Just a blood test....surprise!

Today I had a blood screening. They draw my blood to see what kinds of chemicals the baby is excreting. These act as early warning signs for things like Down Syndrome, spinal defects, and other scary possibilities.

I thought it was going to be just a blood test. But lo and behold, I'm getting what's called the Full Integrated Screening, which includes 2 blood tests (the second one is in another 4 weeks) and oh yeah, a nuchal translucency ultrasound, as they look for visual cues.

Ultrasound? Right now? I felt bad because Greg didn't accompany me, and I felt dumb because I didn't know it was going to happen, but as soon as the baby showed up on the screen all I felt was wonder.

The photos do not do it justice, of course. It looked like a baby, very unlike the jellybean I last saw. There were legs, an obvious head with featured face, and the whole thing bucked and jerked around, very alive. There seemed to be so much room in there for it to move.

In the center shot the baby is looking directly at the camera, with its early eyes and brain visible. At one point (no pic) the camera saw only the legs and feet. So cute!

The doctor poked and prodded me trying to get the wiggly baby in the right position. She measured a "gap" in the baby's neck and the size of the nasal cavity. She said both looked completely normal - phew - and that everything else looked good too.

I then had my anti-climactic blood drawing and left.

We're going in a week from today to visit the OB and he definitely said there would be an ultrasound then, so Greg will get to see it, and we'll have video. If it were farther in the future I would truly feel bad!

Otherwise, I'm feeling very lucky, in two ways. Our medical coverage is apparently very good. I didn't even have a copay for this test. We'll be up to 3 ultrasounds in barely 14 weeks of pregnancy. After hearing the stories of others I know this is often not the case.

Lucky also, in that all the signs have been good so far! :)