So I'm playing catch up in writing my first few posts as this blog wasn't up and running at the time, but I didn't want to miss out on recording some of these initial milestone moments :-)
So apparently my age means that I am a higher risk for chromosomal problems. Higher risk means 1 in 300 chance of a chromosomal issue at the age of 35, compared to a 1 in 1000 chance at the age of 30 - so quite a difference, but still only less than 1% chance. The NIPT Test (Non-Invasive Pre-Natal Testing) was recommended by our Obstetrician, so we decided to go ahead. It is used to detect Down Syndrome and 3 of the other common issues: Edwards Syndrome, Patau Syndrome and Turner Syndrome. We also get a sneak peek at the baby before the blood test so that's a bonus :-)
My symptoms had really reduced over the last 2-3 days, so I was quite nervous walking to the Sydney Ultrasound for Women rooms. There were a few tears on Jay's shoulder and some silent prayers before going into the ultrasound room. I was convinced that we were going to hear no heartbeat - the fear of what we went through last year (our pregnancy sadly ended as a missed miscarriage), happening again, just can't be described.
The Sonographer had read my notes and could see that I was very nervous, so quickly located the heartbeat and showed us straight away. 165 bpm and in the perfectly normal range :-)
In that moment, I felt overwhelming emotion. There were tears of course - a combination of happiness, relief and amazement at the little arms and legs that we could clearly see on the screen in front of us.
The feeling of love for this little one and Jay, sitting beside me holding tightly on to my hand, is just immense in this moment.
The due date we had originally been given was 23rd December 2016 (yes, yes, I know right??!!), but it looks like I'm a couple days ahead so looking at 21st December 2016, but who knows! I have always said that I feel bad for kids born on Christmas day because they don't really get their own day, so knowing my luck, this will definitely be a Christmas baby!
We came away with our first couple of photos of our little poppet :-)
The relief that there was a heartbeat made me forget that I was even in for a blood draw next - the thought of a needle and filling those little bottles with my blood now seemed like the easy bit!
