Anatomy Scan

After feeling movement on Sunday I was feeling pretty confident going in to the scan on Tuesday.  The timing could not have been better.  I was almost certain we would see and hear the heartbeat again.  (In case you are holding your breath, we did and everything looks normal.  Breathe and read.)

So far we have chosen not to have any genetic or risk screenings.  No NT scan or first trimester screening, no quad or Materni21 testing.  The Materni21 is a newer test that can be done anytime during pregnancy (though it is usually done as early as possible so that one can make an informed decision regarding termination).  We decided to wait and see what the anatomy scan revealed in terms of markers for chromosomal abnormalities before deciding to pay out of pocket for testing.  It had been 8 long weeks since my last ultrasound.

After feeling movement and truly believing that we would hear the heartbeat at the scan, I started thinking about chromosomes and birth defects and wondering if we should have done the testing.  The day of the scan I went through a number of conditions that would be just fine, as long as there would be no pain or suffering during life.  I admit this is a bit macabre, so I won't go through my list, I just hoped for normal brain, spine, organ systems and heart.

It occurred to me about a week or so before the scan that to worry about fetal anomalies and genetics, or even to get excited about finding out the sex, you first have to be convinced that the fetus is in fact, alive and growing.  As silly as it sounds, this idea completely changed the way I started thinking about this scan. 

Every appointment until this one has been about whether or not we would still have a heartbeat.  F and I made a conscious decision to focus on the excitement of learning the sex of our future child.  The fear of not hearing a heartbeat was still there, but we had something else, something so exciting, to focus on instead.  Our attitude going in to this scan was completely different than times before.  I didn't feel sick, I didn't feel dread or fear (at least the fear wasn't overwhelming), I felt excitement and a bit giddy.  This also meant that we actually had to find out the sex.  And that is how we made the decision to find out that we are having a boy.

We are having a boy. 

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Measurements:

fetal weight: 8 oz, measuring 18w1d
heartbeat: 150 bpm
fundal height: 19 cm
cervix: 35 mm
blood pressure: 102/58
weight gain: 7 lbs