My First Trimester (part III: ultrasounds + belly pics!)

Ultrasounds

Week 6: My doctor ordered me an ultrasound to make sure baby was viable, not ectopic, and to make sure my lady parts all looked good. At this time, baby was only the size of a grain of rice. We could see baby’s heart beat but not hear it (too early).

Week 9: We went in for my first visit with my doctor (hate that they made me wait so long!) and were happily surprised that she wanted to do an ultrasound right there in the office! At this point, baby was the size of a grape. We could see baby’s head and limb buds. We saw the heart beating, but it was again too early to hear it. It was very exciting to have a surprise ultrasound; she showed us the beginnings of the umbilical cord and placenta as well!

Week 13: This ultrasound was our Nuchal Translucency scan. Not all places offer this and we actually had never heard of it when our doctor asked us if we wanted it. Basically, it’s the non-evasive way to check for Down’s Syndrome and other chromosomal abnormalities. John + I knew we would not say yes to CVS or amniocentesis, so when we learned this was non-evasive, covered by our insurance, and most importantly, another chance to see baby, we said yes.

The NT scan takes a few measurements of the fluid behind the baby’s neck and couple with your age and the results of some blood work, determines a risk ration for your chances of having a baby with Down’s or chromosomal abnormalities. I’ve since found out my results and like we thought, my risk is very very low.

Moving on from all the sciencey stuff, it was just SO AMAZING to see baby at this point in time. When the tech first put the wand on my belly, baby was doing a headstand and sucking his/her thumb!! Our tech woke baby up when taking measurements, but baby was SO cooperative that our tech took four pictures for us! It was so cool to see baby’s arms/legs/spine/everything!! We also got to hear baby’s heartbeat, beating strong at 150 bpm — yay little baby!! At this time baby was approximately 3 inches long and the size of a medium shrimp! I’m am so so in love with out little one already!

And no, baby doesn’t have a porcupine nose in the left picture, baby’s hand is resting on his/her face!

Belly Pictures

One of the fun parts about pregnancy is taking weekly belly pictures! So far my belly from week to week doesn’t look much different, but I’m excited for when it’ll “pop!”

This is the last of my first trimester updates! If you didn’t catch the first installments, catch up with part one and part two. I’ll be doing weekly updates from here until the baby is born — I promise to not overwhelm you with baby talk, but it’s a obviously a huge part of my life right now!

How was your weekend?