When I booked my 30 week growth scan I didn’t even register the date, as my clinic is only on a Thursday I don’t have any choice in date, but as the day drew closer it dawned on me that I’d be having a scan exactly a year after my last scan I had with my daughter, the one that told me she had no heartbeat. The one that ended my life as I knew it. As this appointment crept up on me I was overcome with nerves that maybe I’d be told the same, maybe time would repeat itself, maybe this would be it, maybe May 29th wasn’t my date.

I half convinced myself that the scan would only give me bad news, but Jackson seemed keen to prove to me that he wasn’t leaving me as he kicked up a storm the whole morning. This gave me great comfort as I walked into the scan knowing that he had been kicking less that half an hour before.
The sonographer was really lovely and talked us through everything that she did, measuring his head and abdomen circumference and his femur length. She also checked the levels of fluid around him and that he was getting enough blood through the umbilical cord. She then showed us his kidneys and bladder and stomach and told us that everything was looking perfect. She plotted his growth on my chart and it was near enough exactly on the middle line where it should be. Completely reassured we returned to the waiting room to wait for the consultants to call me. I couldn’t wait to text my parents to tell them that everything was ok.

We were called in by the maternal medicine consultant who told me that because I’m on dalteparin I cannot have an epidural within 12hours of having my injection and that this is non negotiable. I told her that I was definitely not planning on having one – I like my spine too much! She also said that even if I needed an emergency Csection within 12 hours of an injection that I would have to have a general anaesthetic. Again, this isn’t an issue for me. She also reiterated that I wouldn’t be allowed to go overdue, and she wrote this in my notes, it seemed that although this had been told to me it had never been written down!
She also told me why they measure the fluid around baby which I found interesting – the fluid around baby is mostly baby’s wee. If baby isn’t getting enough blood flow from the placenta the baby diverts the blood to the brain to keep it alive, and away from the kidneys which means they wee less, therefore reducing the amount of fluid around baby! Jacksons levels were perfectly normal, so no cause for concern! We didn’t have any other questions for her so we went back to wait to see the endocrinology consultant about my thyroid.
As soon as we got in the room he told me he wanted to take me off Carbimazole. I was only on 5mg a day which he assured me wasn’t that much and my levels have been steady for the last few tests. He wants me to have a blood test before my next appointment with him so he can check that I’m doing ok without any medication, but he expects it to be ok. He then told me that if your thyroid becomes over active during pregnancy and goes away during, that it is likely to return quite badly afterwards, but as they are aware of that they will keep a close eye on me and hopefully catch it before it gets too bad.
So all in all it seemed very positive. I am booked back in 4 weeks for another growth scan and endocrinology appointment.