Today was genetic screening day. Blossom and I awoke at the ungodly hour of 6 in the A.M., showered, breakfasted, and departed for Massachusetts General Hospital West in Waltham, MA. The 30 minute journey was uneventful. Parking was ample, and the wait time was bearable.
First we saw the genetic screener counselor chic. She was very nice, and went over some very basic stuff about how genes work and can get screwed up. We gave her a little family history, and she sold us a couple of additional tests.
Then we went in for the ultrasound. They check and make sure Baby’s nose bone is developed sufficiently, which is a screen for Down’s syndrome. They do a nuchal translucency screen, where they check the thickness of this goo at the back of the neck for other chromosomal disorders. Baby was pristine, as expected.
Then Blossom went down and had half her blood drawn for other screenings, which we get back in a week or two. It was hard, and we all empathize with her hardships.
We both thought it was funny that when they did the ultrasound the technician had to thump her belly to get Baby off the bottom, to better see the spine. Baby floated up halfway, then drifted back down to the bottom.
The technician did all the work, then the doctor came in to tell us the results. He said he had been watching from the other room, and that everything looked fine, but he wanted to work the machine him himself to make sure. So we had one more go with the pictures and got the same results. Nice work doc.
The ultrasound pictures are a little disappointing, because you can see so much more detail in the video when they move the wand around. I tried to get my own video but the wench technician wouldn’t let me. Baby was twitching and flinching, with hands up by the face. We could see the heart beating, and watch Baby convulsively swallow the amniotic fluid. We saw the backbone, the stomach, the hemispheres of the brain, and the fingers and toes (Blossom counted 5 toes in one shot). Mama and Dad want more please!