I was thinking, on my way to the Amnio this morning, that when I was pregnant with Son and Daughter an amniocentisis seemed a really risky thing to have, and that you'd only have one if you really felt you needed to.
I don't know whether it's merely the fact that my risk of Downs is medically high - 1 in 51 - but the amnio here didn't hold those fears for me. Yes, I know there's a risk attached to it: but then my pregnancy is considered 'high risk' anyway and as I've mentioned before, the chances of being pregnant in any case 'at my great age' were slim and the likelihood of an early miscarriage was high.
Maybe my gut feeling as a mother is completely nonsensical and based only on emotion, but I feel that this baby is just determined to stay here and that it's meant to be, despite the odds. Dr. Lawley at the Cumberland Infirmary has carried out approximately 500 amnios and apparently not had a miscarriage yet: as she said there's always the first, but for some reason I have complete confidence in her. Maybe she's a Lucky Doctor! And maybe perhaps more careful than some, who knows. She also mentioned that she has 3 of us in the 45-50 age group who are pregnant at the moment, which is interesting.
As it turned out the amnio was a quick and pain-free process: certainly a lot easier than giving blood. I arrived early: partly as I was most worried that I was going to have to drive round and round the car park looking for a space, though in fact there were loads of spaces (do people stop being ill in the school holidays?). I was seen early and having had an initial appointment time of 10a.m., was out of the hospital - with a large bag of Quavers, which for some reason I had a yen for - by 10.22. I feel slightly concious that I've had something done to my stomach and am going to take it easy today and tomorrow, but that's all.
It was lovely to see the baby on a scan again: looking quite a bit bigger and plumper than a few weeks ago! I reckon this one is going to be the most photographed, prior to birth, of all three of my children. We'll get the results early next week by telephone (and they telephone you whether the result is 'bad' or 'good', unlike Newcastle who only contact you if you're high risk after the Combined Test) and will also find out the sex of the baby, which is exciting (and will be definite, unlike the 20-week scan where they can tell you what they think it is but occasionally may get it wrong).
While there they changed the date of my 20-week scan, which means that now the children will be able to come along: I'm rather pleased as I'd inadvertently booked them into nursery and holiday club for the original date. I think it will be nice for them to see their new brother or sister: and Son in particular has shown interest in my scan photos so far and was intrigued by the fact that the baby is currently covered in 'cheese' (lanugo).
I hope and pray it's going to be a perfectly healthy baby, but I also remind myself that there are worse things than Downs and that what will be will be. Husband and I have always said that we're incredibly lucky to have the two healthy and bright children we have: a third always felt a bit like pushing our luck. We'll soon know.
While I'm chatting away 'en blog' (I wonder if that's what they say in France?), I want to record the fact that the staff at the Cumberland Infirmary are lovely: this morning's experience was a positive one and I came away feeling as relaxed and happy as I could, if a little emotional.
Having just carried out a thorough search for jobs, I'm now going to go to watch Harry Potter with Son.
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