Latest Oscar pictures

As promised, an update after our appointment on Thursday.

Overall, Oscar is doing remarkably well. Although small (14th percentile for age), he continues to grow. It is normal for babies with trisomy 18 to be quite small, so it's nice to see him growing the way he is. It's also quite common for babies with trisomy 18 to have heart defects, so we were very happy that although they couldn't rule one out, they couldn't definitively see a heart defect either, which means if he does have one it's probably quite small and not too serious.

There were no there real changes from our last scan, which was also good. A few of you have asked what sorts of challenges Oscar is facing, so I thought I'd include what we know so far. Physically, there are quite a few things we know about already. He has one club foot with some extra toes (I've included a picture of his other foot, which he proudly displayed to us at the ultrasound!). He holds his arms bent against his body, with his hands and fingers clenched, and may have an extra finger or two. He has a cleft lip and palate on the right side. His biggest challenge, however, will be growth and development. Because of the trisomy, his brain isn't developing normally, and this can affect everything from muscle tone to breathing. Something we learned yesterday is that the trisomy affects both Oscar and the placenta, which may not function entirely normally either. In the second picture I attached you get a view of his "hypercoiled" umbilical cord (it still works, it just looks neat!). The numbers tell us he has about a 50% chance of making it to his due date (babies with trisomy 18, especially boys, are at high risk of still birth or pre-term delivery), but he's beating the odds to have made it this far so we're excited to see what else he can do. Despite the list I've included above, he has a lot of things going for him (a seemingly good heart, other organs which seem to be developing normally, great medical support, and an incredible cheering section of family and friends!).

We're continuing to see our midwives on a regular basis, and will meet again with the team at Women's hospital for an ultrasound and follow up appointment later in the summer, when we're starting the third trimester. I'm now off work until after Oscar is born. I'm finding it really helpful to have the time to rest, look after myself and Oscar, be present for Peter, Emma and Alice, and just be able to really experience and appreciate the time I do get with Oscar.

I think that's about it for now! We're in a bit of a holding pattern, or "waiting with our baby" as I heard it so beautifully phrased the other day. Thanks once again for all your support. Getting your messages, hearing about your prayers, and just being able to share Oscar with all of you has been so helpful to us.

Love Jill, Peter, Emma, Alice and Oscar