Originally, I thought the appointment was just to check growth and get some cute little ultrasound pictures. But we discovered yesterday that the scanning was actually to test the baby's nuchal translucency. Nuchal translucency screening tests for all types of chromosomal abnormalities (mainly Down Syndrome) and congenital heart defects. Nuchal translucency refers to the fluid-filled space at the back of the baby's neck. The reason they look at this space in particular is because they have found that fetuses that have a high amount of fluid in this space at the back of the neck have more likelihood of having a chromosomal abnormality, such as Down Syndrome. The primary things that are taken into consideration when testing for these birth defects are (1) the mother's age, (2) the amount of nuchal translucency in the fetus, and (3) bloodwork.
The ultrasound scan lasted for almost 50 minutes...yeah, 50 minutes...because little Baby McG was being a little turd and would pretty much show nothing but his/her backside. The tech was getting a little frustrated, too, especially after about 30 minutes of not even being able to take a measurement. So she had me try to cough to get the little butthead to move a little. Yeah...no luck. Either the baby was being stubborn or was being extremely lazy and just didn't want to move. Yeah...this kid is TOTALLY related to Joe, huh? :-)
Anyway, she went from a scan on the belly, to an internal scan, to another scan on the belly. Finally, she was able to get some measurements before leaving to show the results to the doctor. The doctor came back to tell us about what they were looking for and what they found in the initial look at the scan. All I have to say is that next time, Baby McG better be a little more cooperative. Otherwise, I have a feeling we'll have to lay down the law pretty good with this kid.
As far as the results go, based on my age alone the chance of any chromosomal abnormality is about 1:630 (or 0.15%). After the complete results of the scan and bloodwork are in (sometime next week), they will update that number showing either a higher risk or a lower risk of birth defects. Based on their initial measurements during the scan, however, they said that everything looked completely normal.
Phew! :-)
Here are some updated photos of the little one. A lot of them confuse me as to what I'm actually looking at, so I tried to pick some of the most distinguishable photos. Enjoy!
Baby McG's backside:
Baby McG's left side:
Baby McG's right side profile:
4 comments:
Did they offer a guess as to what you are having? :-)
The lady did say that she had a guess about it, but that it's still several weeks to early to tell. We shall see. I think we'll know for sure in a few weeks or so. :-)
It's amazing the things you have to learn when you enter the world of growing a baby, huh?
My sister is due right around the same time as you, and the lady had a guess about hers, it will be interesting to see if she is right!
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