Three quarters of the way there!

Little fighter is getting there!

This weekend saw us reach the 30th week of the pregnancy, an amazing three quarters of the way there. Having had a love/hate relationship with statistics during this pregnancy, I can safely safe I'm happy with this one, and chuffed that baby Chappo is still fighting hard, with only 10 weeks to go.

Something as silly as a slip...

All has been well during the Christmas-New Year limbo week, well that is except from my fall in a shopping centre car park! Unfortunately due to unsuitable road markings in the said carpark, I fell and landed flat on my back, leaving me with more than just the usual 3rd trimester aches and pains.
On reflection, the back injury I received from the fall wasn't the worst part, it was the realisation that something as ridiculous as a slip on a badly designed surface, could have affected our little one. Given that the odds are against her anyway, we could have very much done without this added stress. However, baby Chappo has been wriggling away ever since the incident, which has reassured us, and the GP, that she is fine :)

What's so important about that missing x?

This week whilst watching the Big Bang theory (one of our favourite shows), we had to chuckle at Sheldon's comment when he was trying to understand the female of the species.....his words "that second X chromosome contains nothing but nonsense and twaddle" made us both wonder, so what is in that second X which the females have, and the males (and girls with Turner Syndrome) don't?!

After a lot of research, it seems the second X chromosome in females is in its simplest terms, a copy of the first x. And whilst it doesn't add a great deal of extra information, it is needed for normal function in females.

Still, important as it is, our baby girl doesn't have it, and I think I like Sheldon's comment anyway :)

Happy new year!

We hope that whatever you are up to, you enjoy this evening, and have a happy new year. We have had an AMAZING 2012, with our wedding being one of the highlights. We have also had a few lows amongst our many highs, however we are hopeful that 2013 will be just as amazing, and that our baby Chappo continues her little fight to be with us in March. We can't wait to meet her!

Our last Christmas as a three (Winston our pooch does count!)

Happy Christmas all!

We've had a relatively quiet and uneventful past week, well apart from me thinking that baby chappo was going to make an early entrance on Saturday, but that was a major false alarm!

I finished my week at school by finally telling my class that I was having a girl-they were buzzing with excitement, and adamant that I now must tell them the name that we've decided on. They, along with many others who are desperate to know our top girls names, will know when she arrives, and not a second sooner! Some of my friends and family were most disappointed that they wouldn't be able to ply me with alcohol and get it out of me.

Christmas Day was spent half and half with both of our families, and this year it was our springador winston who was spoilt rotten with soft toys, treats and a turkey dinner. We were however reminded that this time next year would be very different, and that Winston trying to get hold of the turkey would be the least of our worries :) Baby Chappo did get a couple of presents though, and despite us being nervous about collecting things for our new arrival, we loved her little gifts.

Not much else to update you all on for now, which I think is a good thing as it means that all is as well as can be. I had my whooping cough jab on Christmas eve, fun times. Despite the mixed feelings on the jab, I very  much felt that baby may have enough to deal with in her first few weeks, without the risk of whopping cough adding to that. I still have a bruised arm, but she's worth it!

Lastly, I wanted to mention how excited we are for some super friends of ours who welcomed their new arrival into the world on Saturday. We can't wait for baby Jack to meet our little one in March!

A manic, but positive 24 hours of appointments

The week before Christmas always is busy, but especially so for us having 4 appointments in just under 24 hours!

Monday 17th December-paediatrician

We met with a lovely lady who will be in charge of our baby's care for at least the first 6 months. As we already knew a lot about Turner Syndrome, we didn't really find out a great deal of extra information.
Baby will need lots of checks (some routine, others specific) once she is born, and then depending on how she develops, she will need to visit the paediatrician once every 6 months during childhood. She'll also be referred to a hormone specialist after a year or so.
The paediatrician has also written to a genetic specialist as she was surprised that we hadn't been referred to one, given that our unborn child has a genetic condition! We hope to meet her in the new year, though again what she'll tell us that we haven't already researched, we don't know, but we are not about to turn down any extra help or advice.

Tuesday 18th December-28wk scan, consultant and bloods 

This morning we were both surprisingly calm about things. It would be the first time that we we'd been in the ultrasound department since the 'there's a problem' news (the foetal health unit had taken care of all scans and procedures since that day).
We arrived to be told that they were running behind, which made me a tad anxious, but the baby channel on the department TV kept me occupied! Bang on 9:20 we were called in for the scan, though the sonographer needed a little clarification from us on why we had attended, she seemed a little unsure until we explained the condition.
She talked us through what she was looking at, and took all of the usual measurements. After about 10 minutes of scanning, she informed us that all looked normal, including the heart and kidneys (which can be problematic in Turner syndrome pregnancies). She did mention that baby was measuring at roughly a week behind (27 weeks instead of 28), but it was nothing to worry about. After looking at Tim, she mentioned that baby could be taking on his small stature! Both of us were relieved, and full of smiles :)
As we left, the sonographer mentioned that she didn't know whether to book us in for a 30 or 32 week scan, so would let the consultant decide. News of another scan was music to my ears, and if the consultant didn't mention it-I would!

Mrs Doom & Gloom??
As we sat waiting for the consultant to arrive, I promised Tim that I'd give him the nod if our original consultant walked in. To my surprise, we had yet another consultant - I'm a little unsure whether I like this inconsistency, but at least it wasn't Mrs Doom & Gloom!
She was happy with everything so far, and asked if we had another scan booked. I mentioned our 34 week scan at Oxford in Januray, and that we had nothing else here BUT that the sonographer discussed a potential 30 or 32 week scan. The consultant willingly agreed to a 32 week scan, just to check growth, and said that we'd have our final visit with her or another consultant at 35 weeks to summarise everything and discuss birth and after birth care.

Lastly, I had my bloods taken, but that was the most boring and routine part of our 24 hours, so it's hardly worth a mention!

So, another hurdle (or two) cleared, and lots more positivity to keep us going. January has a lot in store, including antenatal classes, and 2 scans, but for now we hope to enjoy Christmas, and continue to get excited about our little ones arrival next year.

I just wanted to include a little picture of a Christmas present that was waiting for me when I arrived back at school today. A boy in my class, and his fabulous mother made me this chocolate eclair tree...... It was the icing on the cake today ;)

A story of hope, and a milestone purchase!

This last week has flown by with yet more Christmassy things. Last night was my work christmas do, and I decided to proudly show off my bump in a little black and gold number. Felt rather lovely actually, especially as I bumped in to many old friends from a former school, one of which said I looked like a pregnant  Cat Deeley - i'll take that compliment any day!
School is hectic at the moment, and my class are extremely excited by the fact that I told them I would reveal the gender of our baby as their Christmas present. My class have been tremendous with their enthusiasm about our baby Chappo. They draw regular pictures of my (slightly odd looking) bump, and I have received numerous Christmas cards that are simply addressed to 'baby Chapman', (if I haven't mentioned it previously, I'm a primary school teacher!).

Milestone purchase 

Today we went Christmas shopping, only to end up putting a deposit down on a silver cross pram and travel system. To be honest, we were planning on leaving all baby purchases right until the eleventh hour, but the deal of a free car seat was too good to pass!

For the time that we were in that shop, we felt like a normal family, preparing for the arrival of our little one. Such a good feeling! Admittedly, I did have 2 seconds of 'have we done the right thing?' but then I snapped out of it and thought 'well we'll need one WHEN she arrives!'

Walking the dog later today, Tim revealed how excited he was at making such a big purchase.

A family like us

This week we received an email from a friend who had shared our blog, and had resulted in him being contacted by a friend of a friend.  He mentioned that the family who had contacted him have a four year old daughter with Turner Syndrome. This family were kind enough to email us their story - in a nutshell - and it was such a breath of fresh air to read. Hearing the personal story of a family whose daughter made it through pregnancy, birth and is now a  healthy, happy little girl at school, was simply uplifting and filled us with new hope. We aim to make contact with them soon as they are the first family that we have come across who have been our our shoes, and known of the diagnosis of Turner Syndrome since pregnancy. 

The week ahead for us and baby

So, Monday is our first visit to the paediatrician, and Tuesday is the 28 week scan, consultant visit and blood tests. Whilst we are anxious about what is to come, we also feel at ease (though when isn't Tim!). I'm most looking forward to seeing her on the little monitor, and checking out the size of her feet-she has a mean kick on her! 

For now, we are going to sit back, enjoy the weekend and immerse ourselves in Christmas festivities. Very much looking forward to a carol concert tomorrow night, and hopefully catching up with some amazing church friends of mine who have been keeping me, Tim and baby Chappo in their prayers. 

Hoping to share some positive news with you all on Tuesday! 

Bump size stresses!

Bump size, and future appointments

At 27 weeks (+2 days), I'm having the most ridiculous of stresses .... The size of my bump!
I'm convinced that I've stopped putting on weight (true enough), and that baby chappo has stopped growing. To many, this may seem like the least of our worries, but right now my mind is doing overtime....
'If I've stopped putting on weight, and my bump is tiny compared to others, then there must be a problem!'
The rational side of me is saying 'Racheal, baby is constantly playing football inside your belly on a daily basis, that must be a good sign' .
Do I listen to my rational side? Of course not! Family are trying to convince me that I've grown, and friends are reminding me that every bump is different, and that maybe because I'm tall I carry it better.

Thankfully we have a scan next Tuesday, and a trip to our consultant (hopefully not Mrs Doom & Gloom), so I'm sure that they will check out sizes etc and put my mind at ease.

Christmas delights

On a lighter note, we've had a relatively busy weekend consisting of a Christmas hockey do, and Christmas panto,  both of which were fab as they involved lots of laughs and feeling 'normal'.
My hockey friends knew how to perk me up by commenting on how I was blooming (do you think that Tim had prepped them all with key phrases, hehe?!), and my brother momentarily made my forget my bump size stresses by saying how you couldn't miss my bump in the dress I was wearing!

Anyway, that's all for now. We are meeting a paediatrician next Monday to find out what our little girl may be faced with after birth and during childhood (in terms of checks, appointments, hormone injections etc), so that should be very informative.
Will update you all early next week once we've had our manic 24 hours of 4 appointments!

Heart scans and a visit to Mrs Doom & Gloom!

Our spirits were lifted after the relative good news that we had received in previous weeks. Whilst we knew that we ought to be cautious with our enthusiasm, equally we were joyous that our baby was doing the best she could be given the circumstances.

During the month of November we had a few more hurdles to jump-our 2nd heart scan (21wks) and our 2nd visit to the consultant....

6th November
The one and a half hour journey to Oxford was less nerve-wracking this time, the familiarity of the route and of the hospital itself seemed to put me at ease. Plus we had arrived only half an hour in advance this time (compared to the one and a half hours last time!).
Our two heart consultants welcomed us in to the scan room with plenty of smiles, and asked of baby's progress. As with the last visit, there was plenty of muttering between them during the scan, but also some laughing-always a good sign.
Looking at the scan monitor had become something of a traumatic experience for me during the weeks since that 'there's a problem' scan, however for some reason, I couldn't take my eyes off the monitor that day. The heart consultant joked that baby was making his job easy as she kept on moving in to the right positions!
He explained that all was looking well still and that they were both pleased, but still left us with that final warning that things can change at ANY time.
We left the hospital as calmly, and positively as we had arrived.

13th November
This was the day I was dreading-I had nick named our consultant Mrs Doom & Gloom (not very good of me I know). Tim was by my side that morning, and I went in all guns blazing ready to stand my ground and give her an injection of positivity.
To my surprise, we had a totally different consultant! As she looked over our recent results, she mentioned how pleased she was at the progress. She also kindly agreed to a further scan at 28 weeks to put my mind at ease. I was expecting to have a fight on my hands that morning, but left feeling pleasantly surprised.

The one thing that shocked me at this point though was that, because my pregnancy was going well, they didn't want any extra scans, checks etc (other than the 34wk heart scan requested by John Radcliffe hospital). Now whilst its nice that they want to treat us like any other normal functioning pregnancy, it's not a normal pregnancy-our baby is missing a whole chromosome!! I want weekly scans, in fact no I want my own personal daily check!! Okay, so I'm being a tad ridiculous, but with a miscarriage rate of 99% at any point during the pregnancy, I was a little unsettled that they didn't really want to do much else.

Anyhow, other than a few midwife appointments here and there, and me having a rather large meltdown this week, that has pretty much got you up to speed.

I wish wish wish that we could be one of those families that coos over prams, baby outfits and teddies, but we still have our cautious hats on. Though we have had a little break through in that we recently bought a gorgeous hand made teddy made by a friend, and one baby outfit (in tiny baby). Our lovely neighbours also gave us a beautiful bag of things containing no less than 5 GORGEOUS pairs of baby shoes. Tim has also made a start on his project-the nursery. That's it for now though in terms of baby prep. Maybe we'll see what the new year brings :)

The weeks following the diagnosis

It's hard to know where to start with the 3 or 4 weeks following the diagnosis.
Obviously we started to tell friends and family, but we still didn't have much of a grip on the situation.
Google search became our best friend for several days (though I'm not sure if this was a good thing or not!). Unfortunately, most stories that we read of pregnancies involved complications, and resulted in miscarriage. Sometimes before 12 weeks, some after, some in weeks 20 and 30.
We soon stopped reading forums-whilst they were a source of personal experience of others, at that time we found it too hard.

The one thing I do remember is that I had the best night sleep in weeks on the night of the diagnosis, weird huh?! I guess it was the relief of finally knowing something.
Tim, as always, remained as strong as an ox, he had a few wobbly moments for a few days, unlike me who had a whole week of being an emotional wreck!
Friends and family were amazing during this time, they wanted to know as much as we could possibly tell them, and were that at every turn. My brothers reaction surprised me the most - he genuinely seemed so angry and upset that this could happen to us, in his word "of all people, you two don't deserve it". I was pleased that he cared so much.

We had a magnitude of questions, and with the help of google, consultants, midwives, and the turner syndrome support society UK (who are an AMAZING charity), some were answered.... I thought I'd do our own little Q & A here as you may want to know similar things

Our Turner Syndrome Q & A

Was it something that we 'did' ? Almost instantly we found out the answer to this was no, it was pure fluke, accident, whatever you wish to call it.

How many pregnancies does it affect? Around 1 in 2500.

Will it happen to us again? The chances are extremely slim.

Will our child be able to live a 'normal' life? Many people with Turner Syndrome go on to live a happy and fulfilled life. They will face some challenges that others don't, but to what extent will depend.

If the pregnancy makes it past half way are the chances of survival better? There are no statistics to support this. In fact, no statistics other than 98/99% end in miscarriage or stillbirth, seemed to exist. That one keeps haunting me. 

How many people in the uk have Turner Syndrome? Around 10,000

So you may be wondering what Turner Syndrome is, or involves. We won't go in to great detail here as many pages (such as NHS and TSSSuk) will have much better info. For us the key info is:

• Our baby is a GIRL- yay!
• She is missing one of the sex chromosomes, so only has 1 x in pair 23
• She will have growth problems, without treatment most girls are between 4ft 4 and 4ft 10 at full height (though as her daddy is a shortie-no one will guess!)
• She will need hormone treatment, possibly injections, possibly for much of childhood and teen years
• She will have fertility issues
• Heart problems are a potentially major complication during pregnancy, and possibly after

There is a list longer than my arm of other potential problems -speech, ears, maths, spatial, social...... HOWEVER these are only potential problems, and could also affect Joe Bloggs.

What happened next in terms of medical care?

2nd October

The week following the diagnosis, we were sent to John Radcliffe specialist hospital in Oxford for baby Chappos first heart scan. Here we received our first piece of good news-her heart was developing as it should be, HURRAY for good news. We were told though that complications with the heart could occur at ANY point, hmmm not such a big hurray.

16th October 

We met with our consultant for the first time (I say we, this was the first appointment I attended alone as I thought it wouldn't involve much). I don't have much to say here, other than our consultant was realistic-which in my eyes came across as negative and pessimistic! I left feeling dejected-Tim vowed he'd be there next time!

23rd October

Our 20 week scan-just like an other normal pregnancy (what was normal now?!). Dr Chamberlain, who performed the amino wanted to carry this out, much to our relief as he was fab. He was extremely reassuring and talked us through every part of the scan, and to our surprise, everything aspect of baby was developing well. 

As we left the scan room, I burst in to tears. Tim looking concerned, asked what was up. My only words were that I was so happy! 

So, there we go, up to 20 weeks. One more post should catch you all up, but in the meantime I've included baby Chappos 20 week scan-we amazed at how clear it was! It now sits alongside the 12 wk picture in our kitchen :)

I also wanted to mention that by this point we were absolutely fine with the diagnosis. It was the hand we were dealt, and Turner syndrome babies/children/ adults and their families seemed truly amazing and inspirational people. Whilst  me and Tim have different views on religion, we both felt that we were lucky to have our baby girl still at 20 weeks, and that what would be, would be. I prayed every day for our baby, and that we have the strength and support to get through this. 

A little injection of happiness

So I know that I haven't quite got you all up to speed yet, but after several emotional posts, and a few tough days for me, I felt some happiness was needed.
The next few posts will bring you up to the here and now, and will include news of hope, and several big hurdles that we've cleared.

I also wanted to add that at this moment in time (26 wks + 2 days), all is as well as it can be with baby Chappo :) I think I needed to remind myself of that as I much as I needed to tell you all.

Counselling, tests, and THE test result

So we had spent the weekend trying to decide whether to have the CVS test, which involved taking some of the baby's placenta to test it. Whilst we knew there was a small risk of miscarriage, in our heads we were split 80/20, with 80% being in favour of having the test to allow us to have a definitive result.

Monday 3rd September
We were booked in for genetic counselling. We turned up, not knowing what to expect, the only counselling we'd had was our marriage counselling prior to being married...funnily enough the vicar asked things like 'Do you both want children? How do you  plan to bring up your children? How would you deal with difficult, life altering decisions?'
Our genetic counselling took place with a lovely midwife, who basically had a folder and lots of diagrams. We went over the basics (that I remembered from GCSE Science) such as the fact that we have 23 pairs of chromosomes. Also, we learnt that Chromosome number 21 was responsible for Down Syndrome, chromosome 18 for Edwards Syndrome, and chromosome 13 for Patau. At this point, we were also told, the lower the number, the worse the chances of survival and the lower the life expectancy.
Lastly, we discussed the testing, of which we chose to have. I was due to have my CVS within the week.

The day of the CVS
We sat waiting in the foetal health waiting room, I felt sick with nerves.
As we entered the procedure room, we were instantly put at ease by a lovely Irish gentleman, who was an ex-Oxford specialist helping out at Our local hospital for 10 weeks (how lucky were we!).
Within 30 seconds of putting the scanner on my belly, Dr Chamberlain informed us that we could not have the procedure today as the sac from the twin baby (that no longer existed) was in the way. We left feeling a little dismayed, but were booked in for a similar procedure called an amniocentesis, in 3 weeks time. 3 WEEKS, HOW LONG!

The next few weeks passed slowly, we started to tell friends and family the news of our baby joy, but we also began to share our 'other' news with our family and close friends.

Tuesday 25th September
Back in the foetal health waiting room, but strangely feeling more at ease this time. At 9:30 we were called in, and greeted by Dr Chamberlain's friendly face again. This time the procedure could go ahead. It involved putting a long needle through my stomach in to baby's amniotic fluid.
Tim was hoping to turn away and stare at the wall as this took place, but it just so happened that the Dr sat right next to him, and he had no choice but to watch (he he!).
It was relatively quick and painless, and by 10:30 I was back home resting on the sofa. We were told that I needed to rest, and that if a miscarriage was to occur, it would probably be in the next 3-5 days. We were also told to expect a phone call by Friday with the initial results - the testing of chromosome 21, 18 and 13.

The next few days, I can only expain as feeling 'wierd', we had visits from concerned friends and family members, and even a lovely dinner cooked by one fabulous friend. My stomach felt bruised, but we knew that we had made the right choice to have the tests.

Thursday 27th September
We had chosen to go for a drive to get out of the house. As we entered the next town on to us, my phone began to ring....BLOCKED NUMBER.....my heart raced, I clicked the green button.
I still dont remember much of that phone call. Tim had pulled over near a war memorial, and sat staring at me, trying to read the emotions on my face.
The few things I do remember are:
'We didnt expect this result'
'It is called Turner Syndrome, and actually affects the sex chromosome, pair 23'
'We don't know much about it either'
'We will arrange for you to see a consultant tomorrow morning'
'99% of Turner Syndrome babies dont make it through pregnancy'

I ended the call, tears streaming down my face, tears streaming down Tim's face. He was desperate to know everything that was said, but I could barely remember. I repeated the main pieces of imformtion, and we then drove home in a stunned silence. All that ran through my head was 99% of Turner Syndrome babies dont make it.....surely they must be wrong, they MUST.

To this day, we still can't drive past the war memorial without some thought of that Thursday afternoon.

Back to the beginning

Thanks to my fabulous friend Carly, I can now start sharing our experiences with friends and family, whilst at the same time raising awareness of a relativity unknown syndrome. I also hope to provide other expectant parents, in a similar position, with a first hand account of what it is like to have your unborn baby diagnosed with a problem.

I warn you, this will be an honest, and at times emotional account, but one that will hopefully also be filled with joy and happiness.

Over the next few posts I aim to get you up to speed with where we are at now (26 weeks in to the pregnancy), and then we can all continue the journey together. So here goes...

Thursday 30th August 2012

As me and my husband Tim sat in the waiting room, we were filled with excitement, but yet I had a funny twinge, nerves maybe. When we were finally called in by the sonographer, we didn't know what to expect. Almost instantly we were told that the pregnancy had started as twins, but that one baby had died. We felt a tinge of sadness, but little did we know that wasn't going to be the biggest shock of the day.

After 15 minutes or so, we heard the words "I need to go and speak to someone, there's a problem". Instantly I burst in to tears, and Tim sat silently, Squeezing my hand. We were ushered in to a side room and told to wait for a doctor or midwife. The midwife seemed anxious, and started by telling us that the sonographer shouldn't have told us what she did. I didn't care, there was a problem and I wanted to know what!

We were told that our baby had a nuchal fold reading of 6.2mm, and that the highest it should be was 2.4mm. Apparently it was an indicator of a 'high risk pregnancy', and meant that our baby had a high chance of having a chromosomal problem. Little more was known until my blood test results, so we left feeling numb, and with more questions than answers.

Friday 31st August 2012

We returned to the hospital after a restless night, and lots of unknowns. 

"We now know that your pregnancy is high risk, and that your baby has a 1 in 9 chance of having a chromosomal problem. At your age, the risk is usually in the 1000's. for now though there isn't any more that we can tell you. You will need an invasive, slightly risky procedure should you wish to find out more". 

We left the hospital again with still so many questions, what are chromosomal disorders for one! 

Being a mathematician, I tried to make sense of these figures on the way home. 1 in 9 chance that our baby will have a problem, just over 11%. At that point Tim put his positive spin on the situation (as he always does) and said "yes but that means 8 out of 9 chance our baby won't have a problem, so lets stay positive for now!". Easier said than done.

So that weekend, we had a decision to make.... Do we book in for a procedure, known as a CVS, to find out exactly what is (or isn't wrong with our baby), or do we just leave it?

After reading the pamphlet from the hospital, I became fixated on the statistic that around 1% of these diagnostic procedures ended in miscarriage. Little did I know that we'd be faced with a statistic far more harrowing later on. 

'I will'

So, this isn't Racheal. I'm not sure if by setting this up I'm breaking any laws, but here goes....

On the evening of the 7th of July 2012 it was time to P.A.R.T.Y...................or so I thought.

All geared up to get her as drunk as possible, Racheals female relatives and close friends gathered to celebrate the coming of her Marriage to Tim. Yes, it was her Hen night! Finally, a chance to get Racheal drunk by forcing her to stay at her own party. Her usual magic disappearing act at 10pm was definitely not allowed on this occasion! That was until Racheal sprung the news on me! Pregnant! Wow! It didn't take too long for my disappointment in not being able to get her drunk to diminish. The excitement kicked in and we whispered baby stories with the few hens that knew, whilst swapping our empties with her glasses of wine so people didn't catch on during the do. Racheal is renowned for being sensible, so it was easy to feign a migraine, refrain from drinking copious amounts of alcohol, and then get to bed earlier than expected. Still extremely excited though!

Racheal and Tim were wed on the 28th July. A glorious occasion, with the finest weather and far too many guests to count. Racheal looked 'radiant' with not a hint of a bump. No one noticed the non alcoholic drinks she was consuming and the day passed without a glitch.

The honeymoon followed. I'm told Racheal moaned about the heat and Racheal told me, in detail, how wonderful the washrooms were, having spent most of her time in them! A romantic getaway don't you agree?!

Nevertheless, the setting was perfect!

It wasn't until just over a month later that I received this...

Racheal, Tim, their nearest and their dearest would now see the world in a different light, changed forever. This is where I'm hoping the fairytale begins.

Now is the time to tell you that Racheal has no idea I've started her blog for her. We discussed it over a cup of tea today and she told me she hadn't the time to set it up. I'm hoping she'll carry this on. I couldn't think of a better ambassador for the syndrome in which baby Chappo has been diagnosed. Rach...I'll leave it with you.