Just Kidding... 14 Weeks!

And just like that we've jumped from somewhere around 13 weeks, 5 days to somewhere around 14 weeks, 2 days. In reality, it's not all that much of a difference, but it actually is a big deal in the prenatal world. When we went in for our test this morning, the technician first did a regular (Level 1) ultrasound to do some basic measurements. All of her measurements did not quite line up with the measurements we got in our first ultrasound, effectively bumping us up a few days. Of course, all of these high tech tests have a margin of error of a couple days, which is why they suggest just sticking with the due date indicated by your date of your last menstrual period. (For us, that's February 4 -- Mike's birthday!) According to the original ultrasound, it seemed the baby may actually come a few days after that, but according to the new one, it seems that the baby may actually come a few days before the 4th!

The big outcome of this is that we were too late for our integrated screening test (a test for Down Syndrome and other neural tube defects) that we went in for this morning. It has to be done before 14 weeks or it is no longer accurate. Therefore, we weren't able to do the test. I'm mildly annoyed with our doctor's office that they scheduled it so late in the supposed 13th week, cutting it so close, but oh well. In the end, it's not too big of a deal anyway. There's another test we can do instead in a few weeks, and there's really nothing much to worry about since I'm still under 35 and we don't have any family history of neural tube defects.

So, in the end, we didn't get to do the 3D (Level 2) ultrasound, but we do have new pictures from the Level 1 ultrasound that we did do. The heartbeat came in at about 150 beats per minute. The baby is about 83-84 millimeters (or 3 1/3 inches) long. This week is full of facial expressions -- squints, frowns, grimaces, and even some thumb sucking. No longer a shrimp, the baby is now about the size of a lemon. During the ultrasound, we were able to see him/her squirming and bopping around. A few of the shots are to the right. The first one is a side shot. You can see the head to the left and the body to the right. Down the back, you can see the developing spine. In the head, you can see the developing brain. On the bottom, below the body, you can see a leg curled up. The second shot is more of an overview, looking down at the baby. You can see the face and brain, and below the head you can see one arm laying across the chest. The other dot to the right of that arm is the other hand, which he/she is waving at us! :-) The final picture is more of a frontal view, again showing the face and body. The technician said that all looks good, given what they can see at 14 weeks.














And so, 14 weeks it is and working our way steadily into the 15th! Our next ultrasound will be at 19 weeks, and that's when we'll get to really check everything out in depth, including what's between those legs!