Bumplog - after the highs...

Following this week's announcement that by some natural miracle we're pregnant with our second child, the flood of congratulatory messages both here and on Twitter quite overwhelmed me. You lot are just lovely *sniff*.

But after the highs come the almost inevitable lows.

At our 13 week scan we were offered a combined screening test for chromosome abnormalities including Downs Syndrome. We decided to take the test and I had some vials of blood taken for testing. At the scan baby's neck was measured. All looked normal. We were told that if we didn't hear anything within two weeks then the blood tests had come back negative and all was well.

On Thursday afternoon, after a lovely morning sharing our news with all my Mummy friends at playgroup, I had a phone call. As the midwife started talking a wave of nausea broke over me. I asked her to wait for a moment and sat DD in front of Thomas the Tank Engine. Then I sat down to concentrate on what she was telling me.

The blood test results had come back and combined with my age, history and the nuchal fold test we had done at the scan, there is a 1 in 75 chance of baby having an abnormality.

1 in 75. Not 1 in 1200 like DD. 1 in 75.

The midwife was incredible. She calmly explained all our options and offered all sorts of advice. But in the end the decision about what to do next was ours and ours alone.

OH and I discussed all the options. It seemed that Sod's law had applied to us again. Thankfully we were both of the same opinion. We want to know for sure.

So on Monday we will be travelling to London for a Chorionic Villus Sampling test. A very thin needle will be placed into my womb and a minute piece of the placenta, the placenta that is feeding our baby, will be taken out for testing. There is a small chance that the procedure itself will cause a miscarriage. I'm trying not to think about any of it.

Whatever happens we should know the outcome of the tests by the end of the week. Please bear with me while we have the test. I may not be posting here much.

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