Our 20 Week Scan

We had our scan last week and like all new mums I couldn't wait to see my bub again and hopefully find out if D was expecting a little brother or sister. We had booked the day off work and had planned to have a lovely lunch and shopping day together after the scan.

We woke up and it was chucking it down and thanks to unexpected road works on the way we nearly missed our appointment - I guess I should have seen the warning signs that it wasn't going to go as smoothly as we hoped but I was just so excited and everything had always gone to plan with D so I just didn't expect anything else . 

In the appointment I had a trainee sonographer doing the scan and had no reservations as we had a lovely student in with us at Daisy's birth so have always encouraged student interaction . The scan was pretty long winded due to the trainee having some trouble getting the right measurements, plus unfortunatrly bub was tucked in a corner making life very difficult. However they managed to get most of the measurements they needed and baby was the right size, we saw some lovely images of bub drinking and sucking it's thumb which was amazing to see. Towards the end of the scan as they were trying to get to see the spine I got a sense of things becoming a bit more quiet and the supervising sonographer got involved to measure the fluid around the bub. 

We could see she wasn't happy and she told us that the fluid levels are right at the bottom of normal and she would need to check with the doctor. We we're told we would need to come in for another scan and as the appointment had gone on much longer than planned we were rushed out to make an appointment and left to return. 

Leaving the hospital we felt a bit empty, in the rush we had barely had a chance to check the sex and was told it looks like a girl, we didn't get a chance to get any photos and worst if all we were given no information about what low fluid levels could mean or what we could do. We headed into town as planned and had lunch but it all felt a bit wrong and ended up heading home early. 

I know I shouldn't have but I then started googling low fluid levels and unfortunately found some pretty scary stories. As we're so early in the pregnancy it would be the result of a number of things including kidney / bladder problems with bub and can lead to some scary outcomes. I'm trying to stay positive but it's hard when you don't really know what you're dealing with so I'm getting as much rest as possible (not easy with a full time job and a toddler!) eating healthily and drinking loads. I have no idea whether it will help but it can 't hurt. 

It's going to be a long week and I'm just praying it's a blip and that bub will continue to grow and meet her targets. I've also been told I have an anterior placenta which is limiting the amount of movement I can feel but I am still getting little flutters which are truly wonderful when I start to feel the worry creeping up on me. 

I wasn't planning to write this blog as I tend to like to keep things to myself when times are tough but I'm hoping getting it off my chest will help me get through this week of waiting and remind me that at the moment we haven't been told it's really bad news and I'm still looking forward to meeting our beautiful baby girl and Daisy's amazing little sister. 

Moments like this just remind us all how very precious and fragile life can be