Week 13 (catching-up)

We couldn't believe our eyes when we saw the first images of our baby on the ultrasound machine (see pic at left!). We were at the hospital in mid-November for the first of a series of prenatal screening tests: nuchal translucency. This test can help our perinatalogist & obstetrician assess our baby's risk of having Down syndrome (DS) and some other chromosomal abnormalities as well as major congenital heart problems. The NT test uses sonograms to measure the clear (translucent) space in the tissue at the back of the developing baby's neck. Babies with abnormalities tend to accumulate more fluid at the back of their neck during the first trimester, causing this clear space to be larger than average. The NT was also offered along with a blood test that looks at the level of certain hormones and proteins . Low levels from these tests early in pregnancy indicate increased risk of genetic abnormalities, heart problems, and preterm birth.

Screening tests don't proide a 100% diagnosis. Instead, they provide a ratio that expresses our baby's chances of having a problem. But, no fear, folks! In our case, all of our results came back with very low risks -- nearly 1 in 9000 ratio for every test (for every 9000 women with this result, 1 baby will have a chromosomal defect while the other 8999 will not - the higher the second number the better the result). Some tests use a cutoff of 1 in 250.

Our next ultrasound will be in a couple of weeks when I'm 20 weeks (5 months) along. We should have updated pics then!