12 week appointment

Rich and I went to the 12 week appointment yesterday after he got out of work. It was a pretty quick appointment. Did the standard pee in a cup, weight check, and Blood pressure check. The nurses also checked the heartbeat with a doppler. They said to not worry if we didn't hear it cuz I am still early and then they would have did an ultrasound to check. It took a little while, which made me nervous (I am always nervous going to appointments). But the nurse finally found it. It is really cool how they can put the doppler up to my stomach now and hear the baby's heartbeat. They asked us both if we heard it and we both said yes. But of course, when the nurses walked out of the room Rich told me he actually didn't hear it. I was so upset at him. I told him he should have spoke up. They would have helped him hear it. That's why I brought him to the appointment....to hear the heartbeat on the doppler. The doctor then came in and told us the NT scan we had a week ago showed low risk for Down's and that all my bloodwork and urine has been good so far. He said I've only gained two pounds so far, which is right on track. He also said that the ovarian cyst is no longer a concern anymore, even if it's there. I no longer have restrictions, which is a relief. I plan on seeing him in 4 weeks. He also gave me the information about where to schedule my level II ultrasound. I called today so that we could get the time of our choosing...it is scheduled for November 10 at 9:30am. So hopefully if this little one behaves, we will be able to find out then if we are having a boy or girl! Rich will be taking the day off so we can go there and then celebrate by going to lunch and starting our registry. We can't wait!

NT scan

On Saturday, we had our NT scan. NT means Nuchal translucency screening. According to babycenter.com this scan can help your healthcare practitioner assess your baby's risk of having Down syndrome (DS) and some other chromosomal abnormalities as well as major congenital heart problems.The NT test uses ultrasound to measure the clear (translucent) space in the tissue at the back of your developing baby's neck. Babies with abnormalities tend to accumulate more fluid at the back of their neck during the first trimester, causing this clear space to be larger than average.The NT scan must be done when you're between 11 and 14 weeks pregnant. It's usually offered along with a blood test in what's known as first-trimester combined screening. I was so happy that they scheduled it for a Saturday so Rich was able to see the baby himself, since he hasn't been able to make any appointments yet. I guess I was still expecting them to do an internal ultrasound, but was happy they were able to do it abdominally. I can't believe how big our baby has gotten and how much our baby has changed since the 8 1/2 week appointment. Although Rich denies that he said this, he did say "wow it actually looks like a baby". I saw the mouth and hands moving. It was wild! So they measured the back of the neck and the measurement was .77...and i think anything below 2 is good. They also did a finger prick for the genetic screening test. I will get the results next week when I go back to see my OB. The tech also checked on my left ovary where I had the three cysts. I thought a week or so ago, I may have burst one of them...and I think I was right cuz there is only one cyst left...hopefully that will go away soon. Here are two pictures they gave us from the ultrasound.

I have been feeling pretty good still. I am a little less tired than I have been but it's still there. Haven't had any morning sickness. Yesterday, however, I woke up with stomach hurting..I ended up vomitting three times. I couldn't hold anything down. I thought that maybe it was related to pregnancy but was a little confused that it would wait til 11 weeks ago. Later on in the day though it ended up going the other way. So I must have had a stomach bug. I feel a little better today. I am able to keep food down. And no more stomach issues since early this morning. So don't know where this stomach bug came from but happy I am feeling better.