Ultrasound Pics of Baby Wassmer

Last night as I was volunteering at the Children's Hospital I was told that the Ultrasound Department was looking for volunteers for some of the Image Techs because they are trying to get their NTS certifications. NTS stands for Nuchal Translucency Screening, which is a detailed ulstrasound that allows the tech to measure the space behind the baby's neck. It's the measurement of this space that allows doctors to see whether or not the baby is at risk for Down Syndrome. This is also usually combined with a blood test, but they did not do that here since I wasn't really testing for it. FYI, Baby's neck space is within normal range, and the tech kept saying Cletus has a "nice spine." Yay! The measurement of Cletus also detected that he might be a couple days older than originally thought. Cletus kept moving around, and moving his hands up around his head. It was neat to see a real baby shape and to see movement, since the last thing we saw was a little blob. Instead

of being 13 weeks, 5 days, it said he was 14 weeks, 1 day. Not a big deal. We tried to see if we could see the gender, but the tech could not tell either way, so we will have to wait until our next real ultrasound with our doctor. That will probably be a few weeks from now. Tom and I are anxious to know what we're having and to give Cletus a real name. Until then, enjoy the pics!

Above: Me at 13 1/2 weeks. Clockwise: Baby Wass facing downwards, you can see his arm and fingers; Baby's belly, the shot is from above looking down, you can see his legs too; Baby's profile; and Baby's spine from the back (his head is down and butt up top).