To test or not to test

I'm SO excited!

I got to see our baby again yesterday! It's been almost a full month, I'm 12weeks2days now.

I went in to a different doctor, not my actual OB, to get some "tests" done to check for possibilities of Down Syndrome or other Chromosome Disorders. Don't freak out just yet... as far as we're aware, this doesn't run in my family or Troy's family but I figured, the tests are safe for me and the baby, so why not check for these things... ya never know!

The medical building I had to go to is a part of the hospital that I live near, and it was nearly impossible to figure out which building I was suppose to go to! And I had to pay for parking! Lame! At least that should be the only time I'm going to have to go to that building. So I get there, and end up having to wait almost 15 minutes past my scheduled appointment time...which was plain old boring! But the nurses were SO nice and SO easy to work with, it was really great!

Finally they call me back, and have me sit on the table for an ultrasound. Which I was so excited to do because I knew our baby would like a real baby by now. We'd actually be able to make out the head and arms and legs. And I just can't wait for the chance to see our baby again. It's so exciting to me, it makes me wanna jump for joy and cry all at the same time!!

This was my first ultrasound that they do on the outside of my tummy. Which was WAY more comfortable then last time. Basically they rub this jelly on your lower abdomen then use the little tool and run it over your tummy, angled whichever way they need to see what they need to see with the baby. There's a big screen that I can see on the wall in front of me while I'm laying down... and there it was.... our baby! Looking so cute and babyish already with a big head and little legs and arms (in the picture though, the arms didn't really show up, but don't be concerned, it really does have arms) 

So with this ultrasound she was going to measure the fluid space behind the baby's neck. I guess if this space is bigger then a certain measurement then it's possible the baby MIGHT be showing signs that could lead to Down Syndrome. She measured this space three different times, then gives the lab the largest measurement for the highest possible risk. She also measured the baby from the crown of it's head to the end of its butt. She said it's about 6cm, which is about 2inches. She then told me that that's a perfect length for the due date they gave me. So based on that, they have my due date correct so far, and the baby's growing just how it should be. 

Then... I got to hear the heartbeat!! She said she needed to measure the heart rate too. This was AWESOME, but also made me feel bad because I didn't think they'd let us hear it until my OB appointment on Monday which Troy actually gets to go to. He couldn't go to this appointment with me and was pretty bummed to find out what he missed :-( but happy everything was going good. Let me take a second to get all emotional.... He's really concerned with what he'll miss and it's getting hard to keep his spirits up about it as we get closer and closer to this deployment. It just breaks my heart because it's just so sad. I feel so bad for him and the two of us would really appreciate and really need your support and your prayers especially as the months progress. 

The heart beat was 155/min! Wow, that's fast. I didnt' realize that baby's hearts beat so quick. It sounded great! It was so exciting and made me feel sooo much better since I've sort of been in this drag since I have not really been aware of what's been going on with our baby. it helped sooo much to see and hear!

She then showed me where the baby's feet and legs were and explained how they were positioned and where the arms were and how they were positioned as well. It was actually pretty obvious and clear to me where they were. But one of the legs looked all weird and I guess it was folded under the baby sorta like criss cross applesauce style while the other was up and bent. Both of the arms were extended almost reaching up. We talked a little about this then she asked me if she was able to tell, if i wanted her to find out what the gender was. She implied it still might be too early, but she could try to see. AWWW!!! how tempting! I've been dying to know! But, I just could not bare to do that without Troy. He HAS to be there for that one! So MAYBE during my appointment on Monday, depending on what they're going to do, we can ask them to try to find out for us. I don't want to get my hopes up just yet, but oooh! i just want to know SO bad! Plus, I'm hoping for a girl, Troy's hoping for a boy and keeps jokingly rubbing it in that he KNOWS it's going to be a boy. How great would it be to say "i told you so!" when we find out it's actually a girl. :-P aww that will be a great day either way!

After the ultrasound was all done and everything looked good there, they sent me to the next room for the second portion of the test. I don't think I explained this before. Basically the test has two parts. The ultrasound which will measure that neck thing and the heartbeat, plus a blood sample taken from me. The blood then goes up to a lab where they'll check for proteins and such and depending on the number they get from that, if it's above "normal" then they'll place it in a category of say 1out of 500,000 chance of the baby having Down Syndrome, depending on how much they find in the blood the category could be a larger chance or smaller chance. Then, when I'm about 15-20 weeks along, they'll do one more blood test and take the numbers from both tests, add them, and determine a fairly realistic risk for Down Syndrome. At that point if everything's fine, we don't have to do anything. If not, they'll call us in to talk options for further testing and such.

So my right arm has this crazy vein that sticks out all the time and I always thought it'd be a good vein to draw blood from. But for some reason they always seem to pull the blood from my left arm. Well this time the lady actually looked at both arms and went for the right. Well, then we found out why they might be too scared to take it from the left all the time. She put the needle in my arm and it made the blood squirt out and drip down my arm. Ew! But she got what she needed to get and now I just wait.