MARCH 2008 - first Scan

Dear Grandchild,
Welcome to my world.
You are the last thing I expected to happen in our life. When Mark (my son - your father) told me back in March that he had something to tell me, I did not for one moment expect him to say that Tammy (your mother) was pregnant. Pshew!!

Although they'd known each other for a long time - each had different partners when they first met and Tammy had moved away to Gauteng. They had only started dating 6 months earlier so this was a shock!
My first reaction was one of panic!

Mark has a genetic order called osteogenesis imperfecta - brittle bones - and there is a 50% risk that his children will inherit the gene for OI. There is no test for Mark's type of OI and the only way they might be able to diagnose OI before you are born is through ultra-sound. The memories of caring for a baby with brittle bones flooded back and I thought, "It's not fair to bring a child into the world knowing that it might be facing years of pain and trauma. I can't go through that again."

At first I thought they might consider a termination but when Tammy went for the first scan at about 5 weeks and saw this little tadpole (you) clinging to the side of its dark home, she made up her mind not to terminate.

Anyway, I decided to log on to the Mayo Clinic website and read about embryos. This is what they say about the 5th Week:

At week five, your baby is 1/17 of an inch long — about the size of the tip of a pen.
This week, your baby's heart and circulatory system are taking shape. Your baby's blood vessels will complete a circuit, and his or her heart will begin to beat. Although you won't be able to hear it yet, the motion of your baby's beating heart may be detected with an ultrasound exam. With these changes, blood circulation begins — making the circulatory system the first functioning organ system.

So, your heart is beating fast and mine is beating fast too!
We weren't allowed to tell anybody at first - only your Aunty Patty - well, Mark's Aunty Patty. It is confusing trying to work out the correct family name terms for another generation. Patty is my sister so she is Mark's aunt but will be your great aunt.

There is so much I need to tell you in the next few months. I'll try to tell you about our family - your family - about your father and his brother Greg, and about Finn, your grandfather: about my mother and Finn's mother (who you will never know but would have doted on you, I'm sure). I'll introduce you to my brother Jeff and wife Gail and their three children (they idolize Mark so I'm sure they will love you too) and even my cousins who are your extended family. By the way, it is Gail her bought you all those baby grows, socks, woollen hats and that really soft, white blanket.

I'm not very familiar with Tammy's family yet but I have met her mother who is a lovely person and who, after her initial shock, started buying you baby clothes almost immediately! I have decided to wait until we know whether you are a boy or a girl before I buy any clothes so, in the meantime, I've started collecting nice books for your mother and father to read to you as you grow.

I have so much to tell you over the next few months.
Take care and hang in there!
Silly