Here is the email we sent to all our friends: Bit of a mammoth email!!

===============================================

Hello everyone,

Excuse the impersonal nature of this email but we really want all our friends to know what’s happening. Obviously we do not want to go through all these details which our vast array of friends we are so pleased to have. For those of you we haven’t spoken to so far we hope this will not be too much of a shock.

At the base of the spine on our baby there is a sac of fluid which is normally surrounding the spinal column. As the babys spine has grown it has not closed sufficiently resulting in this sac, which appears to be intact which is good news. This is known as a ‘Spina Bifida’. The severity of these can vary dramatically on each baby and as yet we do not know how our baby will be affected.

During our first scan last Wednesday over 10mm of was seen around the brain, this is called hydrocephalus or ‘water on the brain’ As the baby grows this water can restrict the growth of the brain leading to a retardation. On this scan this has dropped to below 9mm into the ‘normal’ range and the baby is no longer classed as having hydrocephalus. This is obviously an enormous relief and answer to prayer. We will be having regular scans from now to continue to monitor this among other things as there is still a risk this could increase. For those of you wanting to pray about specific things for us please put this at the top your list.

Regarding the sac of fluid itself it is not yet known whether this is an empty sac or whether it contains any nerves. Obviously it being empty is what we are praying for such that further risks of complications are reduced. Make that prayed item number two.

A common result of this Spina Bifida we are told is paralysis of the lower limbs and incontinence. During the scan we saw both legs move together and the baby’s bladder was full, following in her mothers footsteps!! I say ‘her’ deliberately as, in light of these difficulties we chose to find out the sex of the baby. Although with the fluid sac where it is the consultant couldn’t be sure but she saw nothing to indicate a baby boy. It was noted the legs were crossed for the duration of the scan, this may be a sign of a problem or just that our baby girl was putting her feet up, we do not know.

It is normal also for the baby’s head to be mis-shaped with a Spina Bifida. This is the case with our baby’s head being termed ‘Lemon shape’ we do not know as yet whether this will have an impact. We will be seeing a neurologist at Nottingham hospital who will look into the sac more closely using a different scanning technique who will give us a better assessment of any neurological problems. There are also risks to the heart so we will soon have a cardio appointment at the Infirmary. The consultant could see no problems so far.

We were offered an amniocentesis test which would assess whether there was a genetic cause for this problem. This test is mainly used to help decide whether to have a termination as well as planning for future care needs. As Christians we are not prepared to have an abortion and due to a 1% risk of miscarriage we will postpone this test until around 32 weeks when the risk is negligible. Please thank God that we did not go ahead with this as originally we agreed to and then changed our minds right at the last minute. I’m so glad we did. When I mention future care needs I mean to say that if this is genetic it is considered lethal and the baby’s life will be shortened. Please pray that when we do get this test the results will be negative for a genetic disorder. When thinking of having children in the future, this is a very important test.

So all in all we had a really good day. We had prepared for the worst and came away with hope. Most of all we are aware that God has and will continue to use this experience to bring us and those around us closer to Him. We pray that you all will experience Gods love as we have since last Wednesday. With this in mind we have created a blog at http://nicandkathy.blogspot.com/ where we will record the events over the coming months. Please feel free to share this email and blog with anyone, especially those who have been praying and thinking of us.

Of course, thanks to everyone who has encouraged us these last few days. We have some amazing friends & family. They won’t acknowledge it I am sure but special thanks to Malcolm and Chris who have spent today with us. Thank you.

We will be in touch with you all soon.

All our Love
Nic and Kathy