First Trimester Screening/Tests

I went to the hospital today to do part of my first trimester screening. Basically, the first trimester integrated screening looks at blood test results (I drew blood 1.5 weeks ago) and an ultrasound (done today) to give a report on risks for Down Syndrome and some other disorders.

Good news -- we have a very low risk for Down Syndrome! Based on my age alone, I had about a 1/500 or 1/700 chance of my baby having DS (different sources say different numbers). But based on my own blood test results and measurements taken during my ultrasound today, our baby has about a 1/5200 chance of Down Syndrome, and less than 1/100,000 chance of some other chromosomal defect/disorders that are more rare.

My ultrasound took a long time because the baby wasn't exactly cooperating! It was hard to get a good picture of the back of the baby's neck (they measure how much fluid there is there, because a lot of fluid is an indicator of Down Syndrome). I had to twist and turn and try laying on my belly for a while to see if we could get the baby in a different position!

At the end of the visit, they printed out a bunch of ultrasound pictures and gave me a CD with the photos as well. Many of them are still pretty hard to decipher, but here is my favorite out of the bunch:

Some of the other photos show the baby's arms and legs better, so it was good to see those as well. WuBerry is looking like a real baby now! Looking good!