13 Week Genetic Testing

aren't 4D scans so cool?

This morning I had my 13 week genetic testing done. Well, I had the blood work part done a few weeks ago, but the ultrasound and genetic counseling were today.

I didn't have this done when I was pregnant with the Little Miss, so the whole process was new to me.

Basically we discussed genetic issues in my family and Mr M's family. It's not the greatest, so I have a "negative history". That's not news- my siblings and I have always joked about the shallow gene pool we come from and the chances of getting x, y, or z during our lifetimes.

Then I had an ultrasound done where the doc was looking for certain things. There's markers for Downs and Trisomy 13/18 that they look for, but everything looked good. The baby's legs and arms are developing well, as is the abdomen (no intestines outside the stomach), and the brain and umbilical cord all look good. I also got to hear the heartbeat when he checked the blood flow.

The ultrasound machine has 4D capability, which was really cool to see- I never had a 4D scan of LMS, so this was the first time I got to see one in person.

The baby wasn't super cooperative, so it was hard to get a good view of some things: the doc says there's a 75% chance the baby's a girl, but he wouldn't go higher than that since he couldn't get a better view. A friend of mine had this same test done (also at 13 weeks) and he was able to tell her she was having a girl for sure, and she did. The doc's a specialist in this type of thing and has lots of practice, even though most OB's won't tell you till you're at least 18 weeks.

The take-away from this appointment was that my risk factors are very low, though still there, of course, as they are for everyone. I probably could have turned down the whole thing, but it satisfied my curiosity. I like to be able to plan for things, and if the baby is going to have health challenges I need to prepare myself for that, as does Mr M. Even if something had been shown to be wrong, it would only have been so we could plan for the challenges the future would bring. We definitely wouldn't terminate.

My next scan is at the end of May (at 22 weeks), though I have the option of going in at 18 weeks also. I don't have that one scheduled and don't think I'll do it, but we'll see.

As the nausea tapers off, and the baby's not big enough for me to feel the movements yet, and the symptoms of pregnancy become less obvious (to me anyway), it was nice to see that he/she is doing well. Quite wiggly, in fact :) And so reassuring to see the baby growing and developing.