Today was the NT scan & one of the best days of my life. I could barely go to sleep last night — remember what it was like on Christmas Eve as a child? That’s what it felt like. Incredible anticipation & excitement. Since I heard the heartbeat just 48 hours before, I knew HJ would be perfect.
After the nurse called us back, we sat down with a genetic counselor & chatted about markers, the process, further testing down the road, etc. Nothing we didn’t know before regarding what they were measuring (the back of the baby’s neck) or the hormones they would check in my blood. In the ultrasound room, I laid back on the plushest chair ever (for serious, I could have napped!) & we had the sweetest u/s technician. I pulled my pants (maternity!) past my butt & covered myself with a towel. She lubed up my belly, plopped the wand on, & within moments HJ popped onto the screen! The heartbeat was amazing — WOOSH WOOSH WOOSH — & Nate looked over at me with a look of disbelief. ”Is that it??” he asked. I nodded & his face lit up from ear to ear. The coolest part? Harpie Jr. had some hard-core hiccups! They can have hiccups at 12 weeks?? Amazing! His/her little chest would jerk up, then float back down to the bottom. Rinse & repeat. We laughed for five minutes, just watching the babe hiccup before settling down to business.
Unfortunately, HJ is its father’s child & refused to straighten out for the testing. The tech looked over at me & said, “Okay, honey. I need you to bend your legs & put your feet on the chair.” I complied. ”Now, lift up your hips.” ::blair arches eyebrow & hips:: “And I need you to shake your bottom.” Excuse me?!? While Nate wiped tears of laughter away, I shook my bare, jiggly, cellulite-infested ass like Ricky Martin. He wishes we had a camera, but I can think of things I’d rather become other than a half-naked YouTube phenom.
HJ finally stretched out for a moment, allowing the tech to measure the neck…more importantly, the fluid in the neck. According to her, the measurements were perfection. At one point, HJ pressed its little foot against the u/s wand (as pictured above). I squealed with delight at my little Tarheel & the tech quickly caught the shot to print out for us.
HJ kept flipping, turning, & Nate laughed that we had a rotisserie baby. Keep cookin’, baby! The little legs are folded cross-legged, but we did get to see them stretched out. Looooong legs, like Momma. & no, the tech did not make a guess as to the sex — HJ was sitting on the camera at one point, but she refused to zoom in, stating that it was way too early to even wager a guess.
To make up for it, she did treat us to a 3D image of HJ. Kinda freaky, but totally cool. We received 5 print-offs of ultrasound pictures, then practically skipped to brunch where I shoved pancakes & eggs into my mouth while Nate kept to our Southern roots with biscuits & gravy.
Did I mention that HJ is measuring ahead at 12 weeks, 1 day with a heartbeat at 157 bpm.
I have the coolest baby ever. Seriously.
