12 Week NT Ultrasound

We went for our 12 week blood work and ultrasound today, 5/15, to see if Baby Farrell has Down Syndrome. I scheduled the blood work for 3:30 and the u/s for 4 so that Caleb could have enough time to get to the office from work so he could see his baby, too.
Unfortunately, the traffic was horrible and I was 5 minutes late to my appt, so they decided, for whatever reason, to bring me into the u/s room a few minutes early and take my blood after the scan. That wouldn't have been a problem, but my mom was coming at 4 and she wasn't there yet! So I was praying the scan would take a few extra minutes, since we were getting started without her, and that she would arrive momentarily! She did and had plenty of time to see her grandbaby, as said baby was being difficult and wouldn't turn the right way for the Sonographer, Laura, to get the correct angle to measure the fluid at the back of the neck. All in all, it took Laura about 15 minutes of pushing and jabbing to get BF to move the right ways! When I was done, my skin was all red and my body was a bit sore from all the pushing. But it quickly went away and I would gladly do it again to see Baby for another 15 minutes!
I was surprised the first time Laura tried to get the baby to move - she just took her fingers and poked my uterus repeatedly - pretty hard! I started laughing because I was so caught off guard. Shaken Baby Syndrome! lol She had to do that multiple times too! It was cool to see the cause and effect though.
Now I know what pushing on my uterus does to BF and how s/he reacts. What a cutie!

So as far as results/updates go...

• Baby was measuring right on track, at just past 12 weeks. I didn't get to see the measurement in cm. :(  I'm thinking of calling to see if they have that recorded since she went so fast!
• The heart rate when we first started was 178! I wonder if the fact that I was worried about my mom making it on time had my heart and baby's heart racing?? After the 15 minutes of laying fairly still, other than all the jabbing, we got to listen to the heart rate again. This time it was only 156! Laura told me that the heartbeat being able to predict the gender is completely bogus! ha! Like I would actually believe in a silly theory like that in the first place.... lol
• The NT fluid needs to measure less than 3mm in order for the baby to be considered unlikely to have Down's. The thicker the neck, the more chance of having the disease. Laura took many measurements and the average was just 1.08mm! Seems BF is pretty assuredly not going to have DS. The blood work will take another week or two to come back and further verify the prognosis.
• Baby likes to kick its feet straight up in the air, and I'm amazed that s/he's only 2 inches long plus legs! S/he looks so big on the screen!
• Baby also likes to keep his/her right hand over or in front of the face. Plenty of times it looked like s/he was waving. Other times it looked like "woe is me!" hand to the forehead. And sometimes it seemed the hand was going to the mouth! Adorable! :)
• Caleb was pretty disappointed that Laura wouldn't even LOOK between the legs! lol He (and I) was hoping we could possibly get a little hint of the gender today, as we've heard of other people getting an idea this early. Seems we have to wait another 6 weeks!

Now for the best part; The pictures!
These aren't the best and clearest. It seems to me that they are just the still frames from when she was at a good angle to measure the NT fluid. So she wasn't trying to get the baby's best profile shot! What was she thinking?! :)
Here are all 4 though...

Waving "Hello" to everyone!

"This is my nose!"

"These are my cute tiny lips!"

I didn't realize I had an available pipe in my uterus! lol Bad habit to start so early!
Also check out the legs sticking up at the left! :)

I have a video, but it's 12 minutes long and I guess I need to find some program that can cut it down for me so that I can post a clip... Any ideas? I have it posted privately to youtube for anyone who wants to see/scroll through the 12 minute version! Just email me or post in the comments here and I'll send you the link!

It's AMAZING all the changes in just 2.5 weeks! I was THRILLED to see my baby today and am so happy that s/he looks whole and healthy! Thank you for your continued prayers for the health of our sweet baby!

12 Weeks

Pregnancy Update May 14, 2012

How far along: 12 weeks

Size of baby: 2.1 inches, .49 oz. - a "Plum"

What developed this past week: Facial features are becoming more defined as the chin and nose have taken more shape. The eyes have moved to the front of the face and the ears are in near-final position. Finger nails are now well-formed on fingers that will soon be able to open and close! Baby is developing reflexes this week and is able to curl toes, open/close hands, respond to being pushed on if I try to find him/her in there! :) And wonderfully, brain synapses are rapidly growing!

Weight Gain: Exactly 3 pounds - Still doing ok, as they say 3-5 pounds in the first trimester is normal.

Maternity clothes: I wear some "normal" shirts, some maternity. Haven't had to change to maternity pants yet, but last Thursday and today I've worn dress pants that I thought fit, only to be nauseous a couple hours later from the pressure of the waistband on my uterus. Apparently, though they button fine, when I sit down they become tighter and irritate Baby F. So it seems that I may be breaking out the Bella Band soon!

Gender:  6 more weeks

Movement: Feeling nothing. Hoping it's only a matter of a month or so!

Sleep: I've learned that I sleep better if I stick to getting 8-9 hours. If I get 10+ hours one night, the next night I don't sleep very well, as I'm not tired enough to sleep through little noises and discomforts. So I've been pretty good with going to bed at my normal (pre-pregnancy) time and getting up for work. Never got that exhausted feeling, and now that the 1st trimester is coming to a close, I'm hoping the "risk" of that happening is slim to none. At least until the third trimester when my body is exhausted from carrying around all the extra weight!

What I miss: I'd say the only thing I still miss is sleeping on my stomach. As proven by the fact that I keep trying it even though I wake up VERY nauseous and miserable. After 3 times, I think I've finally learned my lesson!

Cravings: Nothing. Been pretty good - I think the aversions have subsided a little this week. More food options sound good all the time again.

Best moment this week: Mother's Day! Everyone who knows I'm pregnant wished me a Happy Mother's Day via text or in person! And my family was so sweet to give me gifts to commemorate this first! Unexpected, but much appreciated!

My SILs got me a 1 hour pregnancy massage from Bella's spa! I'm super excited about that, as my back has had issues in the past, and it seems this could be a wonderful antidote should it start hurting again! Laurie made the cute card!

 My sister, Lindsay, sent me a package in the mail with a cute new maternity top and a sweet card!

My sister-in-law, Kristen, also got me a cute new shirt and made an adorable giraffe card! I'm so excited about these new clothes!

My husband got me a dozen peach roses, sponge candy and the Willow Tree HOME figurine. I am not a collector of things in general, but I have loved this statue for a long time and wanted Caleb to get it for me whenever we got pregnant. Typical woman though - I never actually told him I wanted it, I didn't want him to feel obligated to buy it. And he has good taste, so I wanted to see what he would come up with on his own. Luckily, my man is a great mind reader and I was pleasantly surprised when I opened this gift! I almost cried I was so happy. I LOVE IT!

Thanks again to EVERYONE who made my day so special! My first mother's day couldn't have been better!

Random thing to remember:  For my personal memory: Sweetest thing Caleb has done so far - when I woke up feeling nauseous the other night, he offered to hold my hand while I tried to fall back asleep if that would make me feel better. I didn't think about it at the time because I felt so miserable, but in the morning I remembered what happened and was, again, reminded why I love him so much.

What I am looking forward to: 12 week ultrasound - tomorrow, 4pm!

Also, we leave for a week-long vacation on Friday, and I'm SO excited to get a break from work and to get to spend all that time with my Farrell-Family.