Hello,

I would like to post my recent experiences here in the hope that they can bring comfort to others. I found this forum helped me a lot during a very sad time even if I only 'lurked'. Now I feel it's my chance to give something back.

First, the sad part: last December I lost a baby at 24 weeks. Its (I never knew the gender - a choice we both made) heart just stopped one day. The post-mortem showed that there was a twist in the umbilical cord. At the time I had no idea that sort of thing could happen and it was a devastating shock. Reading some posts here helped me understand that, sadly, getting through the first trimester of pregnancy is no guarantee, and it can happen to anyone. The kindness and humanity of the posts here gave me so much comfort, especially as I am currently living a long way from home. However, my biggest fear was never being able to have another baby, so that brings me to ...

... the happy part: After only 3 months I conceived again and I am currently 20 weeks pregnant. Of course there's a way to go before I can feel 100% confident that I will have a baby at the end of this pregnancy but it has been such a good one so far and I feel optimistic (the last one took ages to conceive, had a really tricky first trimester and high risk Downs Syndrome result). I used the Deanna/SME Plan this time, seemed to do the trick.

I just wanted to include my story here for anyone who is going through a difficult time and looking for a glimmer of hope. I'm so grateful to have another chance and trying to keep positive and take each day as it comes.