Another hurdle... hurdled

Well, yet another thing has gone our way! Despite dealing with the bitchy OB and bloodwork confusion, we went ahead with the NT scan as scheduled. I, of course, was just excited to possibly get really good pics of the baby, but my brain simply would not think about the part that involved the genetic issues they were truly looking for as the purpose for this test. Unavoidable as it is, Justin and I sat with the genetic counselor beforehand and listened to her walk through our family histories and come to the estimation that there were no red flags... other than my age. As usual. Cuz I'm sooo old.  *eye roll*

So, off we go to the ultrasound room. This was by far the coolest moment in the pregnancy to date. The baby was moving all around and stretching out its skinny little legs (just like Mom and Dad, lol!) and waving and yawning(?). Too cool for words, but still surreal. She gives us her semi-professional guess at what we're having (though it is admittedly too early to say with certainty at only 12 weeks) and prints out some awesome shots for us to take home and add to our collection:

J says it looks like s/he is saying, "feed me!" Accurate, considering how hungry I've been.

After staring in amazement as the tech took the necessary measurements, it was back to the waiting room to hear the results of the scan plus bloodwork. After what seemed like a painfully long wait (really, probably less than ten minutes), we went back to the genetic counselor's office. Before we could get in the door, she said everything looked great! Whew! Apparently, my labs and the 1.5mm measurement of the nuchal fold (anything over 3mm is cause for concern, it's the fluid at the back of the neck) gave us such slim odds of Downs Syndrome and Trisomy 18 (which is fatal), that they were literally off the chart! I am so grateful for such definitive results so we don't have to make any tough decisions on whether or not to do more invasive testing. Now we will switch to the new OB on March 9th and get the anatomy scan at the end of March. That'll be half way already!!!

As for me, I am feeling pretty darn good. I have my moments where I am still worried that something will go wrong (I got a home doppler cheap from a friend today, but am so scared to use it and not find a heartbeat), but otherwise, I love window shopping / nursery plotting on Pinterest and looking cute in my maternity gear. I am already up 6 pounds! Leggings and dresses are my best friends right now. I refuse to look frumpy just because my waistline is expanding. My lovely office bathroom self portrait:

I'm starting to get more energy and even had trouble napping this weekend *gasp!* But all in all, I am enjoying this crazy trip so far.