This is what I had been waiting for – the first trimester ultrasound scan and combined screening. Also marking the end of the first trimester.
While many things could still go wrong, if no issues are detected in these tests and scan, risks from now on would be notably lower. I had managed to stay surprisingly calm over the past weeks, not stressing too much, but a small part of me was secretly counting days. It really helped to have our romantic getaway to Rome on the weekend before!
Our appointment was scheduled for 9am Tuesday 30th of May, right after the long bank holiday weekend. Perfect I thought.
Not!
On the Friday before we got on a deal that was due to be launched on Tuesday morning. There was no way I was going to cancel our appointment! The situation wasn’t ideal, but it wasn’t a disaster either – I’d just need someone to cover for me for a few hours . I made myself a to-do list on the plane and read all emails related to the deal on the flight back from Rome. We got home at 1am on Monday night and I woke up 6am the next morning to go to work early. I was tired but determined and managed to get all preparations done and we were ready to announce the transaction at 8am. Half an hour later I was running to the tube station to get to UCLH Maternity Ward by 9am!
I made it! Adrenaline rushing through my veins, huffing and puffing, I got to the hospital where the baby’s Daddy was already waiting. We sat down and waited for 30 minutes as the doctors were running late. I realised this might take awhile.
And then they called us in. We were both nervous. The worse case scenario in my head was that they would find a dead foetus, that had died weeks earlier. A missed miscarriage, where a foetus dies, but the body does not recognise the pregnancy loss or expel the pregnancy tissue.
Bus as soon as the doctor pressed the ultrasound device on my tummy we could see and hear the baby! Just magical…
(Apologies for poor picture quality, it’s a photo of a photo, but you get the idea!)
The doctors were careful not to say anything before they had finished their examination (lasted about 45 minutes), but for me seeing our baby and hearing his/her heart beating was already a win!
The main challenge was the position of the baby, upside down. To take the measurements, doctors prefer a neutral position (not extended or curled up). In the end they managed to get the measurements of the baby as well as the thickness of the nuchal translucency (NT). The NT scan is used as a screening test for Down’s Syndrome. Many babies with Down’s Syndrome have an increased amount of fluid under the skin at the back of the neck which is why this measurement is taken. Together with blood tests (hence the “combined screening”) doctor’s can determine with 80% accuracy whether you are high or low risk to have a baby with a chromosomal abnormality (Down’s, Patau or Edwards).
Some foetal biometry:
- Foetal Heart Rate: 157bpm
- Crown-rump length: 63mm
- Nuchal Translucency: 1.2mm
All good! 🙂
Our due date was changed to December 7th (from 9th) as the baby’s size matched weeks 12+5, so we were a few days ahead!
In addition, the doctors checked certain body parts like skull/brain, heart, spine, abdomen, stomach, bladder, hands and feet. They can tell if the organs look normal compared to what they should look like at this stage, but not much else (next scan will be more accurate). Also placenta, amniotic fluid and cord (3 vessels) were examined. All seemed fine.
We were given the opportunity to wait for an hour and get the combined screening results in person. The alternative would have be to receive a phone call in case of bad news, or good news by mail. We stayed. I did not even consider rushing back to the office without knowing, so I alerted my boss who assured me everything was under control.
We went to grab breakfast to kill time (and to eat as we were starving by then). I was eager to send the scan picture to our families but the baby’s Daddy, the sensible one of us two, wanted to wait for the results. What an emotional rollercoaster!!
After what felt like F O R E V E R we were called in again. It was good news. Probability of abnormality was 1/20 000. While the combined screening does not rule our all genetic syndromes or chromosomal abnormalities, this was very reassuring. And the doctor was lovely. As far as she could tell, everything seemed perfectly normal. We left after booking our next scan (at 20 weeks), end of July.
I felt relieved and blessed! And also exhausted from the emotions and short sleep. I went back to work to wrap up our transaction.
What a day <3
xoxoxo,
Sini
So happy for you and Oli 🙂 xxxx
Thank you Larissa – we are absolutely over the moon!