Hi ladies
I'm so behind on this thread but have had a bit of a catch up. Love to all the new mummies, the pregnant ladies and lots of
to those still waiting
In particular just wanted to give Soop some reassurance about the NT testing
. Elsa's Nuchal Fold was 6.5mm so pretty huge and we had a CVS (taking a bit of placenta for chromosome testing) and then a fetal echo cardiogram at 17 weeks.
In reality they didn't spot Elsa's heart defect at the echo when they should have done (we got a letter of apology from the consultant) so the echo was pretty pointless but I have no regrets about the CVS. I would have wanted to know if I was dealing with a seriously ill baby but that's just me and you need to make the choice that's right for you. It was a bit different for me as with the NT measurement there was something like a 1:3 chance of a serious problem so I felt like I didn't have much to lose at the time, I thought I'd probably lose her anyway
. You need to do what's right for you - the tests won't change your baby, they'll just give you info that you can use to make decisions. Soop if you have any other questions just ask
We had Elsa's op finally at the beginning of April and spent 2 weeks at Great Ormond Street. It was our 5th date after numerous cancellations - I thought it was never going to happen! The op went really well - they closed the hole and completely removed the valve to her pulmonary artery so that blood can get through to her lungs easily now. She'll need another op when she's older to put in a new valve, but we'll worry about that in 15 years or so
Leaving her with the anaesthetists was the hardest thing I've ever had to do, knowing that it could have been the last time I ever saw her but waiting for her to come out of the op went much quicker than I was expecting. We'd done some research on-line so we were prepared for all the wires and tubes when she came out of surgery, and it's crazy how used to intensive care you get after a day or so - you get a bit institutionalised
. It's only now looking back that I realise just how poorly she looked. She was a real little trooper, I'm in such awe of her. We had a bumpy patch in ICU when her kidneys stopped working and she started to fill up with fluid and then when she came off the morphine she had a huge comedown and was very sad and scared for a day or so, but apart from that it went smoothly - we just took it one day at a time. The nurses were absolutely amazing and GOSH provided us with accommodation for the whole time which saved us so much money and worry. It was hard leaving her overnight, especially when she was conscious as she seemed so little to be without her mummy but as soon as she was out of high dependency I was able to stay with her again. Her scar is really neat and is healing nicely, you'll hardly be able to see it when she's older. Now she's home she has much more energy, I didn't realise just how little she moved before - her oxygen levels had been getting lower and lower so it's great to see her all pink and healthy now. I'm looking forward to her learning to move now as she hasn't been crawling or rolling yet as it was too much pressure on her heart. I've attached a photo of her in hospital and one of her in the garden in the sunshine last week
I'll try and keep in touch a bit more - love to you all. Hi to NSN, NTAT, Wookie, Lexi, AYC, Nicki, Beach, Mommy, KMP, and anyone else I've missed
As with any other pregnancy annoyance, I will gladly accept it!!! Being a PAL chick sure makes one grateful and accepting of any obstacle!
) I'll post a pic. 
heheh
