On January 14th I had the first of two appointments at the UConn Health Center in Farmington, CT. Because of my "advanced age" my doctor had recommended that I get some various tests done that will help determine the odds that the baby would be born with Down Syndrome and some other birth defects. Scary stuff. But, I agreed that it is important to know what we're up against, and since women over 35 (for those of you who may not know, I'm at the ripe old age of 37!) have a greater chance of having a baby with a birth defect, I agreed to the testing and went forward with it optimistic that everything would be ok, but cautious knowing that my age may very well be my worst enemy right now.
The first part of the appointment was a meeting with a genetic counselor. The woman I met with was very nice and she carefully explained the sonogram and blood work I would be getting that day, and what the various results would mean. Then she asked a bunch of questions about family history both on my side (easy answer: since I'm adopted, I really don't know!) and on Ted's side. Once that was done, she sent me into the waiting room until I was called for my sonogram.
The sonogram (two of the best photos are above) was AMAZING. I had three done already but this one was different in that the previous ones were transvaginal (images taken from inside the vagina) and this one was standard and taken over my ever-expanding belly. This time, I was able to see the little bugger move around and I saw it's little fingers and toes and even some facial features. The sonogram tech was trying desperately to get a good view of the back of the baby's neck since what they were aiming to do was measure the depth of the fluid there, and the baby was being "difficult" and "stubborn" and moving every which way but the way the tech needed it to! She gave it the old college try for 15 or 20 minutes or so, and meanwhile she got some great photos, and at one point the baby even looked straight at the sonogram wand and moved it little fingers like it was waving at me...amazing! But, there was a task at hand and the baby wasn't cooperating (good lord...what do I have in store with this kid?) so the tech brought the doctor in to get the job done. After a few minutes he got the info he needed, and gave me the good news that the measurements of the fluid looked great: they worry if they measure 2.5mm or more fluid and my baby's measured in at 1.25. Whew! I still have to get my blood work results back, which should be Wednesday or Thursday, but so far so good!
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