Week 10, Day 7 (Nucal test results!)

I didn't sleep well last night. I convinced myself that the news today would be bad - and as it turns out, Wayne was just as worried. I thought it was my tossing and turning that made him decide to pick the couch (and cats) at 4am, but he told me later that he was fretting just as bad and thought he was keeping me awake.

The parking at the old Chch Womens' is atrocious - 12 or so 'visitor' parks! Wayne had to wait for one to open up while I went on ahead. Once inside I was completely lost by the contradictory signage, so had to fess up to the nearest desk that I needed help. As luck would have it, I fluked finding the right check-in desk first time. Wayne finally arrived inside just as I was being escorted up to the Fetal Maternal Medicine Unit. After a brief, nervy wait, in we went for a good look at our baby.

Now that 'tadpole' is officially a fetus and not an embryo, I suppose I should refer to him/her as Bubs at least in this report otherwise it's not going to make sense. All major organs are now present, the bowels are back inside the body (I had no idea they left, but apparently that's true for every baby), and the tail is gone. Fingers and toes are clearly visible, as is baby's profile. Bubs has its father's profile (high forehead, ski-slope nose, generous mouth) and its mother's cheekbones. Also has Mum's temper, given the reaction when it went to sleep and had to be prodded awake for some measurements! Seems appropriate given today's date that there was a clear demonstration of "getting its' Irish up!".

Baby actually LOOKS like a baby now - and behaves like a longshoreman/wharfie.

Boot, kick, punch, wave, belt.. the kid thrashed about so much I became quite worried that it might detach itself from the umbilical cord. The techician checked though, and reassured me that the anchorage is very firmly secured, and the 'condo' looks just fine. That diagnosis was not shared by baby, however, who decided to take after its father and commence renovations immediately. Bracing itself against the wall with the legs bunched up, s/he tensed then lashed out with both feet repeatedly against the wall. Clearly this kid wants its space, and wants it now!

Anyhoo, the results of the test (nucal) were all good. So good our risk (calculated on my age) was amended from 1 in 35 for Downs Syndrome down to 1 in 190, and for the type 26 chromosome abnormality, we dropped from 1 in 57 to 1 in 534. This means it's the chances of a chromosomal defect are now significantly less than the risk of a miscarriage induced by the invasive test, so the technician firmly advised against having one.

Hey I'm all for that... (grins!)

I lay there watching that little beauty kick and bounce around for the better part of 45 minutes, utterly enthralled. Wayne asked if it was normal for a fetus this young to be so active, and the answer was "They're normally a bit active, but this is a really strong baby".

Even though we aren't quite at the magic 11 week mark, bubs' measurements are well into 11 week parameters, which means baby is thriving and not a bit stunted. So much for my worries that my recent inability to eat much meat (or much of anything, lately) would cause problems - well maybe for ME in the long term, but baby is obviously taking everything s/he needs from the pantry.

I wonder how I post the picture on here? Anyway, it's all good news, and I'm so relieved I quietly cried throughout the entire scan. Good thing the room was dark, eh.

There is something incredibly cool about seeing an early glimpse of what your baby's face will look like. This is only outstripped by the pleasure in finding out everything is fine, fine, fine!