To test or not to test, that is the question....

When we first went to have this amniocentesis test at 20 weeks it was Kathy who backed out at the last minute and I am glad she did. It was my turn to pull the plug today. It just seemed a little futile still. Were the test to induce premature labour, a possibility, we would the have all the premature baby issues to contend with as well. So we are waiting now until the baby is 36/37 weeks when, even if it does induce labour there will be no additional avoidable problems.

As for the hydrocephalus, that continues to increase, now at 17mm. The difficulty is that the longer she is in the womb the more possible damage there is to the brain but the better the lung development will be. We are pretty sure now we will be having an elective caesarean at Nottingham, so when they feel the lungs are sufficiently strong and assuming the hydrocephalus isn’t too bad we will go there to have the baby. After a morning class on the intricate and gruesome details of labour a caesarean sounds like a great option to me, but of course it not happening to me is it!!

We are nearly there with the nursery now. I will upload a photo when it done. Getting that ready has made me think about two areas God has provided for us in abundance as always. Firstly financially. We have some lovely things, pram, furniture, cot, etc which have either been given to us or got second hand at exceptional prices. We know our finances are going to have to change but this has made the transition easier. Secondly and most importantly, just how lucky we are to be having this baby at all. so many people can’t have kids for one reason or another. We had a taste of what it was like to have to wait a time for this to happen and it was so hard. We are so grateful to be having this little girl who will be with us soon.

I have just been pointed by a good friend to the following verse in Isaiah that seems very appropriate.

“Then you will know that I am the LORD, those who hope in Me will not be
disappointed." Isaiah 49 v23

Scary!!

I came home from a round of golf today to see the nursery decoration completed. Kathy’s done the painting and we had the carpet laid today. Seeing the moses basket in the corner was a shock, we are actually having a baby, and she coming soon!!!

Tomorrow will be a difficult day. With not having had a scan for over 3 weeks now or spirits are high but we don’t know what we will find out tomorrow or next week when we get the amnio results. Well just have to wait, see and keep praying. We know we are being well looked after!!

Getting there!

Well, we are getting there. After months of wishing I was more pregnant and had a bigger bump, I finally have it and realise that not being able to see my feet & getting out of breath going up stairs is not all that fun!
We have not had a scan for about three weeks and it has been lovely to feel ‘normal’.
I brought a book recently about baby’s first year ( I did also buy the Gina Ford book, but only got through the first chapter and got very scared!). I flicked to the end of this book and it had comments from people this lady had worked with. One of them thanked her for helping them to be a normal family living with their special needs daughter and I realised that I wanted that for us. We are facing a different life, but it is really important for us and our daughter to have as much normality as possible & this is my wish & prayer.
Our nursery is getting there thanks to help from my mum, so should be done before our scan & Amnio on Friday. I also only have four working days left, which is great. I am ready to sit in the garden and put my feet up while I still can!

Time to get ready

Finally back from Spring Harvest. A week in a Butlins chalet can certainly wear you out! We had a good week especially a talk on the last day about how to live with disabled children. A little premature I know as we don’t know the extent of our girls problems as yet but it was a really reassuring talk. We also got to meet the lady who was leading the talk and she lives in Leicester and also goes to our parent church. It was our first time with other familys who have difficulties and it was a really positive one. Thankyou Spring Harvest.

As always on these conferences there are a couple of key things that we try to take away with us and remember. I’m sure Kathy has her own but for me there were two things. Firstly, about seeing a ‘Glimpse of his Glory’, like Peter did on the mountain that time. I have had glimpses such as when we first found about our baby and how God cradled us and, although not quite so prolific, will try to remember them when things get harder as they are almost surely going to.

Secondly about being a ‘Big Picture’ Christian. So many times I’ve got wound up in things and completely missed what was really happening; too many to mention here. I must do better!

We have cancelled with our consultant’s permission our scan this week. We have the amnio the week after so didn’t want to go through any more unless absolutely necessary. She told us there is nothing they will do anyway as she’s in the best place possible at the moment. We were told however that if the hydrocephalus gets very bad they may induce at 36 weeks. Only 4 weeks away. I pray this won’t be necessary.

Another thing I remember from the Xtra Special Children course is about the importance of praying for specifics. I think this blog helps with that but I will try harder to be more explicit in prayer requests. We will keep up to date the prayer request list on the right of the blog.

Fame at last!!

I was asked ages ago if I would do a diary of the pregnancy for the national magazine Practical Parenting. It is one of there regular features on regular peoples pregnancies and I was in this month’s edition as the 2nd trimester example. It felt slightly strange reading it as it spans the time before and after our scan. After we told them what had/was/is happening I was pleased they were still keen to go ahead.

Thankfully most pregnancies do go without any problems, but the reality (as we found out) that there are always those exceptions. I still wanted to do it however, because small numbers as they are, there are other people out there who do not get the news they hoped for at their scans. Maybe this will help them? Part of the reason for this blog is to share whats happening and we are pleased they published the blog address.

We have had no scans for over a week which feels really great. I am not sure how helpful they are to us. We are off to sunny (hopefully!!) Skegness this week for ‘Spring Harvest’ with some good friends. It will be our last holiday just the two of us, as she is due to arrive within the next nine weeks. I had best try and get all the sleep I can.

P.S. I'm sure Nic will post a copy of the article soon!!