Riley’s proud to announce she’s going to be a big sister!

Yes, that’s right, and that’s the reason for rather a lack of posting in recent months on here.  I am now 13 weeks and 2 days pregnant, which makes the baby due on 5^th October 2015.  Yesterday we had our first scan and I am so relieved that everything is looking good so far and it really makes the whole thing seem more real.

Sitting in the waiting room I had that same mix of excitement that we finally get to meet the baby and also fear that something could be wrong with the baby but all is ok and it is just so amazing to see baby on the screen.

So the first 13 weeks… well I knew I was pregnant literally a few days after I conceived – I felt sick and so tired, at least I hoped I was pregnant.  I had put my Keppra up after having a few focal seizures in November and so the alternative was that it was a side effect of the medication in which case we’d be looking at alternatives at the next appointment because I couldn’t live like that!

The next 2 weeks before I could actually do a pregnancy test dragged by but when those words came up on the test I was so relieved and excited.  Last pregnancy I had had a seizure by that point so things were going well.  I felt awful and was being sick regularly.

In my next blog I am going to talk about the appointment I had with the epilepsy midwife just after I found out I was definitely pregnant.  I can tell you it was a turning point for me – it made me realise what happened during my last pregnancy and labour didn’t have to happen this time – this time things could be different and that although I knew it would take some fighting for I wanted this pregnancy and labour to be more natural.

So I have now also had my booking appointment which went really well.  It was with a student midwife (overseen by a senior midwife) but she really seemed to understand how I felt, that I felt anxious about what happened last time and wanted things to be less medical this time.  They felt things hadn’t gone as well as they could and we are now seeing the birth reflections midwife next week so I will talk more about that after we have had our appointment with her.

They seemed to support me in having as few appointments as possible.  As I am under consultant lead care I will need to see the obstetrician once but they are going to make sure it is the consultant and not a registrar and then as long as everything continues to go well I can just see the community midwife at my GP like any other women would.

I don’t like to tempt fate but I have been a year free of convulsive seizures.  Now that can happen for me, I have been over two years before without one and then had one for no reason but it’s got to be a good thing.  I have actually been completely seizure free since November – I’m not expecting that to last but somehow I feel Keppra is working better than the Lamotrigine was… it’s early days and we’ll just have to see how things go.  I have learnt a long time ago not to get my hopes up too much – but I am going to be quietly confident – otherwise what’s the point?

So anyway the sickness is now easing and I can finally eat again which in turn is giving me more energy and I feel like I can get back to life again and all it brings which includes this blog.  So watch this space as I’m going to be blogging about becoming a mum again as well as being a mum already so there’s going to be lots to talk about :) exciting times!