And now, the tears subside....

...but thank God they're tears of joy and relief!

Never, ever in my whole life have I undergone anything as butt-clenchingly stressful as the last week. But finally we've got the 'all clear'...or at least as all clear as these things can be.

In fact the doc used the very words "as good as it could be" about our test result, with the risk of Down's or similar nasties dropping to a much more comfortable 2,400 to 1. At last the benefits of the missus' healthy lifestyle bear fruit!!

I've only just stopped shaking enough to be able type properly (I still wouldn't fancy my chances of holding a cup of coffee without it ending up in my lap) and there'll be more tears yet before bedtime, to be sure.

God knows what the poor buggers who were going into the clinic thought as they passed us leaving both in floods of tears - if I'd have been them I'd have turned tail and fled...if only I could have actually spoken words at that point I've have told them it was tears of joy not pain, but my mouth was refusing to issue anything more than a pathetic whimper by then.

I think I'm going to start a campaign to ban hospitals from revealing these ridiculous generalised odds of problems occurring until they've actually done the proper bloody tests! Keep it to yourselves, you fuckers, you've no idea of the heartache you've caused!

So now we call tell everyone the good news, which will be a complete relief. Some will be very surprised indeed, especially anyone who has listened to me talking on this subject before.

And we can start to think properly about the challenges ahead, which to be honest fill me with dread right now. However, all being well there's no turning back, we're at the top of the rollercoaster and just about to pass that point where you pick up speed and your stomach starts to move skywards.

Hold tight!