The Bub in the Belly

Today we went for a talk by Stemcord to find out more about cord blood banking. There are two private banks (Stemcord and Cordlife) and one public bank.

The statistics show that it is rare that cord blood is actually needed or used in treating medical conditions, but there have been some cases where cord blood has been used to save a life where everything else failed. That's good enough for us to want to bank our baby's blood. However, we have not decided whether we should bank privately or donate to the public bank.

After the talk, we still had not made up our mind so we decided to leave the decision till later.

My tummy is starting to really show now! Feels great to be out of the "limbo" phase. This is the latest belly shot.

Today we went for our 24-week scan. Baby is growing well, now at 670 g. All his organs are developed and from now on, he will just have to put on weight. Dr Chan was quick to point out that this does not mean that the mummy should put on weight too!

We got a good look at his face today. Here are the printouts.

Today we went for a free makeover and photoshoot. The people there didn't even notice I was pregnant! Guess it depends on what I wear. There definitely is a little bump developing...

Time to go and see our baby again!

Today we got the printout of the amniocentesis results - all is well. Also got the thalessemia test results printouts - we are both fine, no thalessemia. I have pregnancy related anaemia, which Dr Chan says is caused by dilution of the blood in my system and is perfectly fine. We asked him if I need to take any supplements or do anything and he said no.

My weight gain this time is within Dr Chan's recommendation, so he's happy and so am I. Baby is estimated to be 361 g, which is slightly above the average for this stage. Ultrasound scan shows baby is sleeping and he didn't want to look at us, so we couldn't see his face.

Dr Chan mentioned that we need not do the detailed scan for abnormalities. He said that if he picked up anything suspicious he would send us for the scan but so far so good. Also, if there was anything 'wrong', it can be fixed after delivery. Still, if we really want to, we can still have the scan done and if so, he recommends that we get it done by Dr TC Chang at Thomson Medical Centre. However, we decided not to do the scan.

Belly underwent a sudden growth spurt over the past week!

This morning, as I was driving to work, Dr Chan's clinic called to give me the results of the amniocentesis - ALL CLEAR!!! Yippee! What a relief! No genetic abnormalities detected, which also means no Down's Syndrome. Also, the amnio confirmed that baby is a boy, which is what I wanted for our first child.
Asked the nurse about our thalessemia test results and she said they were clear as well.
What a great start to the day!

Yesterday, the clinic called and told me that my blood test results showed that I had low hemoglobin levels. One cause could be thalessemia so Dr Chan wants both of us to go for a thalessemia blood test. So, this morning we went to the hospital to have our blood drawn. Richard hates needles and is confident he does not have thalessemia, however he has no choice but to undergo the experience with me, otherwise he will have to come up with some fantastic excuse to tell Dr Chan.
The blood test was done fairly quickly. As I just had blood drawn two days ago from my right arm, today the nurse drew blood from my left. I wasn't too bothered, needles don't really trouble me.
Slightly worried about this. I am confident I don't have thalessemia major but could I have thalessemia minor? Hoping it is just mild anaemia brought on by the pregnancy. Fingers crossed!