Have my NT scan tomorrow- UPDATE

[imoan]

Has anyone been through it yet? What should I expect?

I'm excited to see another ultrasound (and finally see my baby looking more like an actual human instead of a gummy bear), but I'm nervous. Nervous that the test will come back positive. Nervous that my baby stopped growing some time ago without my knowledge.

I never thought I'd worry about this stuff. UGH!

UPDATE: Just got back! It went great! The nuchal folds are measuring right smack dab in the middle of normal. I get my bloodwork results on Tuesday, but the dr seemed pretty confident that I was good to go.

And this ultrasound was AMAZING! It looks like an actual human... watching it move. OH MY GOD!

[jessuhmarie]

I was incredibly worried, but it was the coolest u/s. For mine, I just went in with the tech and she did an abdominal u/s. It was the first time the baby actually looked like a human instead of a weird-shaped blob. The baby was going crazy in there with kicks and rolls. It was really cute. She took loads of screenshots, then the doctor came in and looked through the saved shots she took and took a few of his own because the baby really did not want to stay still enough. I then took the order for blood work down to the lab and gave them a few vials. I never got a call, but my doctor told me my results at my next appointment.

ETA Good luck!

[joolz]

The one here is different than yours, I think, but my ultrasound is next Monday and I had my bloodwork yesterday.

Last time, we had the ultrasound and the doctor did the measurements, then we met with a genetic counsellor who went over all the blood and measurements, and then showed us our statistics and gave us pictures of the ultrasound. It took about an hour and fifteen minutes.

[joolz]

And p.s. good luck! I'm sure everything will be great.

[alzi]

They take your bloods and you coo at your baby. It's relatively painless, unless you are a baby like me.

[imoan]

The blood doesn't bother me. I used to give every 56 days like clockwork. I was told that this is usually not done via the dildo cam... which makes me happy because I just don't feel like shaving. But then again, my luck is that they'll need to break the dildo cam out and I'll be embarrassed. I probably should shave anyway.

Blech!

[wkatie]

I didn't do this last time and mine is schedule for Nov 13th, so I have no advice, but good luck! Let us know how it goes. Do you know if they will give you a guess on sex (if you are going to find out)?

[emisi]

Oct 30, 2012 16:45:27 GMT -5 wkatie said:

I didn't do this last time and mine is schedule for Nov 13th, so I have no advice, but good luck! Let us know how it goes. Do you know if they will give you a guess on sex (if you are going to find out)?

Probably not, it's way too early. The earliest you can really tell is 15 or 16 weeks.

[imoan]

Oct 30, 2012 16:45:27 GMT -5 wkatie said:

I didn't do this last time and mine is schedule for Nov 13th, so I have no advice, but good luck! Let us know how it goes. Do you know if they will give you a guess on sex (if you are going to find out)?

Good luck on Nov 13th!

We are planning on find out. I'm not sure if we'll want a guess. I know it's an educated guess at that point (and not just a wild shot into the wind)... but as badly as I want to know what this thing is... I almost want to just wait until my 20 week u/s. What a bummer if we found out one way or another and at the 20 week, we found out the guess was wrong? Then again, we all hear stories about the 20 week sex pronunciation being wrong once the kid comes out. So I guess there's always a chance!

At the very least, if we do ask for a guess... we'll keep that strictly to ourselves (well, I'll probably tell the boards) until the 20 week u/s.

[imoan]

Oct 30, 2012 16:49:37 GMT -5 emisi said:

Oct 30, 2012 16:45:27 GMT -5 wkatie said:

I didn't do this last time and mine is schedule for Nov 13th, so I have no advice, but good luck! Let us know how it goes. Do you know if they will give you a guess on sex (if you are going to find out)?

Probably not, it's way too early. The earliest you can really tell is 15 or 16 weeks.

Actually, more and more techs are making an educated guess (the whole "angle of the dangle" theory) at the NT scan. Of course, although educated, it's still a guess and I can totally understand why some people would just rather not have the tech venture a guess.

[wkatie]

I think I will have a hard time NOT asking for a guess, I'm a pumper for information like that. I definitely wouldn't place too much stock in it though. Anyway, it will be fun to see your baby and it will be fun for us to hear about it!

[underwaterrhymes]

Ours was pretty cool. It was neat to see the baby look like a little person as opposed to a blob. And it was a relief to get the news that the baby had a nasal bone and that the nuchal translucency was within the normal range (1.77). (We were doing MaterniT21 anyway, but it was still good to hear.)

The tech (actually the OB who came in later) also did give us a guess as to the baby's sex. She told us, based on the "angle of the dangle" that she thought it was a boy and this was later confirmed with the MaterniT21 results.

Good luck!

[jssymom14]

I didn't do the n/t test because of insurance purposes and paying out of pocket and it wouldn't have changed anything for us. I have my 17 week appt tomorrow and cannot wait to schedule a/s scan as soon as possible to see the little one!

How exciting you get to see baby!

[imoan]

See Update

[wkatie]

Yay imoan and baby! I'm sure that feels great! How exciting to see a little mover and shaker.

[HoneySpider]

Woohoo how exciting!

[urbancowgirl]

Yay! Glad to hear it went well.

[joolz]

Eee! Yay for healthy ultrasound and seeing the babe!

[jssymom14]

Awesome it went so well!!

[ladygrey]

Very cool. I can't wait for that - it sounds so surreal.

[imoan]

For those planning on doing the NT scan...

There really was nothing crazy special about it. I met with a "genetic counselor" beforehand that basically explained why they were doing the NT scan, how the risk could go up, how the risk could go down, what your options were for follow up tests if the risks were higher, what to expect the US tech to do, etc.

Then we got called in for the US. It was abdominal. Basically we got to watch the kid squirm around for half an hour or so as she worked the kid into different positions and tried to get multiple views of the nuchal fold to measure it multiple times. (Note: Don't go with a super full bladder. The US tech was actually astounded that my bladder was THAT full and I wasn't whining. But it was making it harder for her to see things. She actually had me empty partially TWICE to get a better view).

Then the dr came in and basically reviewed the US tech's measurements (made sure they were around the same each time) and then he checked himself with the US to double check that they were getting the same measurement. Then he told me where in the risk range the measurements fell.

Then I went downstairs and got the bloodwork (just one vial of blood).

While it was stressful going into it... it wasn't as scary and nerve-wracking as I thought it was going to be. Although, the ultrasound kind of made you forget about why you were ACTUALLY there. LOL

Good luck to EVERYONE who is having this tests done shortly!

[underwaterrhymes]

Aw, yay! I'm so glad it went well!

[jessuhmarie]

I'm glad everything went well! I loved seeing LO look like a human!

[shellbear09]

Glad it went well! I agree it is the coolest thing to see your baby actually looking like a baby and moving. Congrats!