look at the birds...: echogenic intracardiac focus

well well well- i was VERY wrong. it's a GIRL!

(95% girl- she wouldn't let us get a detailed look of her privates but when we did...there was nothing there. ie: penis was MIA. so the u/s lady said %95 girl but i can always double check at my next appt. i believe her- but i'll take another look anyway because it's free!)

so yeah- i was pretty surprised because i was SO sure it was a boy. the husband, on the other hand, wasn't surprised because he never assumed anything- but he's now concerned that he will fail miserably trying to raise a girl. poor man :)

ok- now onto the "scary" & not so scary stuff.

the not so scary were my NT Results: 1 in 10,000 for DOWNS & 1 in 10,000 for Trisomy 18 (these are wonderful #'s accoding to the OB)

the "scary" were the following: during the U/S the tech found 2 "soft markers" for downs:

#1: a choroid plexus cyst
#2: a bright spot on the heart ie: echogenic intracardiac focus

both of these things on their own are "normal" & "nothing to worry about". also considering my NT results there would be no reason to worry- however because she found both, she set me up for a Level II U/S. she still insisted that the most the Genetics Counselor would do is cut my odds in half- ie: 1 in 5,000 chance for both DOWNS & Trisomy 18- but she said for peace of mind she would set this up.

she also mentioned that all the other measurements were fine: bones, kidneys, spine, abdomen- etc etc. and that the CPC & EIF are only "soft" markers which are loosely linked with DOWNS & Trisomy 18. so....whew?

she told me "not to worry & that she's sure everything is fine"- and i'm going to do just that. i googled the crap out of both "markers" and from all accounts these things usually don't indicate anything. so yeah- i'll go for the the Level II u/s & we'll leave it at that :)

and here are some pics: