Update on Ultra Sound.....

Once I figure out how to scan my ultra sound pictures I will post them. I leave all that stuff up to Conor, so maybe tomorrow we'll get around to it. The appointment went well other than the fact that we had to wait AN HOUR AND A HALF!!!!!.....with a very feisty & sleepy 10 month old!!!!!!! Thank goodness Mom came (Thanks Mom!) with me, or it would have been a nightmare. Baby O'Reilly 2 is 8 cm which is 4 inches long, had a healthy heartbeat (153), and was very active. It's little feet and hands were kicking all over the place. We decided not to get the test for Down Syndrome because the accuracy rate wasn't great and plus, it's like what are you going to do? Nothing!! (Every woman is offered the test, so not to worry) But once I got there I couldn't help but to feel the need to know how this little kiddo is developing. I think I'm more concerned this time because of the medication I'm taking. It just makes me nervous about the safety of this baby, but there's nothing I can do about that. I realized I would like to know before hand if there is anything to be concerned about. Here is more information on how the test is performed.....

Maternal serum screening tests

A blood test (done on mom) often called the "triple screen" can be done between the 15th and the 20th weeks of pregnancy. The triple screen looks at three substances in the mother’s blood stream - alpha-fetoprotein (AFP), unconjugated estriol and human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG). AFP is produced in the yolk sac and fetal liver, and estriol and hCG are produced by the placenta. When a fetus has Down syndrome, the levels of these substances in the mother’s bloodstream can be different from normal. AFP and unconjugated estriol are about 25 percent lower than normal levels, and maternal serum hCG is approximately two times higher than the normal hCG level.

The triple screen is - as it’s name implies - just a screening test. It cannot tell for sure if your baby has Down syndrome, but it can tell if your risk is higher. If your screening test is positive, it simply means your risk of having a baby with Down syndrome is higher than other women your age. But even with a positive screening test, most women will have babies without Down syndrome. Conversely, a negative triple screen means that the chance of Down syndrome is low but not zero. It doesn't guarantee a baby without Down syndrome.

The triple test can detect approximately 60 percent of the pregnancies affected by trisomy 21 and will miss about 40% of cases.