Nuchal Translucency Scan

Today marks week 13. I went in for the nuchal translucency (NT) scan today. It is essentially a specialized ultrasound where they measure the fold of the baby's neck to assess the risk of Down's syndrome, cystic fybrosis, etc. It is combined with bloodwork to give you an idea of your risk and then if you are high risk, more tests and preparation can be done. I won't have an accurate assessment until my blood work comes back in a week, but the technician said that everything looked good and all the measurements seemed normal. I went into it not very worried as I think the risk is already pretty low given my age and genetic background.
And while I know this is a serious test, I had a blast at the appointment. It was so much fun. It was a long ultrasound because to get the neck measurement, the baby needs to be in the proper position. Butterball was sleepy initially and she couldn't get him/her to move from the back of the uterus. She kept moving the probe and then she would tap on my belly and finally Butterball woke up and bounced around a bit. The technician was extremely thorough and showed me Butterball's hands and feet and she said we were still measuring right on target for the October 31st due date. I was so happy that she gave me three pictures. I am particularly in love with the profile. She said that we should try to figure out whose profile it resembles. Any takers?
Week 13 is exciting. My book says that Butterball should be about the size of a peach. This is going to sound crazy, but it is finally sinking in that I am pregnant! It was so nice to go have an ultrasound today where I wasn't really worried about what we would find. It is also so much fun now that the news is out to most everyone and I can talk freely and happily about it.

Fluff

Well, I said I was going to take belly pictures as regularly as I could. This one is 12 weeks and 2 days. I am sure I will be excited to see the whole series of belly pics towards the end of the pregnancy to watch how my body changed, but right now I am just embarrassed by this one. That fluff that my midwife spoke of seems to be infiltrating my waist line. My clothes are still fitting pretty well, but I tend to get a bit of muffin top especially towards the end of the day and I am always excited to put on the comfy pants when I get home. This is definitely not as romantic as the nice smooth belly bump that I am looking forward to. Alas, when Sean gets home I will be 14 weeks and we will take another belly pic. Then, I would like to be more diligent and get one every week to make sure I capture the "pop."

Pregnancy Brain

I don't know when pregnancy is actually supposed to begin affecting your brain. Surely all those hormones start flooding the neurons pretty quickly so that is what I am chalking the events of today up to. I am not sure why, but I actually woke up flustered. Lily was ready to go for a walk, but I just couldn't get myself together for a while. I was running late all morning, we didn't go walking til nine and I didn't leave for school until ten. I was annoyed with myself because there is often not many parking spaces left after ten. I was so pleased when I got to school and found plenty of open spaces. I sighed a sigh of relief, this wasn't going to be such a bad day after all. I gathered my things and happily skipped into school. Then, as I was approaching my office, I realized my hands were awfully light, and how was I going to get into my office with no keys? I frantically begin going through my purse, where on earth could I have misplaced my keys in the walk from my car to my office? Ah, of course, the passenger seat of the car! Alissa came to the rescue and drove me home so I could get my spare car key and get the rest of my keys out of the car. So, I didn't actually get to work until a little after 11am!
I was also supposed to call my doctor today to talk about an appointment for my NT scan. This is the screening done between 12 and 14 weeks to assess the risk of down syndrome. Sean and I were unsure if we should get this done, but they booked us an appointment to make sure we had the option in the specific time frame after we were surprised by already being 12 weeks along. Yesterday, I had written the phone number on a small calender in my purse. I was going to do this before leaving for school this morning only to find I couldn't find the phone number anywhere in my purse. I could only conclude that I must have somehow left it at school. Yet, when I got to school for the second time and actually looked in my office, I still couldn't find the little calendar anywhere. I really thought I was losing it. I couldn't even remember the name of the specialist that does the NT scan so I couldn't look it up. This drove me nuts all day until I finally get home and see the calendar right on the kitchen table!
There is a great book called "The Female Brain" by Louann Brizendine, M.D. She states that the brain is actually sedated by the influx of progesterone in the first trimester leading to the sleepiness, etc. Then in the 6th to last month of pregnancy, the brain size and structure actually changes enough to see it shrinking on an MRI. The shrinking is actually just a massive restructuring of the brain and the neurons to prepare for motherhood and the size returns within 6 months after birth. CRAZY! So, today may be just the beginning of my potential insanity :)

And, on another note, HAPPY EARTH DAY! It is a great day to begin to think about ways to reduce your carbon foot print. I am excited to be as green as possible with Baby Butterball. First and foremost we are researching cloth diapering. I am also excited at the prospect of moving into a house of our own where we can compost and garden and implement energy saving strategies throughout the house. I will keep you posted on all of this.

Baby Butterball is a Pumpkin!

Well, it has been a pregnancy of surprises and I am sure there are many more to come. It turns out that even two biologists can be confused on the birds and the bees and we are definitely further along than originally thought. We had our first appointment today and we had the fantastic news that we are actually at 12 weeks and Butterball is no longer a Thanksgiving baby, but a Halloween baby! Our new estimated due date is October 31st!
Our appointment went really well. We got another ultrasound to date the pregnancy and Butterball was very active and bouncy. We watched as s/he moved around with arms waving. The picture is face on with a hand up near the forehead. We think the picture has a Halloween quality about it :) We also got to see and hear the heartbeat, a strong 161 beats per minute. Butterball was deemed very healthy and we are so relieved given the recent ups and downs.
We spent a good hour chatting with the midwife and going over what to expect. The good thing about suddenly skipping three weeks ahead in the pregnancy is that we are now exiting the first trimester and the risk of miscarriage is now incredibly low. Butterball is now the size of a plum, the critical formation phase is complete and 28 weeks of growth and maturation await.
We are now ready to start sharing the news with everyone and hopefully there will be more blog traffic! I am so excited to share this journey with all of our friends and family.
Given the new due date we are updating the widgets and tickers, but the Butterball nickname has already stuck! I will be taking another belly picture soon. So far, no actual wait gain, but the midwife said I should start feeling "fluffier" soon. We have our next prenatal visit May 19th.

How many weeks?!?!

We had a bit of a scare last night that led to the emergency room in Labor & Delivery at Akron General Hospital. I won't go into the gory details as the story ends happily with a healthy Butterball! They did a blood test that showed my HCG levels were good and an exam that showed everything looking normal. Then, they did an ultra-sound! The night was a whirlwind of emotions that culminated in relief and amazement in seeing Butterball on the screen. It was just a quick look, but we got to see the heart flicker as it was beating. Then we were shocked to hear the doctor say that Butterball is quite big and she thinks we are farther along in this pregnancy than originally thought....in fact she said perhaps 10 weeks! She said that they will need to do a more thorough ultrasound to accurately date the pregnancy. We are now waiting til our first appointment on April 18th to find out a lot more and hopefully get to see the baby again. We are so excited and already thinking about how we may get to meet the little one sooner than thought!

Our first blog post! Welcome!

Welcome to the Baby Butterball Blog! I have been meaning to set this up for awhile as we are so excited to document all aspects of this first pregnancy and share it with my family and friends across the country.
We are seven weeks into the pregnancy and decided to begin the requisite belly photos. We should have started earlier as you can already see my chiseled six pack has gone to the wayside. Alas, the things we sacrifice in pregnancy!
We are referring to the little one as Baby Butterball. This is in reference to our expected due date very near to Thanksgiving. What an amazing thing to be thankful for this year!
Butterball should be about the size of a blueberry now and sprouting limbs. Check out the widget to get a view of what s/he should look like.
Week 7 has brought some firsts. Aside from the belly photo, I finally got to experience morning sickness on a Friday afternoon. So far, I have been very lucky in only having a few gagging instances. Yesterday, however, the department had failed to turn down the heat from winter and my working environment is sweltering. After developing a headache from the heat, I decided to call it an early day around 1:30 pm. As I happily leave the building to head to my car, I find the university has decided to mulch all the flower beds. This has created an over-powering "earthy" smell of rotting wood and manure. I choked all the way to my car, managed to only spit up a little in the parking garage and rush home to the bathroom where all lunch was lost. Then, I promptly went to bed and slept for four hours.
Sean fed me soup and bread and ginger ale for dinner and I seem to have recovered nicely today. Did I mention I will be documenting the good, bad and ugly of pregnancy? I suspect most of it will be great!
Other than this instance and a lot of sleeping, I have been relatively symptom-free (knock on wood). It still seems quite unreal and I have to remind myself that I am pregnant sometimes. I am so anxious for our first doctor's appointment which is not until April 18th!
Thanks so much for reading and joining us on this journey!