Tic Tac Week Thirteen

Yay! We made it to the last week of the first trimester. Thankfully, with the positive results from the ultrasound, I was able to stop taking the progesterone pills last week and I am feeling great! No more all day nausea!

Tic Tac is now almost three inches long, about the size of a pea pod, and weighs nearly an ounce. Proportion-wise, her body is starting to catch up with her head, which makes up just a third of her body size now. Fingerprints have formed on our baby's tiny fingertips and tiny vocal cords are developing. She now has more than two million eggs in her ovaries! Her skin is still thin and translucent so her veins and organs are clearly visible.

My uterus is now about the size of a small melon and has began to move towards my naval, which is causing my belly to protrude even more. Thankfully, no one has noticed (or being polite enough to not ask us directly)!

Tic Tac Week Twelve

This pregnancy is considered a 'high-risk' pregnancy because I am over 35 years of age, but the nice part of being 'high-risk' is that our insurance company is covering many of the additional screenings and testings.

Earlier this week, we met with a perinatologist, an obstetrician whose focus is the medical and surgical management of high-risk pregnancies, for the 1st Trimester Integrated Screening. This screening includes a high resolution ultrasound that measure the clear area in the back of the baby's neck between the spinal column and the skin to check for markers of Down Syndrome. Although the Panorama screening we had done earlier in the pregnancy showed a low risk for Down Syndrome, the high resolution ultrasound offered another screening option. Everything looked great!

Most of Tic Tac's critical systems are fully formed! The most dramatic development for this week is her reflexes. She is opening and closing her fingers and curling her toes. Her eye muscles will clench and her mouth is making sucking movements. If I poke my belly, Tic Tac will squirm in response but I still won't be able to feel the movements. I am sure Damith and Siobhan will like 'playing' with Tic Tac as our pregnancy progresses. Tic Tac is just over two inches long and weighs half an ounce, about the size of a plum.

Test Results

We received a call from the doctor's office today with the results of the Panorama test that were done during week nine...

Baby is very healthy! 

Everything is low risk; as it was a screening test, they can't officially say the results were negative, but there is less than a 0.01% chance of the baby having any of the trisomy and monosomy conditions tested for. Also, the tests revealed that I am not a carrier for Cystic Fibrosis, Spinal Muscular Atrophy, and Fragile X Syndrome.

Damith will be surrounded by females!

The screening showed a 99% chance that the baby is a girl! We will confirm the sex of the baby at the 20 week ultrasound, but we are confident with these results and are happy to share them, especially with Siobhan.

Update: Siobhan is happy that she will be a big sister! She is sharing with everyone (literally anyone who will listen) that her baby sister is in mommy's tummy. I need to get used to this!

Tic Tac Week Eleven

Baby hasn't grown much since last week; now about 1.6 inches long and still weighs about 0.25 ounces. Arms and legs continue to grow and are able to start bending and moving. Although I still cannot feel these movements, they are so effortless that they look like water ballet. The diaphragm is forming and thus in the coming weeks I may start feeling the baby have hiccups. Sexual organs are forming but are not yet distinguishable by ultrasound.

Baby is the size of a fig

Tic Tac Week Ten

Tic Tac is the size of an olive, about and inch and half long, crown to bottom and weighing a quarter of an ounce. Bone and cartilage are forming and at this stage are still quite soft and fragile. The liver and kidneys are formed and starting to function. Baby's fingers and toes are no longer webbed and tiny nails are forming. Peach fuzz hair is beginning to grow on baby's tender skin.

I have been surprised at how accommodating my body has become with this pregnancy. As the doctor said, my body knows what is happening and starting to change early; but I wish my body would slow down just a bit with some of the changes! I am already having to drag out the maternity clothes.