"I truly feel without the support of the EPU and the peace of mind given to us through the Tommy's study we would not be where we are today."

Tommy's guest blog, 08/03/2018, by Emma

It was the beginning of 2016 when my husband Chris and I discovered we were pregnant. I made him drive to a 24 hour supermarket to buy more pregnancy tests just to double check the first was correct.

So excited to see our baby, we booked in for a private 8 week scan where we were told there was no heartbeat.

Feeling totally devastated, we decided to go to the Early Pregnancy Unit at Queen Charlotte's hospital and were met by the wonderful team who, from that point onwards, helped get us through 2016. Queen Charlotte's was always on my radar as I have epilepsy and the hospital has a specialist in this area.

After being examined and confirmed it wasn't a viable pregnancy, I decided to have a D&C and was really well looked after physically and mentally, and after the op headed home to begin healing.

It was the summer of 2016 when a pain I'd had for few weeks became unbearable, so I left work and took myself to A&E.

Here I learnt I had an ectopic pregnancy and I had surgery to remove my left fallopian tube. This was a massive blow and I worried that I may now have problems even conceiving.

By this point the desire to have a baby was slightly bruised but we did not give up on the dream. It did however become a process and I was a little desensitised by it all.

It was October 2016 that I was pregnant again, however was not surprised to find it to not be a viable pregnancy and as much as the Early Pregnancy Unit (EPU) tried to help and work at making it so, it ended in November.

My husband and I looked forward to a more positive 2017 and in April once again became pregnant, however due to an early bleed I headed to the EPU expecting the worst.

I was met by a consultant who decided to put me on a high dose of progesterone and within a couple of weeks the pregnancy was moving forward. Although all seemed to be going well, we daren't get excited about moving forward with a happy, healthy pregnancy and it was at this point it was suggested we become part of the Tommy's PRECISE study led by Dr Harsha. Every week we headed to Queen Charlotte's where Dr Harsha did a detailed scan of our baby up to 20 weeks.

Dr Harsha became an intrinsic part of our journey and was a massive support throughout. She understood our worries the entire way along, always happy to help in any way she could.

After everything we'd been through it gave me peace of mind that all seemed OK, although I can't say I truly relaxed until the big B day.

On the 19th December, Anderson Ellery Pateman-Jones entered the world, a little bit early so keen to join us, and finally we began our life as a family, a life we were so desperate to have.

I truly feel without the support of the EPU and the peace of mind given to us through the Tommy's study we would not be where we are today.

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