Triple Marker Test TODAY! @ exactly 18 wks (4months)... Baby's Gender to be revealed as well !!!

Today is the 7th of January, new year 2005... I am now embarking into my 18th week pregnancy ( 4 months ) and today, I am set to undergo my first major pregnancy test : The Triple Marker Test scheduled @ exactly 1 in the afternoon at the Bumrungrad Hospital. The test is usually given between 15 and 20 weeks of pregnancy, with 16 to 18 weeks (when the hormone levels are most consistent) being the optimum time. My practitioner will have my blood sample taken, usually from the arm, and sent to a lab for analysis. When this compound is added to the test, the detection rate for Down syndrome increases to between 67 and 76 percent in women younger than 35.

My ObGyne will now check how my baby's growing, screen for certain birth defects, check the placenta and umbilical cord and determine whether the due date we're working with is accurate. During the exam, we might see baby moving around or sucking her thumb. I'll bring hubby along as usual, and we'll be sure to ask for a printout to add in our baby's first photo album!

I am very nervous , kind'a scared and so excited at the same time because today,we'll probably be able to find out whether we're having a boy or a girl. Really so hoping for a baby girl... Keep you guys posted ! Finger's crossed...Hope everything goes well.

baby's image @ 4 months : babycenter

Now that I'm four months pregnant. ..head to bottom, my baby is approximately 5 1/2 inches long (about the length of a large sweet potato) and she weighs almost 7 ounces and covered with a layer of fine, downy hair called lanugo ( which is why my belly's been so itchy lately... ). She's busy flexing her arms and legs — movements that I've been starting to notice more and more.(By the way, I felt her first kick @ exactly 17 weeks (Dec. 31, 2004) on a Friday morning @ around 9:35 up in my right tummy and the feeling was really marvelous indeed!) Her blood vessels are visible through her thin skin and her ears are now in position and stand out from her head. Myelin (a protective covering) is beginning to form around her nerves, a process that will continue for a year after she's born. If I'll be having a girl, her uterus and Fallopian tubes are formed and in place. If he's a boy, his genitals are noticeable, though he may hide them from us during the ultrasound. See you this afternoon baby...kisses!