Just pregnant

It's Tuesday again, so time for a new blog!

After our miscarriage, we were soon pregnant again. What a surprise! After waiting in suspense for the first few weeks, we got the redeeming word during the first ultrasound - we could see a beating heart. It gave a feeling of relief, as we hadn't come this far last time. Along with the relief came the feeling of uncertainty. Will this continue to go well. The days until the term echo crept by but finally the moment was there. Our little one had grown well and was still on track. There was still a beautiful beating heart to be seen so once again the uncertainty could be pushed to the background. We were counselled about the NIPT and the SEO and had to start deciding together what we wanted to do with this. It proved very difficult for me to see the information not as a healthcare provider but as an expectant mum. In the end, this did work out and we were able to make a well-considered decision on this together as expectant mum and dad. In the meantime, we had taken all the steps we needed to take and had now also found the peace of mind to inform everyone around us about our pregnancy. A day after we had told almost everyone, however, we got the scare of our lives.

Suddenly, I lost a lot of blood and uncertainty hit hard again. The only difference from the miscarriage was that I had no cramps. This still reassured me somewhat because I knew that the bleeding could then have another cause. Fortunately, we were able to visit the practice immediately to see what was going on with the ultrasound. The first image we saw was a happy moving baby with a beautiful beating heart, how relieved we were! It looked like a blood vessel had burst somewhere and this would heal on its own with plenty of rest. My lovely colleagues immediately took over from me and so I was able to sit on the sofa with my feet up. The bleeding subsided so we were more comfortable again. In the middle of the night, however, I was startled awake and lost a lot of blood again. Again, I had no cramps but I wanted to know where it was coming from. We then called Myrthe and she arranged a consultation at the hospital for us. In the end, our little one was also found to be doing well! On this ultrasound we could clearly see that a blood vessel behind the placenta had burst. To let this heal, I was no longer allowed to work until the bleeding had completely stopped. Fortunately, my lovely colleagues took over everything from me and I was able to concentrate on recovery and pregnancy. Every week the ultrasound checked how the recovery was progressing and we saw our little man growing well. Whereas for a healthy pregnancy the milestone of 24 weeks is already a big one, for us that realisation was even more present. Every step we were allowed to take felt like a very big one and how happy we were when the outcome was positive every time. In this situation too, my knowledge helped me a lot, being able to reason out for myself what could possibly be going on allowed me to keep calm. Yet with appropriate uncertainty, we could slowly start looking forward to the 20-week ultrasound. I'll tell you about that in my next blog!

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