Everything has been going perfectly, I was happy knowing that at 8 weeks there was a strong heartbeat, and this did help settle my mind.
I have felt less tired in recent weeks and I have put that down to the placenta starting to take over for the baby's nutrients. I am back to later nights at 10 weeks pregnant, Luke and I have been working our way through the Alien movies each evening once Leo has gone to bed.
One thing that has become very obvious is that I am not a fan of the first trimester. It's so hard being pregnant and not knowing if things are progressing as they should. You can't feel your baby move and you literally have to have blind faith that everything is going to be ok.
I think this is even more true when you don't have full blown pregnancy symptoms, for me all I have really had is tiredness and sore boobs. I have developed a few food aversions again, Halloumi is off the menu for starter, I don't know what is about this cheese when I am pregnant but I hate it.
The other night I cooked up a beautiful big steak to have in a salad, but when it came to eat the steak it just didn't taste right. The dog thought he had died and gone to heaven when the opportunity to demolish the steak came about, I stuck with my feta and salad!
The NHS Dating Scan
Today, the 16th January 2020 my NHS dating scan finally came around. I didn't really have any feelings about this scan, I was eager to see that the baby's heart was still nice and strong, but I had just somehow decided that everything was going to be ok.
Luke and I arrived at the hospital, the same hospital that I was scanned at back in July when I was referred for my viability scan due to no heartbeat being detected. I was pleased to see that Nicky, the midwife who had seen me through my pregnancy with Leo, and also the one who conducted the scan back in July was still at the helm and doing the scan for us today.
It was in a different room to last time, a room that I felt was a safe space un-tainted by the past. Nicky welcomed us in and advised us that there was a student with us today, which of course was fine with myself and Luke. I lay down on the bed, Luke sat in the chair.
The gel was placed upon my belly and very quickly our baby appeared on the screen. I could already tell that baby had done a considerable amount of growing in those 2 weeks. At the 8 week scan Nugget was 17.8mm from crown to rump, and now at 10+5 Nugget was already 39mm!
I felt instantly relaxed as soon as I saw our little baby waving around on the screen, there was constant movement and the heart was beating just as it should. Nicky then said 'I do need to make you aware that there is more fluid than we would like behind the babies neck'.
This is usually highlighted around 12 weeks when they carry out the Nuchal Translucency (NT) check, this is the fluid that collects under the skin behind the babies neck. I recalled my midwife Louise talking about this check at 12 weeks, I remember saying that I wanted it.
Not for one second did I think it would be a cause for concern.
I didn't realise the severity of what she was saying right away, I just lay there in shock staring at our baby on the screen. Nicky explained that fluid behind the babies neck was a normal part of development for babies in the womb, but if the baby has more fluid than usual.... It could be an indication of a possible health problem.
Straight away my happy safe little bubble burst.
Nicky took some more measurements and confirmed that our little Nugget had 4.7mm of fluid and then talked us through the possible scenarios that could be linked to an increased NT.
- Trisomy 21 otherwise known as Down Syndrome - It's caused by an extra chromosome in your cells and occurs by chance at the time of conception.
-Trisomy 18 - Edwards Syndrome - I had never heard of this one but as soon as I took to Google I hoped to God that this wasn't the case. Edwards Syndrome is a rare but serious genetic condition that causes a wide range of medical problems.
-Trisomy 13 - Patau Syndrome - Patau syndrome is a syndrome caused by a chromosomal abnormality, in which some or all of the cells of the body contain extra genetic material from chromosome 13. The extra genetic material disrupts normal development, causing multiple and complex organ defects.
- Genetic Syndromes
-Heart Abnormalities
- Increased risk of miscarriage
Nicky said that although it could be something, it may very well be nothing. Nicky talked us through the next steps and advised that following the scan today I would now be receiving consultant lead care for the rest of my pregnancy.
It was too early for the screening blood test to take place, and we discussed Chronic Villus Sampling (CVS), this is a diagnostic test that they can carry out between 11 and 14 weeks of pregnancy. It's an invasive test that I never thought that I would have to consider. It's where a needle is passed into your lower abdomen and into the placenta where cells are harvested and tested to look for the above chromosome abnormalities.
I looked at Luke for reassurance on what to do, the CVS had a 1-2% risk of miscarriage, we discussed what to do. We decided that we should be fully prepared and know what was happening, and the sooner the better.
In the seriousness of the scan I completely forgot to ask to purchase some scan photos. I had started walking down the corridor by the time I realised the error of my ways. I rushed back to the room like a mad woman, and Nicky had already closed the screen. She told me that she would post the images to me free of charge.
I returned to work and as I had already told the lady I work with about the pregnancy, she was of course excited to hear how I had gotten on. I explained that there was good news and some not so good news and went into the whole sorry tale.
Of course I didn't manage to stay composed and the tears did fall.
In all of the worry about the worst case scenario I had completely neglected to mention that the baby's due date was my birthday!
Our little nugget is due on the 8th August 2020! Exactly 31 years since I was born.
I am determined to remain positive, I will see this through and hope that Nugget is developing as he should be.
While I was back at work, Nikki text me and said that she had printed the scan photos off already and if I wanted to pop back that afternoon I could. When I did pop back she was in the middle of someone else's ultrasound but popped out to personally hand me the scan photos. She asked me to keep her updated and told me that she was crossing her fingers for me.
Nicky made today bearable, she equipped me with everything I needed to know (and writing it down here has really helped).
The NHS have been wonderful today, from Nicky and the referral that she has made for me to Worcester calling me up by 2:30pm (I expect this is where I will be seeing the consultant for the rest of my pregnancy) and by 4pm I had Birmingham's Fetal Medicine Department on the phone arranging an appointment for the CVS for Tuesday 21st January at 4pm!
The service today has been incredible, it may not have been the news I was hoping for, but I feel like we are in good hands.
I have felt less tired in recent weeks and I have put that down to the placenta starting to take over for the baby's nutrients. I am back to later nights at 10 weeks pregnant, Luke and I have been working our way through the Alien movies each evening once Leo has gone to bed.
One thing that has become very obvious is that I am not a fan of the first trimester. It's so hard being pregnant and not knowing if things are progressing as they should. You can't feel your baby move and you literally have to have blind faith that everything is going to be ok.
I think this is even more true when you don't have full blown pregnancy symptoms, for me all I have really had is tiredness and sore boobs. I have developed a few food aversions again, Halloumi is off the menu for starter, I don't know what is about this cheese when I am pregnant but I hate it.
The other night I cooked up a beautiful big steak to have in a salad, but when it came to eat the steak it just didn't taste right. The dog thought he had died and gone to heaven when the opportunity to demolish the steak came about, I stuck with my feta and salad!
The NHS Dating Scan
Today, the 16th January 2020 my NHS dating scan finally came around. I didn't really have any feelings about this scan, I was eager to see that the baby's heart was still nice and strong, but I had just somehow decided that everything was going to be ok.
Luke and I arrived at the hospital, the same hospital that I was scanned at back in July when I was referred for my viability scan due to no heartbeat being detected. I was pleased to see that Nicky, the midwife who had seen me through my pregnancy with Leo, and also the one who conducted the scan back in July was still at the helm and doing the scan for us today.
It was in a different room to last time, a room that I felt was a safe space un-tainted by the past. Nicky welcomed us in and advised us that there was a student with us today, which of course was fine with myself and Luke. I lay down on the bed, Luke sat in the chair.
The gel was placed upon my belly and very quickly our baby appeared on the screen. I could already tell that baby had done a considerable amount of growing in those 2 weeks. At the 8 week scan Nugget was 17.8mm from crown to rump, and now at 10+5 Nugget was already 39mm!
I felt instantly relaxed as soon as I saw our little baby waving around on the screen, there was constant movement and the heart was beating just as it should. Nicky then said 'I do need to make you aware that there is more fluid than we would like behind the babies neck'.
This is usually highlighted around 12 weeks when they carry out the Nuchal Translucency (NT) check, this is the fluid that collects under the skin behind the babies neck. I recalled my midwife Louise talking about this check at 12 weeks, I remember saying that I wanted it.
Not for one second did I think it would be a cause for concern.
I didn't realise the severity of what she was saying right away, I just lay there in shock staring at our baby on the screen. Nicky explained that fluid behind the babies neck was a normal part of development for babies in the womb, but if the baby has more fluid than usual.... It could be an indication of a possible health problem.
Straight away my happy safe little bubble burst.
Nicky took some more measurements and confirmed that our little Nugget had 4.7mm of fluid and then talked us through the possible scenarios that could be linked to an increased NT.
- Trisomy 21 otherwise known as Down Syndrome - It's caused by an extra chromosome in your cells and occurs by chance at the time of conception.
-Trisomy 18 - Edwards Syndrome - I had never heard of this one but as soon as I took to Google I hoped to God that this wasn't the case. Edwards Syndrome is a rare but serious genetic condition that causes a wide range of medical problems.
-Trisomy 13 - Patau Syndrome - Patau syndrome is a syndrome caused by a chromosomal abnormality, in which some or all of the cells of the body contain extra genetic material from chromosome 13. The extra genetic material disrupts normal development, causing multiple and complex organ defects.
- Genetic Syndromes
-Heart Abnormalities
- Increased risk of miscarriage
Nicky said that although it could be something, it may very well be nothing. Nicky talked us through the next steps and advised that following the scan today I would now be receiving consultant lead care for the rest of my pregnancy.
It was too early for the screening blood test to take place, and we discussed Chronic Villus Sampling (CVS), this is a diagnostic test that they can carry out between 11 and 14 weeks of pregnancy. It's an invasive test that I never thought that I would have to consider. It's where a needle is passed into your lower abdomen and into the placenta where cells are harvested and tested to look for the above chromosome abnormalities.
I looked at Luke for reassurance on what to do, the CVS had a 1-2% risk of miscarriage, we discussed what to do. We decided that we should be fully prepared and know what was happening, and the sooner the better.
In the seriousness of the scan I completely forgot to ask to purchase some scan photos. I had started walking down the corridor by the time I realised the error of my ways. I rushed back to the room like a mad woman, and Nicky had already closed the screen. She told me that she would post the images to me free of charge.
I returned to work and as I had already told the lady I work with about the pregnancy, she was of course excited to hear how I had gotten on. I explained that there was good news and some not so good news and went into the whole sorry tale.
Of course I didn't manage to stay composed and the tears did fall.
In all of the worry about the worst case scenario I had completely neglected to mention that the baby's due date was my birthday!
Our little nugget is due on the 8th August 2020! Exactly 31 years since I was born.
I am determined to remain positive, I will see this through and hope that Nugget is developing as he should be.
While I was back at work, Nikki text me and said that she had printed the scan photos off already and if I wanted to pop back that afternoon I could. When I did pop back she was in the middle of someone else's ultrasound but popped out to personally hand me the scan photos. She asked me to keep her updated and told me that she was crossing her fingers for me.
Nicky made today bearable, she equipped me with everything I needed to know (and writing it down here has really helped).
The NHS have been wonderful today, from Nicky and the referral that she has made for me to Worcester calling me up by 2:30pm (I expect this is where I will be seeing the consultant for the rest of my pregnancy) and by 4pm I had Birmingham's Fetal Medicine Department on the phone arranging an appointment for the CVS for Tuesday 21st January at 4pm!
The service today has been incredible, it may not have been the news I was hoping for, but I feel like we are in good hands.
