Rumer's Story, part 16

Appointments again

Sunday 28th to Monday 29th June 2015
26 weeks pregnant

So on Sunday the 28th June, we met Chris's parents for lunch in Woodlands in Marylebone, a vegetarian Indian restaurant we'd frequented a number of times. We showed them the latest scan pictures and told them Rumer's name. I'd anticipated that most people would, at best, take time to get used to her name - after all, it was hardly in the top 100 - but everyone immediately proclaimed to love it. I still have no idea if they meant it or not. My parents, whom we'd told on the phone, also claimed they liked it.

Rumer's Story, part 2

PAPP-A and meeting the obstetric consultant

Friday 20th March to Thursday 16th April 2015
12 to 16 weeks pregnant

We'd had our first midwife appointment at home just after our 11-week scan, on 20th March. It had been fairly standard, with no concerns. I'd asked about whooping cough vaccine and the midwife Mollie had promised me a leaflet. I'd also admitted to some anxiety about how things were going and Mollie assured us that 'everything would be okay'. After the nuchal scan showed the low PAPP-A, my anxiety had triggered me into frantic googling and I'd discovered that low PAPP-A (exactly what was considered to be low varied) was associated with poor fetal growth. I'd also been doing a course on customised growth charts at work which happened to mention that low PAPP-A was linked to a seven-fold increase in the risk of stillbirth.