NT Scan Results Are In

If you are NOT an older mom, or considered AMA (Advanced Maternal Age) you may be unfamiliar with the NT scan.  I will attempt to explain it. The NT scan is an acronym for Nuchal Translucencey and it is a test that is administered when the Mom to be is approximately 11-13 weeks along in her pregnancy.

This test is at the beginning of the line of tests that helps in determining if the child being carried will suffer from Downs Syndrome  or other similar chromosomal abnormalities.  It entails a sonogram, which will be one of the first if not the first that is "above ground" or rather...not vaginal.  Yes, Ladies that's correct you have graduated to the stomach sonogram! If you have been through an IUI or an IVF cycle then you will definitely appreciate this momentous occasion!  The test is also accompanied by a simple blood draw that helps the test to be more conclusive.


As I stated this test is the first in the line of diagnostic tests or maybe I should say discovery tests when it comes to certain chromosomal abnormalities.  If for any reason the tests do not come out in a favorable fashion or they seem to be leaning towards the indication that there could potentially be something wrong with the fetus then you can get a more invasive test performed such as the CVS (chronic villi sampling, or an amniocentesis).  While, this test does have a fair bit of information....any test can lead you astray and people have been known to have findings that seemed to point one way and turned out another. So, if something should happen during your NT test, try to remain calm and wait for more information. Pregnant women don't need anymore stress than absolutely necessary.

Okay, so back to the NT scan in particular basically they look at some features of the developing baby. One being the nose bridge, it was important for my doctor to see a prominent nose bridge with my pregnancies and thankfully the Polish side of the family does not disappoint!  The other bit of information that they look for is the fluid in the back of the baby's neck. They are looking for a certain measurement.  I am not a doctor nor a sonographer so I do not understand the exact measurements they are looking for, and I will not pretend to know. I am just a woman who has been blessed with two pregnancies. I will include a few links for your further investigation.  Wikipedia has a fairly decent and easy to understand write up about the procedure which can be found.here.  Additionally, there is a good resource at this website.

My doctor seemed to think everything looked fine for baby #2 and the blood test results came back yesterday and they were "normal".  Yippee!