Time-lapse photography in the extreme: the first photo of the two of us post-conception, and the 12 week ultrasound from yesterday featuring the baby, due July 1st.
The ultrasound was amazing. A lot of the evidence of baby has thus far been solely Stephanie's domain (the tiredness, the queasiness, the need for curries, and the sense of smell that's as good as mine). Other than the pee-sticks and the fact that I can see that Stephanie has the cutest-ever burgeoning bump, though, I haven't had nearly as much of the daily proof-of-baby... so seeing the baby flailing his/her limbs on the ultrasound was the moment when this baby started feeling real to me as a tiny, developing person of their own.
The ultrasound was at 12 weeks and 2 days (and we obviously know the conception date), but the baby's measurement of 7.11 cm corresponded to an estimate of 13 weeks, 1 day. That's possibly because taller-than-average people have taller-than-average babies, or possibly because our baby is a developmental superstar. Heartbeat of 140 bpm was completely average, and also completely inconclusive for all those old-wives'-tales about guessing the gender from the heart rate... which is just fine with us, because we are hoping for a delivery surprise (and it would have been too early to tell from looking at the ultrasound anyway). The nuchal translucency measurements that were the reason for the ultrasound were also totally great, and suggest that our baby does not have a chromosomal abnormality of any kind.
All the body parts and organ systems are in place now, so what's left for the next 27 weeks is growing a lot bigger. We've definitely come a long way since the start of this pregnancy, although my giddiness hasn't really worn off at all since that momet when we found out:
It's mindblowing to think that this tiny being will one day soon exist outside of Stephanie, and eventually start having opinions of their own: favorite foods (maybe curry?) and favorite colors and favorite books. I am so, so excited to meet this baby!
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Hey!
ReplyDeleteWelcome to the blogging world. :) This looks like a great start and I'm excited to read more.
we are doing an ultrasound with the same reason (nuchal translucency) just so i can satisfy my curiousity of what the baby looks like so far and have a photo :)
ReplyDeleteEnjoy the NT ultrasound! It's a really good screen to have, because the blood test alone has a high false positive rate and that can throw people into a panic. At that point, later on, the window for doing the ultrasound has passed, the only option is CVS or amniocentesis, which are much more invasive and risky.
ReplyDeleteIn addition to picking up on Down's Syndrome which is what it's usually advertised for, the NT scan also detects the second-most common trisomy (chromosome 18). That results in Edward's Syndrome, which is far nastier (survival is on average ten days past birth). That eventuality was one that I really and truly would have needed the preparation and information for, and is the real reason that I wanted to do the test.