Ultrasound

Ken and I went in for the prenatal ultrasound today to check for neural tube defects. They measure the fluid-filled pouch at the back of the baby's neck using ultrasound. They also do a blood test (on me) to check for hormone levels. Together, they'll tell me the risk for these defects. Results come back next week.

They can now detect the baby through my abdominal wall (the uterus has grown such that it no longer hides behind the pelvic bone). I guess that's why everything in my abdomen feels bigger. They found the baby pretty quickly. It now measures 4.5 cm (about 1.78 inches). It is 11 weeks and 1 day old. It's heartbeat is 170 bpm. Apparently all of these things are normal.

It was moving around quite a bit. They were able to snap these pictures for us. Enjoy.


Where they determined the baby's length to be 4.5 cm


Baby's head


Another pic of the baby's head. You can see the white spine running down the back.


Where they measure the fluid-filled pouch at the back of the baby's neck:


Another fluid pouch measurement




One of its arms


Another arm


Apparently, these are its legs. I would have no idea if the picture wasn't labeled "legs"


More legs


It's still too early to tell if it's a boy or a girl. Both sexes have a protrusion between the legs at this stage (can kind of see that white circle in the picture above). We'll find out the sex in 7 weeks at our 18 week appointment. Honestly, we would be happy with either. We think it will be a boy due to the large number of boys currently residing at Hotel Roko. But time will tell. I know my mom is hoping for a girl (but again, will be happy with either since either will make her a first-time grandmother). She is very, very excited. I wonder which of these pictures will make their refrigerator.