Thursday, January 19, 2012

And now we wait.

I went for my amnio Tuesday.  They told me that the fluid behind the baby's neck was "resolving."  They didn't give me a measurement, but it was much smaller Tuesday (at 15 weeks) than it was at 13 weeks.  The amnio itself was much faster and less uncomforable than I expected.  I spent yesterday just lying around for 24 hours, as they advised, and now begins waiting the long 10-14 days for results.  We opted not to get the FISH results (which can come back in 24-48 hours), as they said those aren't very accurate at detecting or ruling out Turner's, and that is what my doctor was originally leaning towards as a diagnosis.  I don't want to deal with any false positives or negatives; I'd rather just wait it out and get sure results.

The ultrasound showed the baby is continuing to grow at the expected rate, and the heart rate is normal.  So I have that good news to hold on to for now.

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Tough News

Finding out I was finally pregnant was the best news.  For the first several weeks, I was terrified that something would go wrong, and I would lose our new little miracle.  After a 10 week ultrasound showed that everything looked great, I finally began to relax and enjoy how wonderful it was to be pregnant.  We started sharing the news with family and friends.  Yesterday, though, we had some first-trimester screening done, and at 13 weeks, we heard some tough news.  The doctors like to see less than 2mm of fluid behind a baby's neck at this stage of pregnancy, and our little peanut has about 5.5mm.

What this means, at this point, we aren't entirely sure.  We have an appointment to see a high risk OB, and have more tests done, but that won't take place for two weeks.  In the interim, we wait and hope.  What it could mean, is that our baby could have one of a number of genetic disorders, including Down's Syndrome, Turner Syndrome, a few less common chromosomal abnormalities, or some cardiac issues.  There is a slim chance that it could mean nothing at all, and that is what I'm hoping for.

The good news is that they said the baby’s growth is normal for 13 weeks, the heartbeat was normal and strong, and aside from the fluid behind the neck, everything else appears to be developing normally at this point, from what they can see. It was even moving around, and lifted up its hand and it looked like it was waving at us. My doctor said that she is leaning towards Turner and not Down’s syndrome because with Down’s usually the nasal bone doesn’t develop properly, or at all, and the ultrasound tech got a really clear shot of the face in profile, and the nasal bone looked really good.