22 Weeks - 1st Appointment at St George's

We met with a wonderful consultant today. He scanned baby James in full and took a very close look at the hernia. He didn't say too much about it as he seemed to be more concerned with the possibility of a chromosomal abnormality. This we discovered would not be Down Syndrome but Edwards Syndrome- a condition with a 100% mortality rate. Obviously this was all we could focus on and went through the hardest hour of our lives to date. We wer unsure of wheather to do the amnio at this stage and needed some medical advice.

When the consultant entered the room the mood seemed to change organically. He could tell how concerned we were and advised us that there was only a small chance of a 'syndrome'. Baby James's nucal measuements had been normal during the 12 week scan and this measurement is 80% acurate. We told him that whatever the outcome we would not consider a termination and so we didn't want to risk the pregnancy further by undergoing an amnio. Mike, Mum and I seemed to come to this conclusion at the same time and knew imediately that it was correct.

Therefore our main concern was now the Diaphragmatic Hernia and Kidney Hydrophonsis. There is a 60-70% survival rate for this condition so please pray hard! We want to bring our baby boy home!!

23 Weeks - Fetal Cardiology

There is a large connection between Diphragmatic Hernia's and heart defects in babies with Edwards Syndrome. Therefore Jame's heart rate needed to be checked in full to give us a greater understanding of his condition.

The cardiologist spent a long time looking at James's heart and we are delighted to report that the heart development is normal although it of course is slightly over the the right - a right medial shift in medical terms. This was great to hear as it suggests his other problems are isolated.

Although the consultants have all been pretty pessimistic to this point, we are all trying to stay positive.

Thank you for your continued prayers, please keep them coming!!.