Perinatology Visit

Dear blog readers, today (or I guess I should officially say "yesterday" now) I went to La Jolla to UCSD for my nuchal translucency test. It's basically an ultrasound that, along with blood draws, checks for risks of Down's Syndrome, Trisomy 18, etc.

I went into the facility and immediately felt "underdressed" since I had just come from work and was wearing scrubs and a sweatshirt. Let me tell you, I think this was one of the fanciest hospitals I've seen. I felt a little awkward being there, but then the ultrasound tech introduced herself, and all was well. She had to have been one of the most patient people I've met in a long time.

The baby decided to be breech today, head facing my belly button and rear facing my spine. She jiggled and wiggled him/her, and could not get any cooperation whatsoever. So, she had me empty my bladder some, drink more water, etc. to try and reposition the little person. Now, for any of you who have had ultrasounds, you know they can be uncomfortable if you have to sit for a long time with full bladders.

I have to say, though, full bladder aside, the ultrasound was REALLY cool! I got to see the lobes of the brain, the spinal column, and the movement. The arms splayed out and we could see all the fingers at one point. He/she was wiggling all over, and when the ultrasound tech decided to "jiggle" the baby, it was really funny to watch because he/she hunkered down into a little ball, the arms splayed out to "balance" itself with all the movement, and it was looking all around when she stopped as if to "see" what was going on. When all of the jiggling and drinking water didn't work, the tech had me get up a few times to do toe touches. On the third try of toe touches, I accidentally swallowed the wrong way and had a coughing fit. That apparently did the trick, because when I laid back down, he/she was in the right position and we got the nuchal measurement! Everything normal! Hooray!