Close up of Peanut Legs on March 12, 2009

Peanut on March 6, 2009 (legs left, head right)

Peanut on March 6, 2009 (legs to the left, head to the right)

Peanut on February 17, 2009 (kind of a blob next to an egg sac)

Trimester in Review

Peanut as of March 12, 2009

Here we are, starting off week 18. Time to review the first trimester. There were tests and nausea and there was book reading. There were ultrasounds and new underwear. This whole thing only goes for 40 weeks, so that means we're almost to the halfway mark, where we will find out the Sex!

Baby:

As it stands now, the little tike weighs 8.5 oz (!) and is about 6" long (!!) from crown to rump! I can feel little kicks and have been for the past few days, which is startling but wonderful to feel. The babe is seemingly completely constructed and looks like a baby-arms, legs, ribcage, head, major organs, eyes and ears and face in place. By the end of this week the little one should be able to hear!

Symptoms:

The Nausea: HAS ENDED! I can declare this now with certainty! (Knock on wood) This is a relief and a wonderful feeling. More than that, my hunger pangs, which at one point were like thunderingly monstrous earthquakes of nausea and pain, have now subsided back to their normal human hunger level. That means no more peanut butter next to the bed and no more emergency hamburger rations at six o'clock in the morning.

My Clothes: No longer fit! I made a sort of early run to Ross to stock up on maternity pants and shirts (CHEEP) and got some very nice presents of cute maternity clothes from very caring folks. My new duds look great, so I don't feel bad about not fitting into my old stuff, which I have packed away. Around week 12 or 13 I also had to upgrade a size in underwear--an abrupt change that took place over a couple of frightening days, not weeks. Since I got clothes a little early, I have not felt like I had to squeeze into one thing. That is very important. If I had waited until I really needed new clothes, I am sure I would have been miserable for the short time when nothing fit and probably would have developed weird body issues. As it is, I'm really digging my new pregnant figure, even my oblong belly button. I am limited on pants quantity, though, so if you notice pants not rotating through the daily selection very quickly, have some sympathy, ok? :)

My Boobs: Are going through a growth spurt of their own. My husband seems to appreciate it, but I continue to warn him that Pride comes before the Fall. One might say their natural frequency has noticably increased as well.

My Teeth: Though this may seem like some fantastical fantasy to all y'all, to my Mother and I this is no joke. I got my first-ever cavity and first-ever filling last week. This cavity, on the chomping surface of a rear molar, is a direct result of my pregnancy. I know this is true because the same thing happened to my mother (on similar teeth) for both of her children, and the rest of her life has been generally cavity-free. Hormones do crazy things. From what I understand, this is not as clear cut a relationship for most as it is for my mother and myself. However, it is well accepted that for most women pregnancy can be associated with an increased risk of gingivitis and cavities (according to my illustrious dentist).

Reading List: From the Hips, What to Expect When You're Expecting, and Diaper Free.

Movie List: The Business of Being Born, Pregnancy for Dummies

First Trimester Screening:

During the first trimester, around week 11, a screening test for genetic disorders (such as Downs and Trisomy) is made available to new parents. We did tons of research on this test, and determined that its worth as a test is very questionable. In it, they measure a thickness of tissue behind the baby's neck in an ultrasound. This is called the 'nuchal translucency'. This measurement, when combined with the results from a blood test, puts you in either a 'high risk' bin or a 'low risk' bin. The results should not be considered reliable at all, really. In practice, this tool is used mainly to determine who among parents might want to get amniocentesis later (a genetic test done on withdrawn amniotic fluid) or CVS (a weirder test for the same stuff using cells scraped off the placenta)--both of which are painful procedures that present a significantly elevated risk of miscarriage. YIPE. The results for those two tests are accurate enough to be taken seriously, but even they are not immune to error.

As it turns out, in this first test, the 'high risk' bin only indicates that your infant has about a 10% chance of being abnormal. That means a whopping 90% of 'high risk' kids are fine. What's more, the 'low risk' bin carries a percentage risk of genetic disorder too, just somewhat lower. Since I'm relatively young, we figured that my eggs are probably well inside their shelf life, meaning I'm at a low risk for passing on such genetic disorders. Risking my baby's health to test for something I am unlikely to carry seems like a bad idea.

Since this nuchal translucency/blood screening is harmless, even if nearly useless, we decided to get the test anyway just to satisfy our curiosity. The stipulation we set out beforehand was this: under no circumstances would we avail ourselves to further genetic testing. Why? Simply because I'm a lower-risk age group and we would probably never consider termination anyway, especially since even amniocentesis is not correct 100% of the time. If we came out 'high risk,' we declared we would simply disregard the screening results entirely. If we came back 'low risk,' we would breathe a little easier. I would suggest the same to anybody else in the under 30 age category. In the end, we came out in the 'low risk' bin, so we just aren't going to worry about it. Building up to that decision was a little strenuous, but we are sure we made the right choice for us.

So here we are. Miniature-sized Baby kicking, and mom back to normal-ish. Time to get back on that patent agent course I keep claiming I'm studying.