Today, I got to hear the heartbeat again! 153 beats per minute. Made getting up at 7 am worth it (I'm not a morning person). They also drew blood for the quad screening. My doctor and I are both in agreement that if something is wrong, we'd rather know before hand than be surprised during delivery. I want to be able to read all the books and find all the resources I can. I was also warned that false abnormals are not uncommon, so not to panic if it came back abnormal. They'd do some more tests, and most likely things would be normal in actuality. I should also start to feel the baby kick in the next several weeks. That's exciting.
The nausea has largely gone away. It will pop up randomly here and there, but nothing regular like it was. Hopefully, my appetite will return some time soon.
In respect to the quad screening, I thought I'd detail what it tests for. It tests for spina bifida, Trisomy 21 (Down Syndrome), and Trisomy 18 (Edwards Syndrome), as well as anencephaly. It looks at levels of Alpha-Fetoprotein, Unconjugated Estriol (UE), hCG, and Inhibin-A.
So my next visit to my doctor is April 9, and that's when we get our next ultrasound. Hopefully the baby will cooperate, and we can see what gender the baby is.
I found this image online. It's a roughly 15 week baby. Fully developed more or less and waiting to grow and mature.
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