The Secret's Path

These are pictures of me last Sunday, when I was 12 weeks 5 days pregnant.

Weight: 170 lbs. (I am normally 165 lbs.)
Waist (around navel): approx. 34 1/2 inches (I am normally approx. 32 inches)

I just got back from my appointment with the maternal-fetal medicine doctor, Dr. Lantz. In summary, everyone is doing fine. I had a nuchal translucency screen (a screening test to check for possibility of downs syndrome) today and met with the doctor. Dr. Lantz came in to take a look, and he said that one of the characteristics of downs babies is that you can't see their noses at this stage. We then looked at both babies, and we could clearly see a nose on each. Also, he said that the fluid on the back of the necks measured 1.8mm and 2.1mm. Anything less than 3mm is a good sign. The babies both measure between 2 and 2 1/2 inches from head to butt.

The ultrasound identified all of the major anatomic landmarks: arms, legs, head & face, a stomach, and a bladder on both babies. I heard the heartbeats for the first time, 159 and 161, which are both very good numbers. The ultrasound tech also looked at both of my enlarged ovaries, and verified the placement of both placentas: one is anterior and one is posterior (good--we didn't want either of them to cover my cervix). Everything checked out okay. She asked me if I wanted to know the sexes, so she told me with 80% confidence that baby B is a boy! They were both moving around a lot, doing flips, turns, and moving their arms and legs. Because of the continuous movement from baby A, she was unable to determine its sex. Dr. Lantz verified this information, stating that it was pretty difficult to tell, but he also thought baby B was a boy. Hopefully, we'll get confirmation of this and find out the sex of baby A at my 18 week ultrasound.

I am finished with Dr. Lantz's office unless something drastic happens. From now, on, my pregnancy will be treated similar to a singleton, only with more frequent ultrasounds.

Baby A at 12 weeks, 1 day

Baby B at 12 weeks, 1 day

This is a picture of Baby A's face. The ultrasound tech said the baby was looking right at us, but I can't see it.

Monday was our first anniversary! Yeah! I had no doubts that we would make it. So, we decided to celebrate the end of our honeymoon period by going out for a nice dinner. We went to a restaurant in Easton called Martini's. It was incredibly good. Joe had seasoned cooked mussels, salad, and a New York Strip, and I had butternut squash soup, salad, and a steak. Oh, and we also had a brownie sundae for desert. That was as close to keeping with tradition that we could come (saving the top of your wedding cake for the first anniversary).

Although we agreed not to give gifts, Joe surprised me with a beautiful silver bracelet! He is such a wonderful man, I consider myself extremely lucky that he picked me to be his wife.

Today was my first appointment with Dr. O'Brien at Chesapeake Women's Health. It was pretty uneventful. I talked with the doctor for a few minutes, completed an exam, and had a quickie ultrasound. Because I am scheduled for a nuchal translucency test in two weeks (a much larger/longer ultrasound), he did not take any measurements or print any pictures. I think he also wanted to see what my ovaries look like. He said they are just smaller than tennis balls and are easily felt by pressing lightly on my lower abdomen. Yikes. They are, however, getting smaller.

They gave me a goody bag filled with information and a few pregnancy magazines. I have my next appointment in four weeks. I will be seeing him every four weeks for the first 7 months or so, then it goes to every two weeks, then every week.