It's Official!!

For the last 8 weeks or so, Keith and I have known that I am pregnant. At the end of October, we decided to tell our immediate family members and last week, we finally felt comfortable telling "the whole world" (since we have successfully made it through the first trimester with no problems)!! We are so excited about our little bundle of joy and we can't wait to see what the future holds.

On December 5th, I had an ultrasound and we were able to see the baby for the first time. (Well, this is actually a lie....I had an ultrasound on November 3rd and we were able to see the yolk sac and the heartbeat. That was a very exciting time, but for the most part, it just looked like a small blob). This time, we were able to see what looked like a "real" baby, with arms and legs and a face. It was truly overwhelming and awesome! I still can't believe I have a baby growing inside of me, especially since I am not "showing" yet.

When we went to the doctor to have the ultrasound, they also did a "Nuchal Translucency Screening" or NT scan. It is a first trimester screening that assess the risk of Down Syndrome and some other chromosomal abnormalities. Based on the ultrasound results, the doctor said everything looks normal but they also took blood and they'll get results on the blood work in about a week. We decided to do this particular screening because it was so non-invasive, it is covered by insurance, and they were going to do the ultrasound anyways. Also, if we found out there is a good possibility of the baby having Down Syndrome, then we could start preparing and learning as much as we can before it is born. Sounds like I am a pretty low-risk though, considering our family health history and what the doctor saw today.

My next appointment with the doctor will be on January 6th. This will be a basic "checkup" and we won't have another ultrasound until around 20 weeks, at which time we will be able to find out the baby's gender. :-)

Here are some pictures that we got from our appointment on December 3rd. Isn't he/she cute?

The baby's CRL (crown to rump length) was 5.65 cm.

The technician said that is right where it should be.

His/her heartbeat was measured at 171 beats per minute

A view of the entire babyThis is the baby facing the camera. It sort of looks like it is waving at us!Here is a view of one of it's arms, from above.This is it's bottom and one of it's legs.