12-8-2008 - The dreaded and long awaited 13 week 2 day scan

My mood while writing this blog: overjoyed!

As many will know this day has been a long time coming... and this scan made me very very scared. It was at this point in my last pregnancy that things went terribly wrong and we had to decide to send our beautiful baby to heaven... With a 1 in 50 chance of a reoccurance of anencephaly or spina bifida we were understandably nervous...

I'm delighted to say that the scan was great and our baby looks healthy! I can't find the words to express how we feel right now... I fought to hold back the tears in the waiting room but must admit they flowed freely when we heard those words... all looks well!

We saw baby's brain and beautiful skull... maybe I'm biased but it just looked like the best skull in the world! The spine looked good too, but it's a bit too early to say for sure so we'll look again next time.

Baby sat upright and waved at us so we got to see fingers and thumbs and he/she moved around heaps! There was kicking and twisting too but our little independent bub did not want to lie down for the doctor to measure the nuchal fold so we tried prodding and jiggling but nothing worked so I got up and went for a walk, had a drink and got my blood taken. After that baby did lie down but only for long enough to get the measurements then he/she was up again! Our consultant kindly said that they 'start as they tend to continue' so maybe we're having a baby that won't want to sleep!! The nuchal measurement was fine but we'll get the final official results in about a week.

Baby measures 7.5 cm from head to bottom which is bang on average which is great. His/her head measured 2.5 cm from ear to ear.

We didn't even enquire about the sex of the baby.. I know some people have been able to find out at this stage but for us, today was about finding out if our baby could survive and knowing that was all we needed for today. We may take a peak next time but I've left that decision up to my husband as I get to decide everything else! I'd prefer a surprise but I know he'd like to know so we probably will find out.

Next scan is in 3 weeks on the 2nd September.

I just wanted to say a great big thank you to everyone for the suppport I have received over the past few weeks with dealing with my anxiety and grief for my little angel.. Your kind thoughts, messages and prayers have made this so much easier!

There will be hurdles to come, milestones to reach and things to worry about I'm sure but today all is well and for that we are truly blessed!

Baby's scan pictures are on my profile so feel free to check them out!