Anxieties attack!

31weeks + 1 day

Time really is flying! If anyone had have told us when we first found out that our baby had Turner Syndrome, that we'd still be a going strong at 31 weeks, I'd have found it hard to believe. I think I can safely I have finally got over the daily feeling of 'what if this is the day that something goes wrong?' though it now seems to have been replaced with an entirely new fear...... Birth!

Risk factors in the 3rd trimester?

So whilst I say that birth is my new fear, the classic labour etc fears are somewhere near the top of my mind, but the fear of something else has taken over. 

Having googled a lot about Turner Syndrome, and read a lot of personal stories on the Internet, there seems to be a lot of cases where low amniotic fluid in the 3rd trimester is a huge risk. Unfortunately, as there is very little published information about this (probably because only 10% of Turner Syndrome cases are diagnosed in pregnancy), I cannot find anything to put my mind at ease, or to present my midwife and consultant with to back up my fears. All I can find is several cases where babies had to be delivered early - around 35 or 36 weeks - due to insufficient fluids. Low amniotic fluid does have a medical name - oligohydramnios - and is very dangerous. From what I have read, it is slightly more common in pregnancies of certain syndromes. 

After spending days worrying about this, I have decided to mention it to my midwife at our next appointment, as we won't be seeing the consultant for another 4 weeks (at 35 weeks). If our consultant has it her way, and all is well at the 32 week scan, she won't scan us again this pregnancy, and that is pretty much the only way to detect this problem.

So, have decided i'm going to be vocal about my concerns, regardless of how neurotic and over the top it may seem. We're not getting this far into a pregnancy that was only given 1% chance of making it,  for something like this to possibly affect it.

You be may be thinking 'just stop googling woman!' but because our healthcare professionals know so little about TS, I almost feel like it is down to us to make sure that we can do and find out as much as possible.

Pregnancy firsts...

Yesterday I experienced my first feeling of baby Chappo having hiccups! At first I thought she was practicing some rhythmic punching or kicking, but I soon realised it was baby hiccups. It lasted for about 15 minutes, and certainly made me and Tim smile :) 

Our beautiful nursery

After getting most of our nursery furniture over the holidays, Tim has finally finished his project-the nursery. I must say that he's done an amazing job of creating a tranquil, yet fun room for our little girl, and like he said-there's only one thing missing!

The week ahead: Tuesday is a busy day for us with our first antenatal class, and a midwife appointment.
Everything always seems to be on a Tuesday, maybe she'll be born on a Tuesday?!