The Ultrasound

   (the head is on the left)

Sorry for the delay in posting about the ultrasound.  I've been sick with a bad cold and I was waiting to figure out how to post the photo (turns out that it wasn't nearly as hard to post it as I thought that it would be).

Anyways, we went for our first ultrasound on Monday.  I had gone to the appointment expecting to see how the baby was developing and to get a Nuchal Translucency test.  The NT test is a new way to screen for Down's and other chromosomal abnormalities using a measurement of fluid from behind the baby's neck.  To get a good ultrasound picture, one must drink an enormous amount of wather.  This is truly the worst part of the test - by the time that I got to Calgary, I had to pee SO bad!  However, there was no opportunity to relieve the pressure until after the ultrasound tech had pushed a wand all over my full bladder.  At least she got a good reading...

We were lucky to arrive early for our appointment as the clinic quickly became busy after we had arrived.  When my name was called, Scott and I headed into the back. The ultrasound tech quickly scolded Scott for coming with me (I had told him that he could come) and sent him back to the waiting room.  I lay on the table, she poured the goopy stuff all over my stomach, turned the screen away from me and began the test without saying anything.  When I asked her a question about the NT test, she informed me that they don't do NT tests on 33 year old women at that clinic and I would need to go to a different clinic.  I informed her that I had specifically scheduled the NT test for this appointment but she refused to budge. I became quite frustrated with her, partly because I found her to be fairly rude but also because I was now being told something different than I had been told when I booked the appointment (it turns out that there was a combination of errors on the part of my doctor and the clinic but I still feel frustrated that I was given the wrong informatin when I booked the appointment).  Anyways, she finished doing her measurements (or whatever it was that she was doing - she never did tell me) and she went to bring Scott into the room.  She did brighten slightly in mood when she described what we could see on the screen (she finally turned it so that I could see it).  The image sorta looks like a baby but it also kinda looks like a tadpole with arms and legs.  She showed us the heart (which is quite big in comparison to the rest of the baby's body) and told us that it was beating at 168 beats per minute (which she said was fine).  Our baby already seems to be advanced in its development as it was measuring 11 weeks 2 days when I thought that I was only 11 weeks 1 day!  Neither Scott nor I cried during the ultrasound as it wasn't as emotional as I was expecting it to be. However, seeing the image definitely made things seem more real for me and I have been much more excited about the pregnancy since seeing the image of the baby.  

As for the NT test, we have decided not to rebook it.  I would have had another 2 1/2 weeks to get the test done but we have decided that it wasn't something that we were going to go forward with.  This is a very personal decision but one that seems right for us.  The test isn't conclusive but does give a good indication of possible risks.  However, even if the test indicated that there was a possible issue, I don't think that I would terminate the pregnancy.  If I am unsure that I could terminate, I don't think that there is much point in getting the test done.  The odds of there being a problem with the pregnancy are very small and I'm just going to trust that everything will fine.