part is fine. I am only doing this test to get some peace of mind, although I may end up with a higher risk and if that's the case, we probably won't do anything anyway. But, at least we can prepare ourselves a little. (And worry a lot!).

So, at 12 weeks, 5 days, I am still not looking pregnant. Some people say you show earlier, but I don't see how that is possible. I mean, the baby is only 6 cm long, so how could I possibly show yet? I think I started showing late last time - it was like 18 weeks before you could even tell in clothes that my belly stuck out a little bit. I can tell that my waist is thicker and I am growing out of my clothes, but nobody else can tell. I am starting to wear some maternity clothes, partly because they are so comfortable and partly because I got a huge pile of them from my friend Marcy. So, I have an entirely new wardrobe that I want to start wearing! I won't have to buy much this time hopefully. Although, I may need some nicer work pants for this summer and a couple more short sleeved tops. I wasn't pregnant in summer for very long last time, so don't have that many summer clothes, although Marcy hooked me up with some.

Well, I am going to go spend some time with my little buddy Maddox. I miss him so much during the week! More on Maddox soon!

1 comment:

George said...

It's great getting maternity clothes hand-me-downs, isn't it? I got a bunch from my sister-in-law when I was preggo...and I loved not having to buy much.

Congrats on the normal u/s for the 1st tri screening!

You must be thrilled to not be showing you...you can still wear all your normal clothes! That's awesome. I think I started really showing around 16wks with Julian.