Gemma’s Pregnancy - Week 22

Today was a good day for Gemma’s pregnancy.

We had a phone call from the ante-natal clinic, saying that our blood test results were back, and could we pop in and see them.

At our last scan at 18 weeks, the sonographer had spotted a bright area in the bowel of the baby, which is called Hyperechogenic Bowel. This known as a “soft marker” which the sonographer will look for during the scan.

After the scan we had an ante-natal appointment where this condition was discussed. 99% of the time it may not be anything. It could just be that there was a very small bleed within the uterus and the baby has swallowed some of the blood, so this shows up as a bright area. The soft marker could also indicate that there has been some sort of infection, or that there could be a chance that the baby has Cystic Fibrosis (CF).

While we were discussing this, the midwife said that we could do some screening tests to rule out the possibilities. Blood was taken from Gemma and even me (so that they could see if I was a carrier for CF) and sent off for analysis.

Like I’ve already said, we got some good news.

All the tests had come back negative, which was a huge relief to the both of us. So we can carry on looking forward to the birth now. We still have a scan at 32 weeks to double check that everything is progressing as it should.

Apart from the test result there has not been a lot to talk about. The baby is still continuing with his kicking practice in the hope that he’ll be a professional footballer, or something.

Until the next update, bye for now…….

Ellie’s off to School

We got good news today. Ellie has been accepted for a place at the local infants school for a place at their nursery in September.

Ellie will attend the morning session, 9am to 11.30am. This will get her prepared for going to Infants school proper in the following September.

Before she starts we will all go for a pre-visit. This will be to have a tour of the nursery and discuss things with her teacher. Her teacher is a man, which I was surprised at, as its not really a position you expect to find a man in.

I’m sure that it’ll be an emotional day, that first day when we actually have to leave her there, on her own. I’ve no doubt that she’ll be fine as once she gets in there and starts playing etc. then we can relax.

With Ellie going to school, it makes you realise how fast she is growing up.