Problematic platelets and mega migraine... BUT super scan!

34 weeks and 4 days

Where is the time going?! Yesterday was a busy day for us-with a midwife appointment, and a heart scan in Oxford, followed by a doctors appointment for me (baby Chappo seems to have hijacked my immune system!)

Problematic platelets

Just before Christmas my midwife warned me that my blood platelet levels were lower than they'd like, but still within an ok range (137). It simply meant I needed monitoring. So I had a retest on Friday, and was told yesterday that they've taken quite a dip again. This time I'm hovering around 100, which is when they start to 'do something about it'. By that I mean, refer me to a consultant, not that that's needed for me as I already have one, and a referral to a haematologist. Not really sure on what all this means, but should find out on Tuesday at our appointment. I just know it affects my bloods ability to clot, and now needs v close monitoring as it has implications for labour.

I got home and was a tad upset at the thought of a further complication-I explained to Tim that I'd spent the last 5 months worrying about baby (we both had), and now I'm worrying about my own health! As usual, Tim kept his cool, did a bit of googling (he too hates not knowing about things) and then reassured me that he'd read stories of women with much lower levels who were fine. After a hug and cry, I was ready for the next hurdle that day...

Super scan

After the midwife appointment, we set out for what we hoped would be our final visit to the John Radcliffe hospital in Oxford. Not a single nerve this time-probably because I was more focused on the migraine that had been plaguing me for days! We arrived early - in true Chapman style - and as usual spent more time in the waiting room than in with the cardiologists. That could only mean one thing though, the heart scan was as normal as could be :) We were given the disclaimer 'this doesn't mean that a problem won't develop after birth' but for now, we were happy, and so were both of the cardiologists.

Baby chappo needs her heart scanning once born, and then within 6 weeks of birth, when Dr Archer

from John Radcliffe pays a visit to our local hospital, but these are just precautionary.

Mega migraine

Since Saturday I've had the most nasty migraine! One of the down sides of pregnancy as many of you know, is that your immune system doesn't work as well to protect you as it is on overdrive protecting baby. I've had a sinus infection since October, and the doctors have tried to treat it with numerous antibiotics, but with no joy. It's reared it's ugly head again, but this time the doctors won't give me any more antibiotics, which I completely understand. So for now, it's snotty sinuses, and a hurty head, but hey if it means baby chappo is being well protected, then that's fine by me :)

What's in store or us?

On Tuesday (always a Tuesday!!), we have an appointment with the consultant to discuss the birth plan, and now to also discuss my blood platelet levels. I'm very keen to be as clued up as possible about everything given that it is likely baby will arrive early, even though the consultant doesn't agree, but then she doesn't appear to know much about Turner Syndrome!

Maternity leave is also becoming a reality now, I finish next Friday! I still cannot imagine not being at work-being ill and having to stay at home has driven me mad. Anyway, I'm convinced that baby Chappo will only give me a few days peace before she arrives....maybe on a Tuesday!

A relatively uneventful week....

...well apart from a minor argument with an icy path!

Maternity leave looming

12 working days left-gosh that sounds scary! I haven't not worked in years, I'm not saying that bringing up a baby isn't hard work, it's just I can't quite believe I won't be going to school everyday. We have interviews coming up for my maternity cover, and I keep getting mixed feelings-protective over my class, my classroom, and my job, silly really!

I'll be finishing at exactly 36 weeks, so if she does decide to come early, I'm hoping she'll give me a few days at least to put my feet up.

Big movements

I know they say that towards the end of the pregnancy the baby moves less due to less space, well baby Chappos moving just as much, and at times I'd say practising her somersaults! Between each midwife visit and scan, she loves to flip round, so hoping she settles on head down soon.

Final purchases

We are just in the process of paying for our pram and car seat-need a small mortgage for that! They're due to arrive in a large MotherCare lorry (I imagine) a week on Monday, which is very exciting :) We've also bought a few little vests and sleep suits, just enough for the first few days. 

Lots of support

We are still totally overwhelmed by the amount of support we've received from friends and family. Lots of friends from the past have recently been in contact to say how much they enjoy our blog, and are rooting for our baby girl. The amount of support, well wishes and prayers should be more than enough to last her a lifetime.

We've also received support in a different sense in that my little brother has recently signed up for a triathlon in aid of Turner Syndrome Support Society UK. Whilst he's super fit, he's never competed in a triathlon before. But not one to give a halfhearted attempt, he's signed up for the hardest of the 3 levels! If you'd like to take a look at his fundraising page, google 'Bob Read Just Giving' and it should be the first link. Just take a look and see how fab he is :) 

Another super source of support has been emails from a friend of a friend (of a friend). For several months we've been in contact with a fabulous family who've got a young daughter with Turner Syndrome. It's really valuable to us as I am able to share all sorts of things that are on my mind, and ask lots of questions, and she's always there to provide excellent, first hand advice (as well as pics of her lovely daughters).

Busy week next week!

So, I promise that between now and my next post, I will have no more arguments with the weather. I'll be back in just under a week with the results from our last scan at Oxford (hopefully), and my bloods. 

Due date - 6 and a half weeks....

32weeks and another good scan-another milestone reached!

32 weeks and counting down

Back when we first found out that little one had Turner Syndrome, if you'd have told me that we'd still be going strong at 32 weeks, I'm not sure I'd have believed you! But then I'm not sure I believed that getting beyond that first day of finding out was even possible, but here we are....

32 week scan

Whilst sat in the scan waiting room this afternoon, we calculated that we had seen baby chappo on various heart, growth and general scans, 9 times so far. Today was number ten. The nerves were today replaced with 'how big do you think she is this time?' 'How much do you think she's grown in the last 4 weeks?' 'How many weeks behind might she be this time?'

We were called into the ultrasound room (thankfully we still haven't been back in THAT room) and as I lay on the bed, the nerves set in once again, despite the fact the baby had spent the morning booting me (I think she got bored at antenatal class!). The sonographer had read our novel, sorry I mean hospital notes, and just got straight down to work. Within 10 minutes she had concluded that baby chappo was measuring at 32 weeks, had an average amount of amniotic fluid, and weighed roughly 3lb 15oz. Excellent news! Not only had she caught up again, but all was well, and she was nearly 4lb with 8 weeks to go....if she stays in that long.

Also to our surprise, the sonograher asked us to wait outside whilst she booked us a final growth scan at 36 weeks-BONUS, I didn't even need to ask :)

Antenatal classes

Last Tuesday was the first of our two antenatal classes, with this morning being the second. We ourselves had chosen to attend the Jan classes instead of Feb, as we felt that The last 2 weeks of Feb (which was when the classes were scheduled) were pushing it with regards to baby potentially coming early.

The classes were informative, if not a tad scary - mainly the labour part, but I imagine I'm most certainly not the first or last to be scared at the thought of labour! Today's class frustrated me somewhat though....having read, and been told by mothers of TS children, that TS babies struggle to breast fed (for some unknown reason), our whole class was on breast feeding. The final ten minutes were about bottle feeding. Now I know that health care professionsals are obliged to 'push' the whole breast is best message, and I totally get that, but what about us mums who want to but are unlikely to be able to?! We could have done with a little more than ten minutes on bottle feeding, anyhow, not the end of the world.

The next few weeks...

A week on Friday I have to have my bloods re-done :( we found out from our midwife that my platelet levels are low. Apparently this has something to do with helping the blood to clot, and is a problem that needs addressing if they don't increase, or if they go even lower. You'll be pleased that I have resisted the urge to google this as I've figured I don't wan't to worry myself about anything else, but as Tim well knows, I am worrying! I just keep reminding myself that I have no control over this, as with the whole pregnancy in general. It's on my prayer list though!

Two weeks today we have what we hope will be our final heart scan at John Radcliffe, Oxford. If all is well with this, then no more Oxford, just heart checks at the local hospital. Yay!! Though I do think that the 2 cardiologists that we've been seeing are fabulous.

Three weeks today we have an appointment with our consultant, though going by past experiences it will probably be a totally different person again.

So there we are, all up to date. We've up-ed our game in terms of buying baby things, only the essentials though like a bottle set, changing bag, and first set of baby clothes for the hospital. Next step - get the changing bag and my bag prepped for hospital!

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?!

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 ;)