Is my baby OK?

So I took you with me on my 12 week scan and shared pictures of our little one still forming in the womb but I didn't get into the ins and outs of what happened that day. For those of you that don't know the process of testing an unborn baby for Down's Syndrome and other genetic problems has changed since I was last pregnant nearly 6 years ago. You now have the option of a nuchal translucency (NT) scan. During your scan they tell you they will measure the thickness of the back of the baby's neck, they are actually measuring the fluid underneath the skin, this can be used to determine the risk of that baby having Down's Syndrome.

During our scan the sonographer took what felt like an age to measure this and I was convinced there was something wrong. After the scan we received our results from the midwife and the measurement our baby had was 3.1mm. Apparently the cut off is 3.5mm.. so anything lower than that doesn't fall in to the risk category.

There is also a blood test which you can have (didn't feel like I had much of a choice).

The blood test measures:
• hCG (human chorionic gonadotrophin)
• PAPP-A (pregnancy associated plasma protein)
A woman who is carrying a baby with Down's syndrome will have abnormal levels of these two substances in her blood. You are given a result of 1 in ? and the cut off is 300. A woman with a 1/300 chance or higher would be classed as high risk. They told us if we fell in to the high risk category we would be contacted (by phone) within 7 days... if we were low risk we would receive notification (by post) within 2 weeks.

We received a letter yesterday (meaning we were low risk) and informing us that our number was 1 in 536.

It's all very well saying your "low risk" but surely there are degrees of low risk.. they don't tell you what "normal" is because everybody is different but if the NT scan cut off is 3.5mm and we're 3.1mm... wouldn't that worry you? What do other people get? 2mm? 1mm? And 1 in 536 chance of downs.. ok the cut off is 1 in 300 but some people get results of 1 in 1500.. when you put it in to that perspective.. 1 in 536 isn't exactly LOW risk, is it?

When I was having the scan and fearing the worst I thought the baby wasn't okay and I wasn't scared or upset I was practical. I knew we had a higher chance of conceiving again since Lee's test results had been so positive at the last fertility appointment and if this pregnancy wasn't meant to be it wasn't meant to be!

Since then I've thought a lot about it and and I just haven't become attached to this baby yet. I've tried but I'm not. I am excited when I think we're going to have a baby but it's a mixture of not really believing it yet and not wanting to be too disappointed if something does go wrong. So many people both in the public eye and that I know are losing baby's at 4 and 5 months + I feel like the baby isn't really mine until it's here and healthy. Hopefully I will feel more positive soon but right now I'm getting excited... but not TOO excited ... just in case.



sperm tests and the mr & miss average

A healthy male discharges 50 million sperm in a single ejaculation. During sexual intercourse, of all those millions of sperm, only a couple hundred will make it to a mature egg that is ready to be fertilized.

As previously disclosed the average per 1ml should contain around 20 million sperm but we're working with less than 3.. hmm.
When faced with this information where do you go next? The internet!
The internet is everyones favourite research department.. It can generally tell you whatever you need to know in a matter of moments but when it comes to fertility you never quite get a straight answer.
Every site tells you different facts and figures and those that do match up are vague at best. I've come to the conclusion nobody really knows how a sperm goes on to fertilise an egg.. I think if they were honest, even the scientists are baffled. Yes maybe they can do it in a petri dish but nobody give a definitive answet why some sperm can get to the egg and conceive a baby and some can't.
There are lots of theories... "well this can affect and that doesn't help... buy this contraption and you'll be pregnant within a month... or you won't, no promises" nobody really knows do they.
Doctors tell men and women all over the world they have little to no chance of having children and they go on to have a whole brood.
So when you're told you have fertility issues what are actually supposed to do? How are you supposed to feel?
It's been a couple of weeks since our appointment with the consultant now and I've tried to put babies out of my mind, concentrating on other things but you can't make plans when you're trying to conceive ... I can't plan a holiday in 6 months time... I may not be able to fly let alone wear a bikini... what now?

I haven't reached a conclusion yet but I thought I'd leave you all with some facts and figures of my own
Ones of course I've borrowed from other sources

• One study showed that geographic location influenced average sperm count. Men in New York City had higher sperm counts than men in Los Angeles. (Whether a man's sperm count will increase should he move from L.A. to the Big Apple is not clear, however.)

• Humans are among the least fertile of any species on earth. Pregnancy is a result of a complex combination of factors and events. When trying to have a baby, the chances of conception in any month of unprotected intercourse are just 20%

• Studies show that about 40% of infertility cases are caused by female factors, 40% by male factors and 20% by a combination of both

• Sperm can live in the female reproductive tract for up to three days after intercourse, so having sex every day, or even on ovulation day, is not necessary. What is critical is knowing when you are fertile. According to data from the AIA, 20 percent of couples seeking infertility treatment are not timing intercourse correctly.

xoxo

MissBB

Fertility Issues

Ok... so I intended on using this blog once I was pregnant... maybe that's not gonna happen so soon but it WILL happen... so... I shall use this for my TTC blogs while I'm waiting and leave the title as a hopeful nod to the fertility gods :))) *wink* *nudge*
So.. I said I would tell you all what's going on and I shall..
We discovered about a month or so ago that Lee had what they call a Varicocele!
In a nutshell it's a varicose vein in the testicle that can block off sperm and decrease fertility.
Reason I didn't want to Vlog about this is I have young viewers, it's a bit of a sensetive subject and I warned you of this... If younger viewers want to read this that's fine but I could do without haters telling me I'm being inappropriate and I feel more comfortable talking to you all about this via my blog than my channel... it's a little personal after all!
I've pulled a wikipedia link on Varicocele if you wanna swat up... here it is
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Varicocele
Basically an average mans sperm count per ml should be 20million and currently we're looking an 2.7million..
not high!
What's so bad is we went to the GP and they told us the results were back and they were fine
We went to see a consultant and he told him not only were they far from fine but he's going to have to have a small operation!!!
It's an overnight job and shouldn't be too invasive a procedure but It's not great is it?
We're looking at 4-6 months until the op makes a different to sperm production so I'm pretty much giving up on trying for 6 months... we still will "try" I just don't intend on beating myself up about it and getting upset every month when I'm not pregnant.
If it happens, fabulous, if it doesn't, I'll have expected as much!
So..
That's where we are right now,
That's why I haven't updated you coz I didn't really know what was going on.
It kinda sucks but hey hey what will be will be and I know we'll have kids... it just might take a little longer!

Thanks for reading and if you wanna keep up to date on our TTC journey hit "follow"
I'm likely to update this blog more that video logs just because of this issue...
I will VLOG soon as I get my big fat positive though don't you worry!

Love you guys
Your love and support never goes unappreciated

xoxo

Miss BB